With everything notable we do captured on Instagram, it can be a little annoying to see photo after photo with the hashtag “#goals”. It’s #squadgoals, #bootygoals, #bodygoals, #relationshipgoals. We’re all trying to attain this level of perfection to be able to out-perfect even our most perfect friends! A lot of the time, this idea of relationship goals is a super cute photo of breakfast in bed or a sweet kiss – stuff that’s doable and wonderful. If you’re a celebrity (or someone super rich) however, it’s more about expensive gifts and lavish trips to show which relationship is “stronger”.
We’ve all got a few famous couples that are our absolute favorites and who we hope never split or our faith in love will die. (Mine personally are Anna Faris and Chris Pratt, Emily Blunt and John Krasinski, Olivia Wilde and Jason Sudeikis, and John Legend and Chrissy Teigen.) But what about the celeb couples that are anything but goals? These 15 pairs have cheating, violence, instability, fame-hunger, and all around crappiness that makes them the type of couples we NEVER want to be a part of. Let us know if you think there’s anyone we missed!
15 Khloe Kardashian & Tristan Thompson
Oh, Khloe. She can’t seem to get enough of her boyfriend-type of choice (sports stars) and it has yet to end in a happily ever after (See: Lamar Odom, James Harden, Matt Kemp), which is why it’s a little hard to believe that her current relationship with Cleveland Cavaliers pro Tristan Thompson will last.
First off, I wish Khloe the best. She’s been through a lot in her life, but she seems like one of those girls who is so desperate to find love and settle down into domestic bliss that she’s willing to take up with any guy, no matter how bad for her they are (looking at you, French Montana and The Game). It seems her pattern has repeated itself with Tristan, who dumped his pregnant girlfriend, Jordy Craig, to get with Khloe. Any man who is willing to cut and run from his baby mama just oozes irresponsibility, so this relationship doesn’t seem to be built on a solid foundation.
14 Hilary Duff & Jason Walsh
Just as I started writing this, it was reported that Hilary Duff and her personal trainer BF Jason Walsh are so yesterday, having split after a short five months of dating. Hmm, maybe it was the culturally appropriative costume they wore this past Halloween that began to drive the wedge between them?
Hilary seems like a sweet girl, but she also seemed torn between her life as a mom and life as arm candy for Jason. She’s kept up a regular and affectionate relationship with ex-husband Mike Comrie for the sake of their son, and that on-again off-again habit is clearly not making any subsequent relationship stable, at least for now. (Although it’s great that the two of them are providing a united front for their kid.) Plus, Jason just didn’t seem in Hilary’s league. She’s one of the least offensive pop stars around, and then the moment she steps out with Jason, they’re dressed as a pilgrim and Indian. Major fail, Hilary. Definitely not #relationshipgoals.
13 Ben Higgins & Lauren Bushnell
Look, any relationship that began on reality TV is more likely than not doomed to fail, because of the sheer level of publicity and fakeness that goes into keeping up appearances. Sure, there are a rare few success stories, but the “love” between Ben Higgins and Lauren Bushnell is not one of them.
First off, there’s the fact that Ben told Lauren he loved her AS WELL AS fellow contestant JoJo Fletcher. Girl, if your dude can't choose between you and someone else, make the decision for him and leave! Secondly, there’s the fact that their spin-off show, Ben & Lauren: Happily Ever After? failed after one season, and when you’re questioning the fate of your relationship in the title alone, what did you expect? This duo seems bent on achieving fame but they’re both so bland, no one really cares. Instead of doing it for themselves, they’re doing it for the cameras – and whoever else is still tuning in.
12 Mariah Carey & James Packer
I know these guys split recently, but they were too big a couple not to include in this list, and anyway, if a couple wasn’t meant to be and was definitely not #relationshipgoals, then how can we be surprised when it doesn’t turn out well?
Mariah Carey is well known for her lavish lifestyle, including her frequent wearing of designer gowns to everyday places like the subway or the park (or the swimming pool). James Packer seemed like the perfect fit for the outlandish Mimi, as a successful billionaire. There are conflicting reasons as to why the glittering, over-the-top couple split – some say his family hated her, others say her schedule was crazy – but most of it comes down to money. Similar to Ben and Lauren, Mariah was alleged to have been in it with James because of his obscene wealth, even planning an extravagant wedding after a mere seven months of dating. Mariah isn’t too hurt by the split, though – she’s already dating someone new!
11 Blac Chyna & Rob Kardashian
The second Kardashian to appear on this list, but definitely not the last. Like his sister Khloe, Rob Kardashian has been unlucky in love, from fizzling relationships to public blow-ups with exes Rita Ora and Adrienne Bailon. It seems that Rob has found a person who will be with him through thick and thin, though, in Blac Chyna and with the beautiful baby daughter they created together.
So why are they included in a list of celebrity couples who are so not relationship goals? Because of the family dynamic. Blac is the ex and baby mama of Tyga, Rob’s stepsister Kylie Jenner’s boyfriend, and it’s been reported for ages that Blac and mom Kris Jenner don’t see eye to eye on anything. Blac is a woman who does things her own way, and her take-charge attitude has helped Rob stand up to his domineering family, but it’s also driven a wedge between him and the Kardashian matriarch. Sorry, Rob and Blac, but if you can’t play nice with the fam, we can’t say that you’re #goals.
10 Heidi Montag & Spencer Pratt
Ugh, where to start with these two? What began as a romance on MTV’s The Hills has transformed into two weddings (one legal), tons of surgery, loads of crystal collecting, and divorce rumors that were sent out to fan the media fire. As one of the most disliked couples in the history of reality TV (or entertainment, really), Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt are too fake to be considered anyone’s relationship goals.
Any boyfriend who expects you to sever ties with your BFF is not worth keeping around, especially if that boyfriend is spreading rumors about that friend. While the couple were made out to be the villains on the show, they were fully aware of their role and seemed to relish it (Spencer especially). The fame-hungry couple just seem beyond any help, and their attention-getting tactics are tiresome, which is why we’ve included the peroxide duo on this list!
9 Leann Rimes & Eddie Cibrian
Any relationship that is born out of cheating can’t really be goals, because you have to look at the people they’ve screwed over in the past. For singer Leann Rimes, it was husband Dean Sheremet and for Eddie Cibrian it was Real Housewives star and avid Tweeter Brandi Glanville.
There has been a lot of hate flying back and forth for years between the newish couple and their spurned lovers, but that hasn’t seemed to make Leann and Eddie slow down their public love affair. (There are way too many gross, PDA-heavy vacation photos of the two.) Fortunately, the hatchet has more or less been buried and Eddie and Leann are looking into having a child together (Eddie already has two sons with Brandi). But, because of the contentious nature of their coupling and the fact that no one in this love square seems all that likable (at least Brandi is entertaining), we have to include them on the list. #sorrynotsorry
8 Taylor Swift & Anyone
With possibly the exception of Taylor Swift and Calvin Harris (before things got messy), Taylor Swift and whomever she gets with simply aren’t relationship goals. Whichever man she chooses as her next boyfriend will inevitably be subjected to such public scrutiny that nothing they do can seem genuine, and because so many people are simply sick of seeing Taylor!
A relationship that becomes fodder for every song and album she makes just isn’t worth getting into, which is why I can’t declare her pairings with Jake Gyllenhaal, John Mayer, Harry Styles, Joe Jonas, Taylor Lautner, Tom Hiddleston, and Conor Kennedy to ever be something to aspire to. Like I said, Taylor and Calvin were #goals because of how low-key they seemed (and remember that adorable swan picture?). Every relationship before and since, however, has been a PDA-filled, publicity-laden affair that made Taylor less likable by the minute (and a bit of an ongoing pop culture joke).
7 Emma Roberts & Evan Peters
On-again, off-again, and on-again. Around and around the carousel we go! This cute duo met in 2012 on a movie set and had things pretty solid until the summer of 2013, when police were called to a domestic dispute. Evan Peters was found with a bloody nose and bite mark, which led them to suspect girlfriend Emma Roberts of domestic violence. She was arrested, he pressed no charges. Our next stop is an engagement over the holidays of 2013, before breaking up in June 2015.
But we’re not done yet! The pair was back together three months later … before calling it quits again in May 2016. As if to show that he was serious, Evan deleted all traces of Emma from his Instagram – harsh! But, despite the two going on to date other people, they reunited (again!) this past September. A relationship this up and down is way too full of drama and violence to be considered any kind of goals, but we hope the two find happiness somewhere – with or without each other.
6 Courtney Stodden & Doug Hutchison
This is a major entry into the “eww” file, as wannabe model and singer Courtney Stodden is only 22 years old and married to a man (actor Doug Hutchison) who’s 56. By the way, you're not alone in being unable to tell Courtney’s true age from the layers of makeup and extensive surgery she’s had done. The pair married when she was 16 and he was 50, with the permission of her mother. As a result of their unorthodox (and downright creepy) union, Doug’s agent quit, his family disowned him, and he received death threats.
Like many on this list, Courtney and Doug have also gone through ups and downs, including a separation agreement, reconciliation, vow renewal, pregnancy announcement, and miscarriage. While this couple is way too weird to ever be relationship goals, it’s additionally icky that Courtney’s own father is actually younger than his son-in-law! If you’d like another look at why this relationship is so not something you want to imitate, just take a look at any of their creepy holiday photoshoots!
5 Iggy Azalea & Nick Young
Another celebrity couple on this list who have since split, the pairing of Iggy Azalea and Nick Young was doomed from the get-go, as the rapper stated in an interview that she hated Nick when she first met him. Well, the only direction from here is up, right?
Not so fast. Nick was a genuine scumbag, so it seems that Iggy’s gut feeling was dead-on. Tons of cheating rumors have surfaced, including a leaked video of Nick bragging to his teammates about cheating on Iggy with other women. Adding insult to injury, Nick took up with his ex-girlfriend and baby mama, Keonna Green, and got her pregnant – again. Oh, and this was when he was engaged to Iggy, too. Getting screwed over and lied to like that – or feeling “shot in the chest”, as Iggy put it – is the type of bad news relationship that we never want to find ourselves in.
4 Kourtney Kardashian & Scott Disick
The Kardashian clan sure can pick them – not! Just recently, Kourtney Kardashian and Scott Disick have reportedly been reunited after a year and a half apart, and I’m not surprised to say I saw this coming. Kourtney has three kids with this guy, who has proven time and again that he’s kind of a waste of space and effort (although he does have some of the funniest lines on Keeping Up With the Kardashians).
The on-again, off-again nature of their relationship is exhausting for us to read about, so imagine what it’s like actually being in it! Amid rumors of cheating and drug addiction, Kourtney has gone back to this bad boy over and over again, excusing his bad behavior to offer her children a father figure and maybe because there’s a familiarity between the two. Their co-dependency is ridiculous, and a relationship so fraught with emotional manipulation and substance abuse is just not a good one to cling to, no matter how many cute kiddos come out of it.
3 Selena Gomez & Justin Bieber
They may be currently over, but it’s only a matter of time before Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber rekindle their flame. The pair started dating sometime in late 2010, hitting up the awards show circuit and popping up on one another’s Instagram in cute photos before breaking up for the first time in November 2012. Of course, they reunite again, and break up again, and Taylor Swift doesn’t approve, then Justin gets into legal trouble, then they get back together, and on and on it goes.
While it can be easy to dismiss this couple as the result of young love and intense passion, it’s the drama the fuels it that makes it so not relationship goals despite their sweet serenades to one another and steamy photo sessions. When the two took to Instagram to harp on each other (leading Justin to temporarily delete his account), it was further proof of how truly incompatible they really are. The heart may want what it wants, guys, but it’s too late now to say sorry.
2 Kylie Jenner & Tyga
This relationship started in the shadows, because Kylie Jenner was 16 at the time and Tyga was 24 and the father of a son with his ex, Blac Chyna. Aside from the age difference and the fact that Kylie wasn’t even legal when the two allegedly got together, the real reason this relationship isn’t goals is because Tyga is such a user. As a moderately successful rapper a few years ago, Tyga can’t compare to Kylie’s success as the head of a makeup empire and social media superstar with a famous name. She’s been known to buy him expensive gifts like fancy cars, while his presents to her have been repossessed because he hasn’t been able to make the payments.
That’s not to mention the cheating rumors, break-ups, and underage infidelity that Tyga has allegedly engaged in while he's been with Kylie. Tyga just seems like a washed-up rapper who’s using his girlfriend’s fame and money to keep himself comfortable – and that's anything but #goals.
1 Johnny Depp & Amber Heard
Another couple on this list that have since broken up, but this relationship was too explosive, too recent, and too public not to include on a list of couples that are definitely not relationship goals.
After Johnny Depp split from his longtime partner, Vanessa Paradis, with whom he has two children, he took up with Amber Heard in 2012 before the two got engaged in 2014. The duo looked odd, with Amber’s old Hollywood beauty next to Johnny’s ageing, scarf-happy, pirate-gypsy king. After about a year and half of marriage, the pair separated and filed for divorce. Later, Amber would claim domestic abuse at the hands of Johnny, who apparently regularly used alcohol and drugs which would enhance his violent rages. Johnny’s legal team came back at Amber, saying she was in fact the abusive one in the marriage, and that she was slandering Johnny in order to gain more money. The whole messy ordeal can be read more in-depth elsewhere, but it’s safe to say that just because two beautiful people get together doesn’t mean they’re #goals.
