Ghosting - the worst way to break up with someone. In short, ghosting is cutting off someone you have been in regular communication with - no longer answering the phone, replying to messages or even blocking them on all social media accounts. In a recent poll by recent You Gov, they reported that 11% of adults had ‘ghosted’ someone over the course of their lifetime - so that's a lot of people out there doing the evil deed.
Psychotherapist Jennice Vilhauer told Psychology Today, "Ghosting is the ultimate use of the silent treatment, a tactic that has often been viewed as a form of emotional cruelty. It essentially renders you powerless and leaves you with no opportunity to ask questions or be provided with information that would help you emotionally process the experience. It silences you and prevents you from expressing your emotions and being heard, which is important for maintaining your self-esteem."
These following celebrities know those feelings all to well as they too have been ghosted. Proving that it doesn't matter how huge a star you are, rejection is still very painful.
15 Katy Perry
Katy Perry hit rock bottom following her divorce from Russell Brand. The pair married in 2010, then two years later Brand sent Perry a text message asking for a divorce - then switched his phone off and never spoke to her again. When The Telegraph asked the Fireworks singer if she was on speaking terms with her ex-husband, she replied, "He hasn't spoken to me since he texted me saying he was filing for divorce."
According to Brand on his documentary The Second Coming, his reasons were that he no longer enjoyed '(being) associated with the very thing I detest: vapid, vacuous, plastic, constructed, mindless celebrity. That's the very sea we're swimming in, 'Oh, who's he?' ... 'He's married to Katy Perry.'" Still - quite a brutal way to cut your own wife off.
14 Mariah Carey
Nobody likes being ghosted and many of us really don't know how to deal with this when it happens - especially Mariah Carey. Despite being considered one of the most desirable women in the world, she was ghosted by rapper Eminem (yes, believe it or not these two were actually thing) and he would not return her calls. He said that he had to put up with her "psycho a**" for six months.
Eminem revealed during his Anger Management tour, that Carey would then bombard his voicemail with messages as she sobbed down the phone, "Why won’t you see me? Why won’t you call me?” Although Mariah’s spokesperson claimed an “imposter” had left these voicemails. Remember rule number one of being ghosted: don't leave endless messages - just walk away.
13 Leonardo DiCaprio
There is only one woman on the planet who has ghosted Hollywood heartthrob Leonardo DiCaprio and that's Blake Lively. The Gossip Girl star had a good reason though - she was moving on to Ryan Reynolds. Lively and DiCaprio were an item for five months and a source told US Weekly, "(I have) never seen him like this with a girl. She spent the whole time baking... Leo's never dated a girl who can cook. And he's smitten!"
Ryan Reynolds confirmed what had gone down as he told People, "(Blake and I) went on a double date - she was on a date with another guy and I was on a date with another girl - and it was like the most awkward date for the respective parties because we were just like fireworks coming across." Lively then left DiCaprio, ditching him and never speaking with him again, and has since married Reynolds - they have two children together.
12 Taylor Swift
Let's rewind back to 2011, when Taylor Swift was dating Jake Gyllenhaal and the pair were photographed hand in hand almost everywhere. But then the brief romance ended when he ghosted her in the harshest way possible - by not showing up to her own 21st birthday party. A source told Perez Hilton online, "Taylor thought maybe he was planning some sort of surprise. Nope. He didn’t show up and she locked herself in the bathroom and cried the entire night."
Of course in true Swift-style, she wrote a song about the split, The Moment I Knew, and the lyrics read: "Should've burst through the door...How you said you'd be here, You said you'd be here." Apparently the age difference between the pair was too much for Gyllenhaal and he just cut her off.
11 Tom Cruise
Many are surprised Katie Holmes managed to stay married to Tom Cruise for six whole years, as we would have ghosted him the second he jumped up on Oprah Winfrey's famous couch and embarrassed her in front of the whole world. Holmes finally called it day, packed up her and daughter Suri's things and fled without giving her Mission: Impossible star husband any notice.
From that day, Holmes switched her phone number, would not reveal her home address and Cruise could only contact her via lawyers. The pair got a quickie divorce and he is now ordered to pay Holmes $400,000 per year until Suri is 18-years-old. Former Scientology member, Ron Miscavige, revealed to Daily Mail that Holmes ran out on her husband when he moved members of the church into their family home. We would have run too.
10 Jordin Sparks
An anonymous guy ghosted Jordin Sparks, the No Air singer revealed to The Breakfast Club radio show. It was the typical case of having that first argument and instead of patching things up - one half just decides to bail. She explained, "We had an argument or this little tiff or whatever, and I apologized because I was like, 'Okay, that came out totally wrong.'"
Continuing, "It just got really awkward, so I was like, 'Okay, I'm sorry, I apologize.’ I asked him if we were good, and he said, 'Yeah, we're good.' But he helped me with my bag to the car, he kissed me, told me he loved me, then stopped calling me." The mystery man may be Jason Derulo - who was dating the singer for a couple of years before they split because there was "too much tension."
9 Olivia Wilde
Olivia Wilde has been married to Horrible Bosses' Jason Sudeikis for five years and the pair have two children together. They are one of the sweetest, made-for-each-other couples, but they almost weren't a thing at all. According to Wilde, Sudeikis decided to play the ghosting game when they first started dating and despite having her phone number he didn't call.
The House actress told Howard Stern, "(When they first started dating) he was really like cool. He played it really cool." She added, "When he got my number, he didn't text me for a month. (She asked her friends) 'You guys, did Jason Sudeikis die?' I don't have any texts from him." No man in their right mind would ghost Wilde but clearly he has come to his senses now.
8 Edgar Wright
Edgar Wright, director of Ant-Man and Shaun of the Dead, started dating Anna Kendrick in 2009, after meeting on the set of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. They split after four years together when the funny woman and Pitch Perfect star decided to ghost him.
Although Wright doesn't have to take it personally as Kendrick told Buzzfeed that she ghosts guys she's dating all the time - still, after a four year relationship it does seem quite a harsh way to call it a day. She revealed, "I ghost everybody all the time. I’m the queen of the French exit. None of you will ever hear from me again." Kendrick is now dating cinematographer Ben Richardson - but he had better keep a close eye on her.
7 Christian Bale
Things could have been very different for Christian Bale and Drew Barrymore after the pair started dating each other many years ago. The Dark Knight actor told GQ Australia, "(Me and Drew Barrymore) went to see some bloody awful horror film, and that was the end of it. She never called again." We would like to know what film was so bad that he was ghosted after it.
Bale has now been happily married for nearly 17 years, whereas Barrymore hasn't exactly had the same luck. She was married to comedy actor Tom Green for just over a year, before remarrying in 2012 to actor Will Kopelman - the relationship ended four years later, which made it divorce number three for the Charlie's Angels actress.
6 Sean Penn
Sean Penn and Charlize Theron were set to become Hollywood's hottest power couple, but then Theron decided to ghost her fellow A-Lister even though the pair were engaged. A source told US Weekly, "Charlize wasn’t responding to his calls and texts. She just cut it off." The split came completely out the blue as another source told the magazine that during Cannes film festival "(they) looked very happy together with no signs of tension or a breakup."
Since the split, Theron has moved on as she has been spotted on dates with Family Guy creator Seth McFarlane, Taken actor Liam Neeson and even Swift's ex-boyfriend Jake Gyllenhaal. Whereas for Penn, he managed to bag 24-year-old Australian actress Leila George and they have been dating for six months now.
5 Ciara
Rapper 50 Cent and singer Ciara were a couple made in hip hop heaven - but sadly it was not meant to be. Things went sour when 50 Cent ghosted Ciara so he could start dating comedian and chat show host Chelsea Handler.
The drama didn't end there, as Ciara was clearly a woman scorned and despite 50 Cent ignoring her calls, she continued to try and communicate with him, which eventually led to the breakdown of his new relationship. The Candy Shop rapper revealed to Howard Stern that Ciara caused "a lot of tension" between them.
Although nowadays the 1, 2 Step singer has really calmed down in the bunny boiler stakes. She settled down and had a son with rapper Future, but the couple split and she is now expecting her second child with NFL star Russell Wilson.
4 Kim Kardashian
Ray J is not just the guy responsible for making Kim Kardashian famous but also for breaking her heart. When the pair was very young and dating, he claimed that she cheated on him and cut off all contact. Fast forward ten years later and the truth was finally revealed when Ray J appeared on the the UK version of Celebrity Big Brother.
He told other housemates that Kim "played him" but Stacey Francis (who is also an ex-girlfriend of his and was once close friends with Kim) argued, "(Kim) was really into you, really in love with you." She also told Ray J that when he cut all ties with Kim, she was left in tears wondering about what she had done wrong. Looks like he made a huge mistake as she has since gone on to become one of the wealthiest reality television stars of all time.
3 Beyonce
It's hard to believe that any man would kick Beyonce to the curb but her first boyfriend from when she was a teenager, Lyndall Locke, did just that. In an interview with Mail Online he revealed, "There was a Beyoncé train on the fast track to fame and you were either on it or off it. Some people fell off the train and others jumped." He added that he called it quits as he wasn't ready for a superstar girlfriend, adding, "I saw the changes in her. She needed someone like Jay Z to take her to the next level."
Beyonce suffered from depression following the split, which hit her at the same time there were problems in the Destiny's Child band. Now she is stronger than ever and her relationship with Locke is forever immortalized in the song Best Thing I Never Had.
2 Brad Pitt
After 12 years together, Angelina Jolie walked out on Brad Pitt, taking their six children with her, and now refuses to speak with him instead requesting all communication through her lawyer, divorce attorney to the stars Laura Wasser. The rumor mill went into overdrive as there were accusations of Pitt having an affair with French actress Marion Cotillard and also reports claimed he had lashed out at his oldest son, 15-year-old Maddox Jolie-Pitt.
The divorce came as such a shock to everyone and even Pitt's BFF George Clooney had no idea the legalities were in motion when questioned by the press. Despite being blindsided by his wife, Pitt continues to fight for custody of his children in a divorce settlement that could allegedly cost the couple $10 million.
1 Drake
Rihanna did not just ghost Drake once - but twice. In 2010, when the couple first split after a brief fling, he told the New York Times, "I was a pawn. You know what she was doing to me? She was doing exactly what I’ve done to so many women throughout my life, which is show them quality time, then disappear. I was like, wow, this feels terrible."
The couple reunited six years later and Drake even publicly declared his feelings for the Love On The Brain singer. But then RiRi was up to her old tricks again, this time even going as far as unfollowing and blocking the Canadian rapper on Instagram. Now he has moved on to date Jennifer Lopez (who RiRi also unfollowed when she heard the news) he is clearly out to prove that this time he's over it.
Sources: usmagazine.com, dailymail.co.uk
