Living happily ever after is a storybook ending that’s not always guaranteed in Hollywood. There was Nicolas Cage’s infamous four-day marriage, and Elisabeth Moss and Fred Armisen’s eight-month union. And before there was Kimye, Kim Kardashian had a whirlwind romance with Kris Humphries, in which the NBA player proposed to the reality star after seven months of dating. Ninety days later, they wed – and 72 days after that, they divorced, citing irreconcilable differences. Here, a look back at more high-profile celebrity divorces in recent history.
Reese Witherspoon and Jim Toth: 2023
When Witherspoon and Toth announced their break-up in a statement on Instagram on 24 March, the pair said they reached the “difficult decision” after “a great deal of care and consideration”. The Morning Show actor also shared how she felt after revealing her divorce news to fans. “I think about how many other people are going through this experience. I don’t feel isolated at all. I feel very connected.” Witherspoon, who has 10-year-old son Tennessee with Toth, also said: “We have enjoyed so many wonderful years together and are moving forward with deep love, kindness, and mutual respect for everything we have created together.”
Pamela Anderson and Jon Peters: 2020
In February 2020, Anderson and movie mogul Peters announced they were separating after only 12 days of marriage. The couple had secretly tied the knot in January; they first met back in the 1980s at a Playboy Mansion party, and had kept in touch ever since. “We would be very grateful for your support as we take some time apart to re-evaluate what we want from life and from one another,” Anderson said in a statement at the time. “Life is a journey and love is a process. With that universal truth in mind, we have mutually decided to put off the formalisation of our marriage certificate and put our faith in the process. Thank you for respecting our privacy.”
Jenna Dewan and Channing Tatum: 2018
Dewan and Tatum first met in 2006 on the set of their dance flick Step Up. The couple then tied the knot in 2009, and welcomed their daughter, Everly, in 2013. In April 2018, they released a statement announcing their divorce after nearly nine years of marriage.
Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux: 2018
The two actors first met in 2007 while shooting Tropic Thunder and reunited on the 2011 set of Wanderlust. They began dating a short while later, and went on to get engaged in 2012. Aniston and Theroux eventually tied the knot in 2015 at a private ceremony in Bel Air. After two and a half years of marriage, they announced their separation in February of 2018.
Usher and Grace Miguel: 2018
The singer and Miguel started dating in 2009, shortly after Usher’s divorce from his first wife, Tameka Foster. He proposed to Miguel in 2015. After almost 10 years together, and two and a half years of marriage, the couple eventually separated in March 2018.
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard: 2017
Depp and Heard met on the set of The Rum Diary in 2011. They began dating in 2014 after Depp separated from longtime girlfriend Vanessa Paradis. They became engaged the same year, and were married in the Bahamas in 2015. In May 2016, Heard filed for a restraining order and a divorce. Their separation was finalised in January 2017.
Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor: 2017
The two actors met in 1999 on the set of a television series and fell fast. They married the following year in May 2000 in Kauai. After 17 years and two kids, they seemed destined to last. However, in May 2017, they sadly announced their divorce. This is one split that didn’t stick, though, and in an interview with Esquire published in February 2022, the Zoolander actor shared that he and Taylor were back together after they decided to move back in with each other at the onset of the pandemic.
Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow: 2016
Paltrow famously referred to her separation from Martin as a “conscious uncoupling”. After 10 years of marriage and two children, they divorced in July 2016. Distance and gruelling work schedules were cited as factors in the split.
Kaley Cuoco and Ryan Sweeting: 2016
The Big Bang Theory star wed the tennis pro after six months of dating in 2013. The marriage lasted 21 months. They divorced in May 2016. Cuoco later alleged that Sweeting had become addicted to prescription painkillers, leading to the demise of their union.
Kris and Caitlyn Jenner: 2015
After marrying in 1991, the couple added two children of their own to their brood of eight children from previous marriages. They separated in June 2013 and their divorce was finalised in March 2015. Subsequently, Caitlyn began her public transition from life as Bruce to life as Caitlyn.
Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck: 2015
Affleck and Garner first met on the set of Pearl Harbor in 2000 and became romantically involved in 2004 after splitting from their previous partners. They married in a destination wedding in Turks and Caicos in 2005, divorcing in 2015 amid rumours of Affleck having had an affair with the couple’s nanny – something Affleck has denied.
Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton: 2015
Lambert and Shelton met in 2005 when they performed a duet together at a concert for Country Music Television. Shelton was still married to his first wife Kaynette Gern at the time, and they didn’t begin dating until after his divorce in 2006. They had no children, but they did have 15 rescue pets. Their divorce was finalized in 2015.
Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale: 2015
It was a match made in rock and roll heaven. No Doubt’s lead singer Stefani met Bush’s lead singer Rossdale when her band opened for his in 1998. By 2002, the two were married. By 2014, they were parents to three boys. Things fell apart after Rossdale’s alleged affair with the couple’s nanny, and they were divorced in 2015.
Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez: 2014
Anthony and Lopez first met in 1998 at a Broadway show in which Anthony was starring. They worked together on various projects, but it wasn’t until 2004 that they began dating. Six months later, they tied the knot in a backyard ceremony in Lopez’s Beverly Hills home. Their love came alive on screen in 2007’s El Cantante, and they welcomed twins Emme Maribel Muniz and Maximillian David Muniz in 2008. In June 2014, they divorced. In a 2016 interview with W, Lopez spoke candidly about the separation, saying: “I knew very quickly that [the marriage] wasn’t the right thing… It wasn’t the dream that I had hoped for.”
Heidi Klum and Seal: 2014
The supermodel and singer wed in Mexico in 2005, and renewed their vows yearly on their anniversary. They had three children during their nearly 10-year marriage. They divorced in 2014, with Seal accusing Klum of having an affair with her bodyguard, something the model has denied.
Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon: 2014
Carey began dating Cannon in 2008, and they got married the same year in a secret ceremony in the Bahamas. They welcomed twins Moroccan and Monroe in April 2011. In the years to come, however, they grew apart, and ended up divorcing in December 2014.
Téa Leoni and David Duchovny: 2014
The actors married in 1997 and stayed together for 17 years. During that time, they had two children, Madelaine and Kyd. They went through periods of separation in 2008 and 2011, with Duchovny entering rehab for sex addiction. Their divorce was finalised in June 2014.
Orlando Bloom and Miranda Kerr: 2013
Bloom proposed to Kerr in 2009, and they married in July 2010. In August, Kerr revealed she was pregnant. In 2011, they welcomed son Flynn. Rumours of a split began in 2012, and they divorced in October 2013.
Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise: 2012
These two were love-drunk off each other – remember when Cruise jumped on Oprah’s couch after she asked him how the relationship was going? Reportedly, their break-up was precipitated by Cruise’s affiliation with the Church of Scientology and wanting to involve the couple’s daughter, Suri, in the organisation from a young age.
Russell Brand and Katy Perry: 2012
The American musician met the British comedian at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, and they were married by 2010. Brand filed for divorce in December 2011, after 14 months of marriage. According to Perry, the two haven’t spoken since.
Elin Nordegren and Tiger Woods: 2010
America’s beloved golf champion Woods publicly admitted to cheating on his wife of six years in 2010, and less than a year later, they were officially over. He tarnished his reputation in the sports world and ultimately had to pay upwards of $100 million to Nordegren.
Robin Wright and Sean Penn: 2010
Robin Wright and Sean Penn were married for 14 years before they split in 2010. Though their relationship suffered some tumultuous moments, their divorce was somewhat shocking, as they always seemed to reconcile.
Heather Mills and Paul McCartney: 2008
After six years of marriage, McCartney split from Mills in 2008. They fought a very public battle, covered extensively by the tabloids, and she ended up with around $48.6 million, having requested nearly five times that amount.
Guy Ritchie and Madonna: 2008
The Material Girl married director Ritchie in 2000, and they broke up nearly eight years later. They share a son, Rocco, and reportedly split because, as Madonna said in 2012, the marriage “[wasn’t] what I thought it was going to be”.
Ryan Phillippe and Reese Witherspoon: 2007
If you’ve ever seen the movie Cruel Intentions, you’ll understand why this sudden divorce was particularly devastating. Sweethearts Phillippe and Witherspoon met when they were in their early 20s and married shortly thereafter. They were together nearly eight years before calling it quits.
Kid Rock and Pamela Anderson: 2007
This couple had an on-again, off-again relationship that started in 2001 when they met backstage at a VH1 Divas concert. The relationship was definitely on in July of 2006 when they spontaneously tied the knot on a yacht. The bride wore a white bikini and the groom wore a white T-shirt. Just 122 days later, however, they divorced.
Renée Zellweger and Kenny Chesney: 2005
Back in 2005, Zellweger married country singer Chesney on the Caribbean island of St John. They first met during NBC’s Concert of Hope telethon, and wed after five months of dating. Four months later, Zellweger had the marriage annulled.
Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston: 2005
These two seemed to really have it all: they were both madly in love and incredibly successful actors. Sadly, after marrying in a lavish ceremony in Malibu five years earlier, the pair divorced in 2005. The alleged reason was Pitt’s infidelity with Jolie on the set of Mr & Mrs Smith.
Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid: 2001
Ryan and Quaid’s divorce was like a real-life rom-com disaster in the public eye. In 2000, reports surfaced that Ryan was having an affair with her Proof of Life costar Russell Crowe. Ryan and Quaid have a son, Jack, who was eight at the time of the split.
Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman: 2001
The couple met on the set of Days of Thunder in 1989. They were married by December of 1990. Kidman was 23 and Cruise was 28. During their marriage, they starred in several films together and adopted two children. Cruise filed for divorce in February 2011. It is widely believed the divorce was due to pressure from the Church of Scientology.
