There are some celebrity divorces so shocking that everyone and their mums remember them. So, which ones are we still not over yet? Take a look…
Celebrity divorces can have a powerful effect on the general public. This could be because they show us that any marriage, no matter how well it appears to be going, can come to end.
Family law in London, New York, Paris, or elsewhere is no different for celebrities than it is for the average person. They will have had to divide their finances, make plans for their children and pets, and so on. So, which celeb divorces shook us to our very core?
In this post, we’re going to list 10 of the most memorable celebrity divorces that most of us still haven’t gotten over.
10 Most Memorable Celebrity Divorces We’re Not Over
These divorces date back as far as 2005, so those of you alive during those 16 years had better be ready for a trip down memory lane. Without further ado, here are the top 10 celebrity divorces we’re still not over:
1. Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston (2005)
We’re starting out with one of the biggest celebrity divorces of all time, between Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt. These actors were beautiful, seemed to be madly in love with each other, and were incredibly successful.
After an extravagant wedding ceremony in Malibu in 2000, the pair divorced in 2005 due to an apparent affair between Pitt and Angelina Jolie on the set of Mr. and Mrs. Smith. This divorce showed the world that the love lives of celebrities aren’t as picture-perfect as that of their on-screen characters.
Despite the discomfort, this celebrity divorce put into the hearts of the masses, we learned to emotionally invest ourselves in the new marriage between Pitt and Jolie. Once again, our dreams were dashed when the couple split in 2016, after having six children together.
2. Guy Ritchie and Madonna (2008)
The decorated film director, Guy Ritchie, married the equally decorated pop star Madonna in 2000. The couple reportedly split due to the marriage not being what Madonna thought it was going to be. As Guy Ritchie put it in 2008, Madonna’s obsession over her own self-image played a big part.
More recently, Madonna and Ritchie have been seen together in public with their new partners and children, showing that there’s no longer any bad blood between the two.
3. Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise (2011)
Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise seemed like a match made in heaven, sharing 21 years together since their marriage in 1990. The couple met on the set of Days of Thunder in 1989 when Cruise was 28 and Kidman was 23.
Cruise and Kidman starred in many films together and adopted two children, before Cruise filed for divorce in 2011. The real reason their marriage ended is unclear, however, many people believe it was due to pressure from the Church of Scientology.
4. Russell Brand and Katy Perry (2012)
The American pop star and British comedian met each other at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2009 and got married the following year. The marriage only lasted 14 months, making it one of the quicker celebrity divorces on this list.
Since the divorce, the two haven’t spoken, but Perry has said that their marriage was like a tornado’. Whilst answering questions on Tik Tok last month, Brand said he really did love Perry and tried his best to salvage the marriage.
5. Heidi Klum and Seal (2014)
This celebrity divorce didn’t end on the best terms. After the wedding in 2005, this supermodel and singer divorced in 2014 due to Seal’s apparent hard-partying and difficulty controlling his temper.
On top of this, Seal accused Klum of sleeping with her bodyguard which can’t have helped matters. The battle rages on to this day, with Seal claiming that Klum wants to move their children to Germany forever so he can’t have access to them in a vicious custody battle.
6. Téa Leoni and David Duchovny (2014)
Tea Leoni, of The Naked Truth and Bad Boys fame, and David Duchovny, our beloved X-Files protagonist, married in 1997 and stayed that way for 17 years. After two children and periods of separation in 2008 and 2011, the couple divorced in 2014.
The 2008 separation was apparently due to Duchovny’s self-ascribed sex addiction, which he admitted to his wife and subsequently checked himself into rehab for.
7. Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck (2015)
Another huge pair of movie stars that shocked the world with their celebrity divorce was Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner. They met on the set of Pearl Harbor in 2000 and got together in 2004 after splitting up with their previous partners.
After marrying in 2005, this power couple was married for 10 years before they divorced after Garner accused Affleck of sleeping with the nanny of their two children.
8. Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow (2016)
This divorce was a less dramatic and more amicable split than some of the other celebrity divorces on this list. Paltrow and Martin cited a ‘conscious uncoupling’ as the reason for the end of their 10-year marriage, largely due to distance and grueling work schedules.
9. Johnny Depp and Amber Heard (2017)
Speaking of amicable divorces, this one was anything but. Depp and Heard met on the set of The Rum Diary in 2011, began dating in 2014, and got married in the Bahamas the following year.
This starting to get cray in 2016 when Heard filed for a restraining order against Depp as well as a divorce, claiming he’d been physically and verbally abusive. After finalizing their divorce in 2017, and Depp paying Heard a $7 million settlement, Depp has come out saying Heard was the abuser and the two are now embroiled in an ugly court battle.
10. Kim Kardashian and Kanye West (2021)
After an impassioned romance in 2012, Kim fell pregnant with Kanye’s daughter and the couple married in the spring of 2014. After seven years of marriage, the couple split at the beginning of 2021 due to what Kim has described as ‘irreconcilable differences’.
Kim has also confirmed that she is seeking custody of the couple’s four children, North, Saint, Chicago, and Psalm.
Are Celebrity Divorces an Inevitable Part of our Culture?
And there you have it; our top 10 celebrity divorces that we’re still not over.
These divorces span the length of 2005 to 2021 and are by no means an extensive list. However, of all the celebrity divorces that took place during those years, these are the most memorable and devastating examples.
Time rolls on and we can expect to see many more celebrity divorces in years to come. So, fasten your seatbelt, stock up on Kleenex, and prepare to watch the fireworks.