Robin Thicke and wife of eight years Paula Patton announced their separation this week, and while the news saddened fans, many weren’t shocked by the news. There was speculation that Thicke’s raunchy VMAs performance last summer with Miley Cyrus might have done some harm to an already shaky relationship, and a source tells Us Weekly that’s exactly what happened.

“The Miley Cyrus fiasco was a big test of their relationship,” the source said. “He asked her to help him out as a friend and a wife, and defend him and the performance. He begged her to speak out for him and be there for him. She agreed to be the good wife after he begged and pleaded. Then he asked her to stick with him through awards season, and she agreed. She attended the Grammys with him as a favor.”

Cyrus said after the awards show–and subsequent media backlash–that she and Thicke rehearsed their number several times, and Patton said she had been warned about it by Thicke before they did it live onstage. But there are rumors floating around that the performance was just the nail in the coffin for the couple, who share a son together.

“We will always love each other and be best friends,” the couple said in a statement on Monday. “However, we have mutually decided to separate at this time.”

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