Who Is Rebecca Gayheart’s Boyfriend? All About Hard Rock Co-Founder Peter Morton

On Dec. 3, Rebecca Gayheart was spotted out on a date with restauranteur and businessman Peter Morton.

The Jawbreaker actress is still legally married to Eric Dane, but the two have been separated since 2018. In March 2025, she dismissed her divorce filing, and shortly after, Dane revealed he had been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). They share two daughters, Billie Beatrice and Georgia Geraldine.

In July 2019, Gayheart told PEOPLE, “My ex, Eric, and I, we are friends and we are doing our best to co-parent and maintain a family, even though we’re not married.”

Gayheart, meanwhile, has been linked to Morton since 2023.

So, who is Rebecca Gayheart’s boyfriend? Here’s everything to know about Peter Morton and his relationship with the actress.

He was born in Chicago and raised in Los Angeles

Morton was born in Chicago. He was raised in Los Angeles and would eventually attend the University of Denver.

According to his LinkedIn, he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in business administration.

He was a co-founder of Hard Rock Cafe

In 1971, Isaac Tigrett and Morton opened the first Hard Rock Cafe in London, according to the Hard Rock website. The restaurant focused on burgers and American fare.

“I was passing through London, and I noticed there wasn’t any American food,” he told The Guardian in March 2003 about the genesis of the now-iconic chain. “This was before McDonald’s or Burger King had arrived. Market vacuum. It’s the same with any business. Cement. Anything.”

Hard Rock Cafe didn’t start out with music memorabilia adorning the walls. That happened when rocker Eric Clapton gave the restaurant a guitar to hang on the wall, so he could “reserve his seat,” according to the Hard Rock website. The Who‘s Pete Townshend added his guitar, and a collection eventually grew.

According to the Los Angeles Times, in 1996, Morton and his business partners sold their stake in the Hard Rock Cafe chain for $410 million. In 1995, Morton opened the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, which he sold for $770 million in 2006, per the Associated Press.

Restaurants are a family business for the Mortons. His father, Arnie, was a founder of the popular chain Morton’s Steakhouse, and his son, Harry, opened the Mexican restaurant chain Pink Taco in 1999.

He has been married twice

Morton was previously married to British model Paulene Stone from 1978 to 1986, per the Mayfair Times. They had one son together, Harry, who was born in 1981.

In 1990, he married Tarlton Pauley Morton, and they welcomed two children, Matthew and Grace. Morton and Tarlton divorced in 1997. Tarlton died 20 years later. According to her obituary, Tarlton “passed away suddenly” on Oct. 26, 2017, at age 55.

Harry, followed in his father’s footsteps and founded the Mexican restaurant chain Pink Taco in 1999.

Harry died on Nov. 23, 2019, “from a probable cardiac arrhythmia and myocardial bridging with coronary artery atherosclerosis,” according to a report from the L.A. coroner’s office. He was 38 years old.

He was first romantically linked with Rebecca Gayheart in 2023

Gayheart and Morton first sparked relationship rumors in 2023, when they were spotted out on a dinner date in L.A.

The couple were seen holding hands in photos published by Daily Mail, in which they appeared to be on a double date with Claudia Schiffer and her husband, film director Matthew Vaughn.

They have made other public appearances since, including in March 2025 at a Chanel and Charles Finch pre-Oscars dinner held at the Polo Lounge at The Beverly Hills Hotel.

They were seen out on a date in December 2025

Gayheart and Morton were seen out on a date on Dec. 3 in Beverly Hills, Calif.

They were captured leaving the Italian restaurant E-Baldi and kissing in photos obtained by PEOPLE.

The couple make rare public appearances as Gayheart navigates her “complicated” relationship with Dane.

“I am definitely trying to show [my daughters] that we show up for people no matter what. And he is our family, he is your father,” Gayheart said on a November 2025 episode of the podcast, Broad Ideas with Rachel Bilson & Olivia Allen. “We show up and we try to do it with some dignity and some grace and just get through it, and that we will get through it the best we can.”

Gayheart added that the dynamic is “super complicated.”

He helped launch the film career of Guy Ritchie

Morton is known in the restaurant world, but he has also been influential behind the scenes in Hollywood.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Morton helped fund the independent movie Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, which kickstarted the career of director Guy Ritchie. He also helped fund Ritchie’s next film, 2000’s Snatch.

Per The New York Times, Morton is the godfather to Matthew Vaughn, the director of X-Men: First Class, The King’s Man and Stardust, which Morton was also a co-executive producer of.

“I have ADD. Seriously. I can’t read scripts,” Morton told the Los Angeles Times about coming on board Stardust. “I said, ‘Just tell me the story, I’ll know if I like the story.’ ”