Former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced she'd begun divorce proceedings at an "excruciating" family birthday party overshadowed by reports of her husband's alleged "bimbofication" fetish, her mother told The Daily Mail.
Corinne Arnold, 77, told The Mail in an exclusive interview that Bryon Noem has moved out of the couple's home in Castlewood, South Dakota, then shared how it went down.
A "blindsided" Noem had flown back to South Dakota for a grandchild's birthday party, she said.
"This was a big party where the whole family was there, Kristi and Bryon, all my kids, all my grandkids," Arnold told The Mail.
When Noem didn't cough up the details, her mom decided to push.
"Finally, I said: 'What’s the deal? Are you going to get together again?' And she said: 'No. No. We’re going to get a divorce.'"
Noem's husband was reportedly living a "secret double life" and had been active online in the "bimbofication scene," sending fetish models photos of himself with balloons under women's clothing that imitated breasts.
Arnold referred to the discovery as the "unbearable final blow" to their 34-year marriage.
Noem was recently fired by President Donald Trump and demoted to a newly created, smaller agency, the Shield of the Americas. She also faces questions about an alleged affair with aide Corey Lewandowski that both deny.
So does Arnold.
"Kristi would never do that," Arnold said. "That’s not how I brought my kids up. And Corey’s got his own wonderful family and little kids."