The 20 great celebrity divorces that defined the decade
It's been a dizzying decade for high-profile celebrity divorces, with Hollywood's elite golden couples breaking the hearts of millions by going their separate ways.
In some cases, these celebrities' dissolving marriages created rumors (and protracted court battles) that outlasted their unions and served as fodder for gossip magazines and blogs.
They also generated their own pop culture lexicon, with terms like "conscious decoupling," TomKat and Bennifer going in and out of the vernacular, and the all-too-familiar "irreconcilable differences" that appear in almost every divorce petition.
Though far from all-inclusive, our list includes the top celebrity divorces that defined the decade and kept the entertainment ink from the media. It is organized by the date the couple announced their separation or intention to divorce.
Ryan Reynolds and Scarlett Johansson (2010)
Before he became Deadpool and she played Black Widow, this super couple were married for just over two years. They announced their separation in 2010 after rumors that they had parted ways. Their joint statement even had some of Reynolds' trademark wit: "While privacy is not expected, it is certainly appreciated."
What steps they followed: They both remarried and now have children, although Johansson has divorced again (Romain Dauriac in 2014). Reynolds married actress Blake Lively, with whom he co-starred in 2011's “Green Lantern,” and they have three daughters. Johansson is engaged to Colin Jost from "Saturday Night Live."
Jesse James and Sandra Bullock (2010)
After her win at the Oscars, Bullock learned that her husband of five years, a reality TV star, had cheated on her with several women. She remained admirably silent during the scandal and filed for a ‘Don't mess with Texas’ style divorce that was finalized in just 60 days.
What Next Steps: James got engaged to tattoo artist Kat Von D, but the wedding was canceled, and he has since married his fourth wife; Bullock has adopted a son and daughter, she was nominated for a second Oscar and is in a relationship with photographer Bryan Randall.
Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore (2011)
On the weekend of her sixth anniversary, Moore released a new movie in New York and Kutcher, her husband 15 years her junior, cheated on her in San Diego. Moore announced the following month that they were getting divorced. The separation was finalized at the end of 2013, and he paid her a little more than legally required.
How They Moved: Kutcher married Mila Kunis, his “That‘ 70s Show ”co-star in 2015 and now has two children. In September, Moore, who released her memoir this year, told WSJ magazine: "I am focusing on my relationship with myself."
Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez (2011)
The powerful Latin pop couple married in 2004 and reportedly clashed over personal and professional issues before announcing their separation in 2011. They have remained friendly in the public eye, however, as they are parents of both. twins, Max and Emme.
What next steps: Their divorce wasn't final until 2014, which gave both stars plenty of time to begin other meaningful relationships. Anthony married model Shannon de Lima in 2014 and divorced her in 2017. The “Hustlers” star dated former backup dancer Casper Smart for a time and is now engaged to baseball legend Alex Rodriguez.
Kris Humphries and Kim Kardashian (2011)
Kardashian's marriage to Humpries, an NBA player, her second partner, came and went in 2011, lasting just 72 days. Humphries accused Kardashian of fraud and wanted an annulment, but ultimately agreed to a divorce. Finalized in 2013, the divorce took eight times longer than the marriage.
What Next Steps: Long before her divorce was final, Kardashian announced that she was pregnant with Kanye West's child. They were married in 2014 and have four children. Humphries auctioned Kardashian's engagement ring in 2013 and announced her retirement from the NBA this year.
Russell Brand and Katy Perry (2011)
Perry and Brand hit it off in September 2009 while rehearsing for the MTV Video Music Awards. They started dating and he proposed to her on New Years Eve while on a trip to India. Their traditional Hindu wedding, same in India, took place in October 2010, followed by the fact that the couple realized that they had different priorities in life.
So yeah, they clashed, and she was on her California Dreams tour for most of 2011. Two years after the day she got engaged, Brand texted Perry to tell him that she was filing for divorce. her.
What steps they took: Brand refused to take a share of the $ 44 million Perry had earned during her marriage, despite being entitled to half. In 2017, Brand married Laura Gallacher, whom he had dated since 2007, and they have two daughters. Perry dated John Mayer and Diplo before meeting Orlando Bloom in 2016. They got engaged in February and said they would get married in December.
Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise (2012)
Cruise and Holmes got engaged after dating during a seven-week whirlwind in 2005, then welcomed daughter Suri and had a Scientologist-belief wedding ceremony in Italy the following year. Five and a half years later, Holmes surprised him by filing for a divorce. The couple, who had a prenuptial agreement, signed an agreement 11 days later.
What Next Steps: Holmes, who returned to the Catholic Church, has primary custody of Suri and was romantically linked to Jamie Foxx for six years; Since her third divorce, Cruise has released eight movies, with a "Top Gun" sequel for 2020.
Caitlyn Jenner and Kris Jenner (2013)
After more than two decades of marriage, the “momager” and the 1976 Olympic gold medalist Bruce Jenner announced in late 2013 that they had been living apart for a year. Their union was over. The following year, the terms of their divorce were set, and by early 2015, they were officially single.
What Next Steps: Caitlyn Jenner announced her transition in April 2015, did two seasons of the docuseries “I Am Cait” and stayed on as part of “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” in 2017. Kris Jenner has been dating Corey Gamble, 25 years younger than her, since she met him at a 2014 party in Ibiza, Spain.
Khloé Kardashian and Lamar Odom (2013)
The two dated for a month and were married for four years, then Kardashian requested to end her marriage to Odom after the former NBA star's struggles with drugs and women were too much. But two years later, when he nearly died in a Nevada brothel and was undergoing a lengthy rehabilitation, the divorce papers were retracted, which had been stuck awaiting a judge's signature. The divorce was finally finalized in late 2016.
What Next Steps: Kardashian had a daughter with basketball player Tristan Thompson in 2018 and then broke up with him this year amid a cheating scandal involving the former best friend of her half-sister, Kylie Jenner. Odom, who had had a couple of relapses after his trip to rehab in 2016, got engaged in November to health and life coach Sabrina Parr after three months of dating.
Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin (2014)
The separation of Paltrow and Martin introduced the widely criticized term "conscious decoupling" to millions. The Oscar winner and Coldplay frontman announced their unorthodox separation after more than 10 years of marriage on Paltrow's website, Goop, in a very silly way: “We have always conducted our relationship privately, and we hope that as we consciously disconnect and share parenting, we can continue in the same way. "
What steps they took: The two remain publicly friendly, even as siblings, as they are parents to daughter Apple and son Moses. He has since dated a number of stars, including actresses Jennifer Lawrence and Dakota Johnson, and she married Brad Falchuk, the showrunner of "Glee" and "The Politician" in 2018.
Nick Cannon and Mariah Carey (2014)
They, after an exaggerated vow renewal, parted ways in 2014. The Grammy-winning singer and former “America’s Got Talent” host were married in the Bahamas on April 30, 2008, weeks after they began dating. Exactly three years later, they welcomed the "dem babies" - twins Moroccan and Monroe.
What Steps They Followed: The Christmas Queen is busy setting all kinds of Guinness World Records. She was also briefly engaged to billionaire James Packer. Apparently he hasn't moved too much, publicly professing his love for his ex-wife this year by saying that he would only remarry Carey, his “dream girl”.
Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck (2015)
The perfect cowards “Daredevil” announced their separation almost 10 years after they got married. The actors, who are parents to girls Violet and Seraphina and their son Sam, had parted ways long before a babysitting scandal broke out and questions about Affleck's sobriety were raised. Garner has continued to help the "Justice League" actor through some stints in rehab. They have remained friendly even when she infamously exposed it in a 2016 Vanity Fair interview, saying, “When her sun shines on you, you feel it. But when the sun shines elsewhere, it is cold. He can cast a great shadow. "
What Next Steps: Garner continues to wow home cooks with her "Pretend Cooking Show" on Instagram and has been linked with businessman John Miller since 2018. Affleck has dated Lindsay Shookus, producer of "Saturday Night Live."
Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert (2015)
It was the abrupt and unexpected divorce that shook the country music community - and Twitter that had gotten used to the eternal couple, married for four years, playfully ended tabloid rumors about their relationship online. Many questioned whether the love was even real after this divorce and pointed the finger at rumors of unsubstantiated deception.
What Steps They Followed: Mom's (and Dad's) broken heart didn't last that long. Shelton quickly began dating her “The Voice” co-star Gwen Stefani, who was also going through a high-profile split, and is still dating her. Lambert secretly married New York Police Officer Brendan McLoughlin in early 2019.
Michelle Rounds and Rosie O'Donnell (2015)
O'Donnell began dating Rounds, an executive search consultancy in mid-2011, and that December the talk show host announced to her studio audience that they were engaged. The couple married in New York the following June, just before Rounds underwent surgery to remove gastrointestinal tumors, but they separated in November 2014. O'Donnell filed for divorce, and it was settled in October 2015. Afterward After a legal battle, the comedian was left with custody of the child they had adopted together.
What next steps: At the end of 2019, after a one-year engagement, O'Donnell separated from Elizabeth Rooney, the Army veteran 23 years her junior, whom he had secretly been dating since 2017. Rounds married Krista Monteleone in late 2016 and had a child with her, then committed suicide in September 2017.
Gavin Rossdale and Gwen Stefani (2015)
Not long after Shelton and Lambert announced their separation, this powerful 90s musical couple announced their breakup after nearly 13 years of marriage. The No Doubt frontman and the Bush rocker made a mutual decision that, although "they would no longer be partners in marriage, we remain partners in parenthood and are committed to jointly raising our three children in a happy and healthy environment." .
What Next Steps: Stefani quickly bonded with “The Voice” co-star Shelton, who has taken on the role of her stepfather pretty well. The two also released a few duets together, including “Nobody But You” earlier this month. Rossdale has been linked to model Natalie Golba.
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie (2016)
Just like the A-list couple of Pitt and Jolie started off with a bang on the set of “Mr. & Mrs. Smith, ”the marriage abruptly dissolved in the same way. The longtime couple got engaged in 2012 and married in their French chateau in 2014 at the urging of their six children. But the union was transferred and dissected in Jolie's 2015 directing effort "By the Sea" (which the couple co-starred) and was pushed to the limit by allegations of abuse in 2016. The decision to divorce was made "for health reasons. of the family ”, they say.
What steps they followed: They really haven't. Not completely. When she filed for divorce from her in 2016, Jolie sought joint and full legal custody of her offspring, which Pitt objected to. The mega celebrities have yet to finalize the complicated split despite saying they would do so in private.
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard (2016)
Depp and Heard were married for only 15 months when she filed for divorce in May 2016. Days later Depp received a temporary restraining order, alleging that he had physically abused her. The couple reached an agreement in August, and Heard announced that she would donate her share of the $ 7 million divorce to two charities. She later got upset when Depp sent him straight to charities. Their divorce was official in January 2017.
How They Moved: Heard has dated multiple people since the split, including Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla and SpaceX. Depp, 55, was reportedly dating Polina Glen, a 24-year-old Russian dancer he met last year, but she left him in November. He also sued his ex-wife for defamation, seeking damages of $ 50 million.
Anna Faris and Chris Pratt (2017)
This divorce hurt all the "Take Me Home Tonight" fools and fans. The “Mom” star and the “Parks and Recreation” alumnus announced their separation in August 2017 after about eight years of marriage and resolved their divorce in late 2018. They share a son, Jack.
What Next Steps: Faris was linked to cinematographer Michael Barrett shortly after announcing her split, and she has repeatedly shared her reluctance to remarry. Pratt has continued his rise to stardom, spearheading major franchises such as "Jurassic World," "The Lego Movie" and the Marvel films "Guardians of the Galaxy." He officially joined the Kennedy dynasty last summer when he married Katherine Schwarzenegger, the daughter of Maria Shriver and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux (2018)
After 15 months of dating and a three-year engagement, Aniston and Theroux tied the knot in August 2015 at a birthday party for him that turned out to be a surprise wedding. The marriage did not last as long as the engagement, but they said they were still "good friends" when they announced their separation in December 2018.
How They Moved: They have remained good friends. The guy from the East Coast and the girl from the West Coast follow each other on Instagram. He was at his “Friendsgiving” party the day before Thanksgiving this year. And their individual dating lives, if they exist at all, have not been made public. Everything is alright.
Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth (2019)
Cyrus and Hemsworth began dating in 2008 when they starred in the Nicholas Sparks film “The Last Song,” then broke up, came back after a while, and were married in December 2018, just a month after the Malibu wildfire destroyed their home. Last August they separated and announced that "they remain dedicated parents to all of their animals that they share."
What steps they followed: Hemsworth has returned to the Australian city where his older brother Chris lives and has been seen with several women. Cyrus had an affair with Kaitlynn Carter, Brody Jenner's ex-wife, and is now a partner of singer Cody Simpson, another Australian.
