Erika Koike is a celebrity who is most famous as the ex-wife of actor, Nicolas Cage. Her former husband is best known for his role in the National Treasure franchise, starring Jason Earles.
The couple of Erika Koike married in early 2019 and shockingly divorced each other in less than a week.
The divorce of Koike and Cage was great tabloid fodder, and rightfully so since a lot of people went into confusion in tandem. The headlines included words like drunkards, fraudulent, drug dealer boyfriend, and criminal records. The annulment wasn’t easy either.
Take a look back at how they became husband and wife in the first place, and why they ended their marriage. Also, who exactly is Erika Koike? What is her story? Read all in the headings below.
Erika Koike Is A Makeup Artist
Koike was born around the year 1985. Thus, she is 37 years of age as of 2022.
Her IMDb page states she is a makeup artist. As for the films, she only has one credit, the 2012 short movie, Hankikanto. The fact — Koike came to wide fame only after her relationship with the Faceoff star– somewhat eclipses her solo story.
For the time being, her life before Cage’s chapter is absurdly in the middle of nowhere. What makes the riddle more difficult is Erika’s apparent absence from the networking sites like Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.
What’s also in the mist is the what-about of her birthdates.
When Did Erika Koike And Her Ex-Husband Nicolas Cage Start Dating?
Koike and the Oscar-winning actor, Cage started dating in April 2018. The outsiders first caught them together in San Juan, Puerto Rico. By May, their pictures had started to emerge; in one of them, they were having dinner in Los Angeles.
The couple dated for over a year before getting married.
Erika Koike and Nicolas Cage dated for over a year before getting married in Vegas.
Professionally Nicolas Cage’s ex-wife, Erika Koike is a makeup artist.
AD \sCage and Koike kept their relationship under the radar until their Vegas wedding. They married on March 23, 2019, after applying for a marriage license the same day. And their marriage certificate came on March 23, 2019.
Hours after their wedding, however, the Paparazzi spotted them arguing at the Las Vegas hotel Bellagio. Witnesses and photos showed Koike yelling at the Golden Globe winner.
Then in March 2019, Nicolas Cage requested for annulment. Cage called it quits on his marriage with Koike just four days after tying the knot.
Why was Nicolas Cage Filed For Divorce From Erika?
On Wednesday, the Long Beach-born actor filed an annulment with Erika Koike in Clark County, Nevada. He reasoned he was too drunk to make a responsible decision when his Koike suggested they tie the knot.
The Blast reports, as per Cage’s annulment documents, the Leaving Las Vegas star admits he and Erika Koike were “both drinking to the point of intoxication” before participating in a wedding ceremony.
The Windtalkers star said he “lacked understanding” of his actions and was therefore incapable of agreeing to a marriage with the makeup artist. Cage said he “reacted on impulse without the ability to recognize or understand the full impact of his actions.”
The cast of the Rumble Fish also added the notion that Koike committed fraud when convincing him to the marriage. He explained his then-wife did not tell him about “the full nature and extent of her relationship with another person.”
The Californian resident further added how Koike had an active criminal history that he didn’t know about. Erika had one case of DUI in 2018 in Las Vegas.
She, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge the same year Nic filed for an annulment. Cage reportedly after learning about Koike’s fraud, made her leave his house but gave her some facilities to stay somewhere else.
Cage Said He Was Hurt From His And Erika Koike’s Divorce
The court finalized their divorce in May 2019, two months after the couple said “I do” in Vegas. In a new interview with The New York Times Magazine, the Leaving Las Vegas star revealed he experienced hurt from his divorce from Koike.
Cage and Koike divorced each other four days after their marriage in Vegas.
Nicolas Cage admits he was hurt after his divorce from Erika Koike.
The now 57-year-old actor said,
“There was a recent breakup. I don’t really want to talk about it. I was pretty upset about that and the way things happened.”
In Aug 2019, Cage admittingly said he was ‘Pretty Upset’ over his divorce from a 4-Day bride, Koike.
Erika Koike Said Cage’s Comment About Her Made Her Sad
Koike also agreed the marriage was a mistake and initially didn’t plan on fighting the annulment. However, in January 2022, almost two years after the marriage, reports started to emerge all stating the makeup artist was asking the 8mm star for spousal support.
TMZ reported Koike asked for support because she claimed she missed out on job opportunities due to her relationship with Cage. She also reasoned due to the extremely short marriage, she faced quite a toll on her reputation.
Cage’s fourth wife also, in addition, said she was hurt by her former husband alleging her of fraud. She also demanded the Hollywood star pay for her legal fees.
Koike revealed Cage had instead tried to reconcile with her 12 days after filing for an annulment, but she refused to be with him.
Erika Koike And Nicolas Cage Divorce Settlement
The family attorney reported if Koike and Nicolas had gotten together and agreed they wanted an annulment, they would have likely had it. But, he added, due to Erika not wanting the annulment, Cage was going to have a hard time getting an annulment without giving her something that she wants in return.
The lawyer added Cage would certainly have to pay her a lot of money to get the cancellation. However, there haven’t been many updates in this facet of Erika and Cage’s saga.
The Reason For Erika Koike & Nicolas’s Separation
The Daily Mail contained a video that showed Cage and Koike in the city clerk’s office in Las Vegas, with the former grumbling, “She has a drug dealer as a boyfriend. I’m not doing it.” In the same footage, Koike allegedly said, “I never asked you to.”
Some believe they ended their marriage due to an argument over money at the Clark County courthouse while applying for their marriage license.
The courtship with Erika was the fourth marriage for the 55-year-old movie star. And this was his shortest marital ride.
Erika Koike Had A Troubled Past
Even before knowing Cage, Erika Koike has had several run-ins with the law. In 2006, she reportedly committed domestic violence against her then-husband. The authorities, however, dismissed Koike’s 2006 arrest for the battery as there lacked enough evidence.
Erika Koike was detained in 2006, 2008, 2011, and 2015.
Before marrying Nicolas Cage, Erika Koike had breached the law on several occasions. Source: BlackGrid AD
She later instead filed for a protective order from her ex-husband. Erika split from her former spouse in 2014. Then in 2008 and 2011, she breached the law for DUI. She allegedly also had drug problems back then.
Koike again pled no contest to both charges, reports The Blast. She though received probation after a few days in jail and the court ordered her to perform community service as well as attend AA meetings.
Cage’s future ex-wife additionally had to attend 18-month alcohol and other drug education and counseling program.
Then in 2015, her neighbor accused her of assault and battery. The next-door stranger turned victim claimed Koike punched her in the face in a dark parking lot. This lawsuit, too, didn’t meet a fitting conclusion.
Again in 2016, the officials charged Koike with one DUI in Las Vegas. She, however, did not plead guilty in this case either.
Cage And Koike’s Past Relationships
Before Koike, Cage had been married three times. He married his first wife, actress Patricia Arquette, in April 1995. The two divorced in 2001.
After Patricia, the Red Rock West star married Lisa Marie Presley in August 2002 but filed for divorce in November of the same year. Their union lasted for about 108 days.
He then married Alice Kim in 2004 and welcomed a son, Kal-El with her in 2005. Kim and Cage divorced each other in June 2016.
Similar to Cage, Koike was also previously married. She, nonetheless, never revealed who her husband was before the Academy winner.
Did Erika Have Children With Cage?
Although they were together for over a year, including their marriage, they didn’t produce any off-springs. The Con Air actor already had a 28-year-old son, Weston Coppola Cage, with ex-Christina Fulton in addition to his and an aforementioned son with his ex-wife, Kim.
On the other hand, it is a bit of a mystery regarding Koike’s past relationships. While it is in the air that she had a husband, it is unclear if Erika had any children with him.
Erika And Nicolas After The Divorce
After the separation, Nicolas married his other girlfriend, Riko Shibata in Feb 2021. Shibata, a native of Japan, at the time of marriage, was 26. The two met through mutual friends in Japan while a member of the Coppola family was filming his movie Prisoners of the Ghostland.
Two months after divorcing the Mandy star, Erika Koike was also photographed with a new man.
After the divorce, Cage married a 26-year-old Japanese girlfriend, Rico Shibata.
A few months after her divorce from Nicolas Cage, Erika was seen kissing a man outside a restaurant. She, however, insists nothing romantic was going on with him.
“He’s just a customer who comes here. He’s not my boyfriend yet,”
Koike cleared out with The Daily Mail in May 2019. This she said despite some imagery of her where she is kissing a black man. She is now reportedly working at a restaurant.
Read More About Seo In-guk, Lee Seung-gi, Claire T. Thomas, Vanessa Lucido