Heartbreak is awful, and chances are you’ve experienced it yourself at least once. Celebrities are not exempt from rejection, cheating and difficult circumstances. Material objects are much easier to deal with than lasting memories with a past lover. Sometimes, an ex’s presence will remain for years due to working in the same industry or raising children. When you constantly face scrutiny from being in the public eye, it’s difficult to properly heal from a dissolved relationship. Celebrities don’t want their breakups to overshadow their careers.
Reconciliation may occur after spending many years apart for self-discovery. Many people may not want to date right away after getting out of a relationship. Celebrities often seek closure to deal with their heartache by focussing their time on a particular activity. Immersing yourself in writing, your work and charitable organizations can be rewarding and cathartic in the midst of unsettling times. Some people need to spend lots of time dwelling on their past relationships in order to reflect on any lessons to take away for their future relationships. Here are 15 celebs who, unfortunately, couldn't recover after a breakup.
15 Katy Perry
Russell Brand didn’t turn out to be Katy’s Prince Charming after all. He sent her a text about his plans to file for divorce on December 31, 2011. Russell found it difficult to accept her busy professional life as a thriving singer and businesswoman.
Katy believes that he was originally looking for an equal but realized it was too much to handle. In an interview with Vogue in 2016, she stated that she hasn’t heard from him since she received that life-altering text message. Katy admitted that tortured souls seem to appeal to her and she has to figure out why.
The song, By The Grace of God from Katy’s album, Prism was written about her depression following her separation. Katy admitted to having suicidal thoughts around that painful time. Her 2015 Grammy performance of the pivotal song was empowering when a domestic abuse survivor spoke about the importance of love and understanding. Lately, she's cut her hair short post-breakup with Orlando Bloom, and sported an outrageous ensemble at this year's Met Gala.
14 Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer expressed in a raw interview for Marie Claire’s December 2016 issue that she was made to feel ashamed of her divorce from Brad Pitt in 2005. Brad Pitt started dating Angelina Jolie while filming Mr. and Mrs. Smith in 2004. Others were trying to make Jennifer feel guilty for no longer having a partner.
Additionally, she was upset that other people are criticizing her for being childless. Jennifer and Brad were married for 5 years. Jennifer was so sick of the endless scrutiny about her situation that she wrote an op-ed blog post that was published for The Huffington Post in July 2016. She believes that women experience much more objectification and criticism than men. Jennifer realized that she had been working towards her career for way too long and hard to be ridiculed by the media and the public.
13 Jessica Simpson
Jessica was married to Nick Lachey for 4 years. They were fairly young when they got married and even had a MTV reality television show called Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica. The last year of their marriage was challenging because Jessica was away in Louisiana to film The Dukes of Hazzard while Nick was in Sweden recording an album.
The separation was rough on Jessica because they split a day before American Thanksgiving, and Nick was missing from the family supper. Her relatives really liked Nick and were sad to hear about the end of their relationship. Nick’s mother also denoted that it was a difficult time for everyone. Jessica and Nick’s friends were caught off guard by the announcement. Even though rumours had been going around that they had split, their friends were still jolted.
12 Uma Thurman
Uma and Ethan Hawke were married for about 6 years. They have two children together, Maya and Levon. The former couple met on the set of Gattaca in 1996.
Uma described their split as 'excruciating' and that her self-esteem was deeply affected. It was the first time that Uma publicly spoke about the painful breakup to Oprah Winfrey on her talk show. Uma revealed that she was trying to stay cool for so long. Ethan has never admitted to cheating on Uma, but he did marry their nanny, Ryan Shawhughes, in 2008.
Attempting to hold back tears, Uma told Oprah that raising two children with someone else is a big deal. Even today, it seems almost impossible to communicate with her former partner due to emotional baggage and unresolved issues.
11 Nicole Kidman
Nicole and Tom Cruise were married for 11 years. The estranged couple adopted two children, Isabella and Connor.
Nicole expressed that she got married too young. When she was 27, she felt content raising her two children while already being married for 4 years. Following her split in 2001, she experienced loneliness. She told Oprah that going through a divorce is a nightmare. Nicole was on edge and upset when asked outright about her separation. She planned on taking things one day at a time.
There was somewhat of a silver lining for Nicole, as some of her most critically acclaimed work came out of that dark period. When she accepted an Academy Award for her performance in The Hours, it was the loneliest she had ever felt.
10 Kate Moss
Kate and Johnny Depp were in a volatile relationship for four years. Passion in their relationship soon turned into heated arguments. Sometimes, they were spotted in public shouting at each other.
Johnny Depp was even arrested, supposedly due to one of their loud spats. He was arrested again in 1994 due to criminal mischief for allegedly wrecking his hotel room. The police believed Johnny was intoxicated. Kate was also found in the hotel room, and she wasn’t injured. The charge against Johnny was dismissed, but he had to refrain from getting into trouble for six months.
In 2012, Kate explained that she cried for years since the end of the relationship. She hasn’t been able to find someone she could trust apart from Johnny. Kate would turn to him for any advice, and he would take care of her.
9 Ryan Phillippe
Ryan expressed how his divorce from Reese Witherspoon was difficult. He allegedly couldn’t get out of bed for months. It was the darkest and saddest period of his life.
By far the worst process to go through, but he feels better about the unfortunate situation every day. The couple recognized that their separation was upsetting not only for them, but for their children. They share their daughter, Ava, and son, Deacon.
Ryan and Reese starred in the movie Cruel Intentions. Being a part of the same industry can create tension due to external noise like dealing with tabloid magazines. It’s challenging when privacy is overlooked due to celebrity status. They were married for at least 7 years. There divorce was finalized in 2007. Today, the former couple remain on good terms. Ryan believes that getting serious at such a young age was a problematic factor.
8 Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer was crushed when Ben Affleck called off their engagement. She described the pain as if her heart was ripped out of her chest. All her dreams of living happily ever after with Ben were suddenly destroyed. It was the first time she experienced heartbreak and went to therapy. She learned that she had low self-esteem.
She met Ben on the set of Gigli in 2002. The film turned out to be a huge box office flop. They couple caused quite a commotion and were referred to as “Bennifer.” Jennifer hated hearing that name.
Jennifer’s music video, Jenny from the Block was controversial because it featured intimate footage of them. There are scenes where they are sunbathing on a yacht, wearing bathrobes, making out and sometimes Jennifer is seen only in lingerie.
7 Amy Poehler
Amy conveyed her sadness since her split from Will Arnett. She went into details in her memoir, Yes Please. The former couple separated in September 2012.
Amy felt the most alone while going through a divorce. Society kept reminding her about how frequent divorce happens and how it is considered to be common. She believed that no one was willing to hear about the certain ways of how she experienced pain.
Amy had to stop herself from going into too much detail about her divorce due to its personal and melancholy nature. Another reason she gave for withholding information about her separation was to make sure no one would find out any more about her private life. The exes have two sons, Archie and Abel. She’s proud of how well her boys turned out because of how they were raised by each parent.
6 Kris Jenner
Kris split from her husband Bruce (Caitlyn) Jenner after 22 years of marriage. At 57, Kris had previously cleared the air about her relationship being on the rocks. Bruce was spending a lot of time alone at their home in Malibu, while Kris was living in Calabasas.
Kris thought that her relationship with Bruce would continue to flourish into their older years. She believed they had quite a fabulous relationship. Kris felt that her ex was passive-aggressive when 20/20 with Diane Sawyer did an exclusive interview to reveal a big announcement about his gender transition.
By the time their divorce was finalized in December 2014, Bruce Jenner transitioned into Caitlyn Jenner. Caitlyn believed that Kris’ controlling behaviour was more of a problem than the gender transition. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Caitlyn also stated that his ex-wife wasn’t that nice due to mistreatment.
5 Taylor Swift
Taylor has already experienced many public break ups throughout her life. She’s written many songs about her past suitors. A couple of her recent songs are allegedly about her fragile relationship with Harry Styles. At the time, heartthrob Harry Styles was a member of the band, One Direction. The paparazzi captured dozens of pictures of Taylor and Harry on one of their early dates in Central Park.
She confessed that she felt mostly anxious throughout her past relationship. They were together for 3 months. Before an acoustic performance of her song, "Out of the Woods", she elaborates that the relationship's ambience was unpredictable and that their relationship would inevitably end.
Taylor admitted that the relationship wasn’t solid or healthy. It was complicated, but it was still valuable. She believes that there was something special about that fragility.
4 Sophia Bush
Sophia met Chad Michael Murray while filming the hit television series, One Tree Hill. The young couple got married in April 2005. Sophia and Chad separated after 5 months of marriage. They eventually divorced in December 2006.
She felt the experience was traumatic because it was so publicized. Sophia had to continue working with her ex-husband for years on the show. An open letter written by her was published in the February 2017 issue of Cosmopolitan.
Sophia described how she got caught up in the proposal even though she didn’t plan on settling down until her 30s. She chose to stay quiet about the breakup to draw more attention to other aspects of her life. Sophia recognized that the divorce had a significant impact on her.
3 Sarah Hyland
Unfortunately, Sarah was in an abusive relationship. Her ex-boyfriend, Matthew Prokop, received a permanent restraining order from the Modern Family star on September 19, 2014. She obtained the restraining order after he allegedly choked her and uttered threats to inflict damage to her dog and house. They were together for 5 years and broke up in August 2014.
Sarah and Matthew first met at an audition for High School 3 in 2008. They ended up co-starring in Geek Charming, a Disney TV Movie. Her personal story resonated with television host, Meredith Vieira. Sarah discussed the importance of staying optimistic despite going through difficult times on the television show. She looks to particular literary works for perseverance. Sarah believes that negative experiences can lead to self-growth.
2 Gwen Stefani
Gwen revealed how hard it was to be married to Gavin Rossdale in several interviews. They are both performers and are from different countries. Gwen desperately wanted to make her marriage work, especially for her children. She has stated that the separation was painful.
Gwen and Gavin have three sons, Zuma, Apollo and Kingston. They remain committed to parenting their children. The couple were married for 14 years. In 2015, they announced their divorce. There were allegations that Gavin had an affair with his children’s nanny, Mindy Mann. It’s even more shocking because Mindy has a similar resemblance to Gwen with her platinum blonde hair. Mindy was considered to be part of the family, and she was supposedly their nanny for 3 years. Gwen cited “irreconcilable differences” as the cause for divorce.
1 Miley Cyrus
Miley was in need of a break from her on-again-off-again relationship since 2010 with Liam Hemsworth. They met while filming the romantic drama, The Last Song in 2009. In June 2012, the young stars announced their engagement. Miley’s rep confirmed that the couple called off their engagement in September 2013. Miley unfollowed Liam on Twitter.
Liam was caught making out with Eiza Gonzalez, a Mexican singer and actress a day after the announcement about the split from Miley. Heartbroken, Miley cried on stage while performing her song Wrecking Ball, allegedly about Liam. Consequently, she drastically changed her image from wholesome country girl to a completely wild and controversial twerk-chick. In an interview with Cosmopolitan in December 2013, Miley believes God wanted her to spend some time thinking about the end of her relationship.
Miley rebounded with Patrick Schwarzenegger in November 2014. The two of them parted ways in April 2015. Rumour was that Patrick was seen with another woman while on spring break a month earlier. Miley and Liam are officially engaged again after falling in love all over again. She denoted that she has been clean of any substance use in hopes to detox her life, and maybe even her image. If this stems from personal motivation or just to please her fiancé is left to be determined. Only time will tell!
