Courtney Cox defends Arquette: He's not 'malicious'

Despite their highly public breakup months ago, punctuated by embarrassing antics on his part, Courteney Cox evinces sympathy and understanding for her estranged husband, actor David Arquette, in a Harper's Bazaar interview released Tuesday.

"I'm not saying there wasn't some crazy behavior," the "Cougar Town" star said, "but if you know who David is, you know what his intentions are, how honest he is, and how big his heart is." Indeed, she added, "You can't really get mad at David because he's not a malicious person. He was dealing with things the best way he could" when, in particular, he went on the Howard Stern radio show and talked candidly about his love life.

Cox, 46, attributed that to Arquette's innate theatricality. "David is smart, and David is also a showman. He knew what he was doing." That said, "I don't know what's going to happen, but I don't think he'll be doing more Howard Stern any time soon."

Yet while calling herself "his biggest protector. I can't help it," Cox also used the past tense with one important word. "We loved each other so much," she said, "and if anything I feel like we've been extremely successful at marriage. If it doesn't work out, I will have huge waves of pain about failing in that department. But right now I don't have that because I don't know what the future holds and I guess because I have strong feelings for him."