Renée Zellweger has spoken openly about her brief marriage to country singer Kenny Chesney and the rumors that surfaced after their split. In a new interview with The Advocate published on September 8, the actress addressed the speculation that arose when she filed for an annulment just four months after their May 2005 wedding, citing “fraud” as the legal reason.

The filing sparked widespread gossip that Chesney was gay — something Zellweger says made her deeply uncomfortable.“I forgot about that. It’s a pretty big thing to forget, isn’t it? That made me sad,” she told the outlet. “It made me sad that people were using that as a way to be cruel, and that calling someone gay was treated like a negative, which can have real consequences. And, of course, the bigger issue is why anyone had to invent a story in the first place.”

Shortly after filing in September 2005, Zellweger released a statement clarifying that “fraud” was simply legal terminology and “not a reflection of Kenny’s character.”