During their brief time together, Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio had a stormy relationship. DiMaggio was said to be abusive towards Monroe, and unhappy that her fame meant he had to share her with the rest of the world. In October 1954, the world-famous couple called it quits after 10 months of marriage. In court, Monroe cried as she revealed that DiMaggio would give her the cold shoulder for days at a time and that he isolated her.

Monroe wrote "mental cruelty" as the reason behind the split in her divorce paperwork. DiMaggio did not take their breakup well and wrote a letter to Monroe, hoping they could reconcile their differences. Like Monroe's apology note, this letter was later sold at auction.

It said (via KQED), "I love you and want to be with you ... There is nothing I would like better than to restore your confidence in me ... My heart split even wider seeing you cry in front of all those people." Before adding, "Don't know what your thoughts are about me, but I can tell you I love you sincerely — way deep in my heart, irregardless of anything." In the end, this letter did not work in DiMaggio's favor and Monroe married playwright Arthur Miller in 1956.