When it comes to celebrity divorces, we all like to think we don’t care all that much. However, when your favourite actors fall in love, it can be hard to not get too invested.
Looking at Hollywood, it can be a little too easy to assume everything is picture-perfect and long-lasting, especially when it comes to love. And yet over the decades, we’ve seen some of the most loved-up dreamboats be struck down by the all too real concept that is divorce. Yes, whether they call it a ‘conscious uncoupling’ or part-ways as best friends there’s no denying that much like everyone else’s, not all celebrity marriages work out. However, we still do have hope with the famous couples whose marriages have stood the test of time.
So whether you’re still heartbroken for Jennifer or didn’t even realise Scarlet Johansson was ever married to Ryan Reynolds, these are the 32 celebrity divorces that continue to stick with us to this very day.
32 of the biggest celebrity divorces of all time
1. Pamela Anderson and Kid Rock
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Known for their famous on-again-off-again relationship, Anderson and Rock finally tied the knot on a yacht in July 2006. Unfortunately, it was only four months later that they filed for divorce and became permanently separated with Anderson’s cameo in Borat apparently being the reason for the break-up.
Sacha Baron Cohen told The Daily Beast that he texted her after the film premiered, asking what her husband thought of it: “She texted back, ‘He’s getting divorced.’ I was like, ‘why?’ And she goes, ‘The movie.’ And I thought it was a joke.”
2. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt
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The once-power couple decided to call it quits back in 2016, but due to custody battles their divorce remains unresolved. There have been numerous claims and allegations as the two A-listers try to reach an agreement both when it comes to their children and their combined assets. But since 2019, the couple have been ruled legally single.
3. Elvis and Priscilla Presley
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Perhaps one of the most famous couples ever known, Elvis and Priscilla were together for a total of fourteen years and got married in 1968. However, the marriage only lasted four years until the couple separated due to Elvis’ consistent alleged infidelities. The divorce was finalised in 1973 to the shock of fans.
4. Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin
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After posting the news of their amicable separation, or “conscious uncoupling” as Paltrow famously called it, on her Goop blog, the actress and lead singer of Coldplay’s divorce officially finalised in 2016. Paltrow is now married to Brad Falchuck and Martin is reportedly dating 50 Shades of Grey actress Dakota Johnson.
5. Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise
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Despite being seen as one of Hollywood’s strongest couples at the time, the two actors’ marriage slowly but surely crumbled after their Scientologist ceremony in Italy in 2006. Holmes was the one to file for the separation after citing ‘irreconcilable differences.’
6. Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck
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The two actors were married for around 10 years and share three children, Viole (who looks just like her mother), Seraphina and Samuel. The reason for their divorce, revealed by Affleck on the Howard Stern Show in 2021, was they simply “grew apart”.
7. Lisa Bonet and Lenny Kravitz
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Perhaps one of the most amicable celebrity divorces we’ve ever seen, Bonet and Kravitz announced their split in 1993 and have since remained close friends. They were married for six years and had their daughter, model and actress, Zoe Kravitz together. Bonet has since been married to Game of Thrones star Jason Momoa, whom Kravitz is great friends with today. Talk about happy families!
8. Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt
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The sweethearts of 00s Hollywood, Aniston and Pitt married in 2000 only to divorce after five years of marriage in 2005. The divorce came after Pitt starred in Mr and Mrs Smith with Angelina Jolie and they allegedly fell in love on set. Shortly after the movie was released, Aniston filed for divorce. Despite the somewhat messy divorce, the two remain friendly and to this day refer to each other as buddies.
9. Sonny and Cher
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As one of the most beloved and iconic celebrity couples in the 70s, the two quickly rose to new levels of fame together on their hit show, The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour, where they’d perform songs together. This new fame, however, was also the reason for their divorce as Sonny became a ‘womanizer’ and Cher filed for divorce in 1974. Speaking to Parade magazine in 2010, Cher said, “Stardom made Sonny a huge womanizer. One woman, or even five, was not enough for him. I found all this out afterward. I asked him, ‘How did you manage the logistics?’ I was trusting and faithful with him. I’m not sure we should’ve ever been husband and wife.”
Despite the divorce, the two stayed close friends, with Cher reading Bono’s eulogy at his funeral after he died in a tragic skiing accident in 1998.
10. Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise
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After marrying in 1990, the two high-profile actors had a rather bitter and messy divorce in 2001. The alleged reasoning behind the couple’s separation was Kidman’s refusal to become a devoted member of the Church of Scientology like Cruise was. Kidman was photographed on the same day she finalised the divorce singing and dancing down the street in joy.
11. Scarlett Johansson and Ryan Reynolds
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This might be one celeb coupling that passed you by but these two A-list actors were married from 2008 to 2011. Their divorce and the reason behind it has remained a bit of a mystery, but according to Johansson, who spoke briefly about the relationship on Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop podcast, it was a matter of her not being mature enough to know what she wanted from a husband.
12. Madonna and Guy Ritchie
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After marrying in 2000, the couple had a son together, Rocco, and adopted a second son, David Banda. When the two split in 2008, the reasoning behind the divorce was kept rather quiet until Madonna was interviewed by Newsweek magazine and said that marriage simply wasn’t what she thought it was going to be.
13. Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux
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This break-up is one without drama and also without a lot of public knowledge. The two married in 2015 after being engaged for around three years prior, but when it came to their divorce in February of 2018 their joint statement didn’t allude to much. It simply said the decision, “was mutual and lovingly made at the end of last year.” The two have continued to be friends and are occasionally seen out for dinner in NYC with mutual friends.
14. Christine Taylor and Ben Stiller
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Okay so technically these two movie stars never officially got a divorce but they were separated for several years which was a huge shock to fans. Stiller and Taylor married in 2000 and worked on several movies together, from Zoolander to Dodgeball. They then separated in 2017 but continued to be spotted out together. However, it wasn’t until Stiller moved back into the family home during the Covid-19 pandemic that the two truly reconciled. They’ve since spoken openly about their being back together and have been attending events hand in hand ever since.
15. Reese Witherspoon and Jim Toth
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After 11 years of marriage, the Legally Blonde actress and talent agent decided to call it quits in 2023. They both said it was a difficult decision to divorce and spoke of the wonderful years they’d shared however agreed it was time to end their marriage. The settlement went smoothly with them agreeing to co-parent their 10-year-old son together.
16. Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony
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Another amicable divorce, the two superstar singers married in 2004 after years of on-again-off-again dating. They did a lot as a married couple – went on tour together, had twins and recorded numerous songs and albums. However, their marriage eventually became tumultuous and they announced their separation in 2011 with their divorce eventually being finalised in 2014, due to Lopez’s delay in filing a response. The two are still very close and continue to co-parent their children.
17. Heidi Klum and Seal
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Even with a somewhat challenging start, Klum and Seal were extremely happy together and even renewed their marriage vows several times during their seven years of marriage. However, in 2013, they separated due to growing apart, saying that their four children were now their priority moving forward. The two continue to co-parent although have said it can certainly be difficult at times.
18. Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon
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After a brief period of dating, Carey and Cannon got married in 2008, and they welcomed their twins Moroccan and Monroe three years later, in 2011. Although the two divorced in 2014, Cannon has spoken very fondly of the time they spent married and referred to it as a ‘love story’.
19. Miranda Kerr and Orlando Bloom
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This couple got together in 2007, at the height of both their successes, with Kerr having just become a Victoria’s Secret Angel and Bloom just achieving major success with his role in the Pirates of The Caribbean franchise. After marrying in 2010 they had a son, Flynn, whom they have co-parented since their divorce finalised in 2013. They remain very close and haven’t revealed much information about the reasoning behind their split, other than they weren’t bringing out the best in each other.
20. Elin Nordegren and Tiger Woods
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The Swedish model and globally famous professional golfer got married in 2004 and had one of the most scandalous break-ups after it was revealed that Woods had been cheating on Nordegren with multiple women. After the news of the infidelity broke, the two split in 2010 and Woods released a statement apologising not only to Nordegren but to his fans for his behaviour. However, the two luckily continued to be friends and now co-parent their two children very happily.
21. Heather Mills and Paul McCartney
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This may be perhaps the most expensive divorce on this list with the separation ending in Mr McCartney parting with around £33 million due to a messy settlement agreement. The pair first met in 1999 and got married in 2002 but it became clear they weren’t meant to be and their divorce was finalised in 2008.
22. Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe
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A story of young love if we’ve ever heard it, Witherspoon and Phillippe met at the actress’s 21st birthday party in 1997 and were married by 1999. They starred in Cruel Intentions together, attended many a red carpet and shared two now-adult children. Their divorce was filed under irreconcilable differences in 2006 but the two have continued to co-parent and have since said the break-up was mainly due to them marrying so young.
23. Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid
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The golden couple of the 90s, two A-list actors who from the outside look as though they had the perfect marriage. However that unfortunately wasn’t the case, as they announced their separation in June of 2000. Although not much was said at the time, Ryan has since spoken about how unhappy she was in the marriage.
24. Sandra Bullock and Jesse James
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Even after so many years, this messy divorce has stuck with most Bullock fans. The couple married in 2005 after two years of dating, but divorce came swiftly in 2010 after rumours of Jesse’s infidelity came to light. The former reality star admitted to cheating with multiple women and received a lot of public criticism for this. Bullock has since moved on, and parents her two children very happily.
25. Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher
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An unexpected pair with their 15-year age gap, Moore and Kutcher met in 2003 and were quickly the talk of the town. They married in 2005, but after six years together they separated in 2011. A year later, Kutcher started dating Mila Kunis, but it wasn’t until late 2013 that their divorce was officially finalised.
Speaking about the divorce to Esquire, Ashton said, “For whatever reason, I had to have that experience. Nothing makes you feel like a failure like divorce. Divorce feels like a wholesale failure. You failed at marriage.”
26. Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries
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The reality star and then-professional basketball player were only famously married for 72 days. They began dating in October 2010 and were married in August 2011, with the ceremony being filmed for a four-hour E! Special. However, October 31st came and Kardashian filed for divorce, a filing which Humphries was not happy about or ready for. After a lot of public commentary and a diss track from Kanye whom Kardashian began dating at the time, the divorce was finalised in 2013.
27. Anna Faris and Chris Pratt
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The acting couple were engaged just a year after meeting in 2008, being publicly smitten with one another from the very start and continuing to be vocal about their relationship throughout. However, to the shock of many fans, the two announced their separation on social media in August 2017 saying, “We tried for a long time, and we’re really disappointed.”
The divorce was finalised in 2018 and the pair have kept an amicable relationship since, co-parenting their son Jack.
28. Uma Thurman and Gary Oldman
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A short and sweet marriage of just two years, the pair met when Thurman was just 18 and were married in 1990 after Oldman divorced his first wife, Lesley Manville. Not much is known about either their marriage or their divorce other than Thurman’s short words about it from a Vanity Fair interview, “He was 12 years older. It was a crazy love affair that ended as it needed to. He was my first love. I had no prior experience.” The two have since remarried several times.
29. Cindy Crawford and Richard Gere
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They first met in 1988 at a star-studded barbecue, however, it wasn’t until 1991 that the pair started dating and were pictured attending the ‘91 Academy Awards together. Their wedding was spontaneous, an elopement in Vegas in 1991.
Their marriage, unfortunately, ended in ‘95 with divorce, with numerous rumoured reasons listed for their divorce – such as their 17-year age gap, their lack of time together and not knowing each other as well as they wanted.
30. Sofia Vergara & Joe Manganiello
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Of the several celebrity divorces we saw in 2023, this one shocked everyone the most. After their swoon-worthy beginnings, the pair married in 2015 with a stunning star-studded ceremony in Florida. Married for seven years, the pair were very public with their love for one another which is why their separation announcement in 2023 was such a surprise. She has since revealed the reason behind the break-up, speaking to El País: “My marriage broke up because my husband was younger; he wanted to have kids, and I didn’t want to be an old mum. I feel it’s not fair to the baby.”
31. Grace Miguel and Usher
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A rather private affair, singer Usher and life coach Grace began dating back in 2009 with Usher proposing to her in January 2015. The two eloped later that year in a secret ceremony but the marriage didn’t last long as after two years, the couple mutually decided to divorce. In a joint statement, they said they remain loving friends.
32. Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale
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After 13 years of marriage the singers, who share three children, filed for divorce in 2015. The reason for their split has never been officially confirmed but rumours that Rossdale was having an affair with the family’s nanny began to circulate just before their split. The two have spoken about how difficult their divorce was and no longer have a relationship with one another.