When it comes to gossip in Hollywood, the topic that probably grabs headlines the most often is the dissolution of celebrity marriages. It seems like almost every week, there’s a famous couple’s marriage that breaks down. Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner. Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert. Megan Fox and Brian Austin Green. Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale. All these separations happened just within the last two months. It gives us pause and makes us question the sanctity of marriage.
And we all know how messy and tedious divorce proceedings can be so we tend to wonder why they put themselves through something so emotionally, mentally, and financially draining. Why not work things out and compromise, rather than parting due to “irreconcilable differences?” These women certainly had it rough when they broke up with their partners. Not only did it cause much stress, but it cost them an arm and a leg as well, no thanks to the fact that they had more money than their partners at the time of the separation.
15 Jane Seymour
According to her Wikipedia page, Jane Seymour is known for her roles as a Bond girl and the heroine in the film Somewhere in Time just as much as she is for having four husbands. She was married to her third husband David Flynn for 11 years, the longest marriage she has had so far. When they divorced Seymour was the one who had to pay, since she was the bigger earner of the two. She had to pay Flynn $10,000 a month and give him half the value of their $5 million mansion.
14 Kate Walsh
She’s best known for her role as Dr. Addison Montgomery in the medical drama show Grey’s Anatomy and later in her own show, Private Practice. Kate Walsh married movie executive Alex Young in 2007, but the marriage was short-lived. After only 15 months together, the couple decided to divorce due to irreconcilable differences. According to Marie Claire, Walsh settled with Young for the amount of $627,000, plus half of the royalties for the Private Practice episodes she filmed while they were married.
13 Anne Heche
After a highly-publicized relationship with Ellen DeGeneres, Anne Heche began dating Coley Laffoon, a cameraman. The pair married in 2001 and they had a son the following year. But the relationship disintegrated, with Heche saying that he was a deadbeat dad and Laffoon countering that she was crazy. The long battle in court was finally settled, with Heche agreeing to pay her ex a $515,000 lump sum and $3,700 a month in child support, as reported by People. Laffoon agreed to waive his rights on spousal support.
12 Kirstie Alley
Kirstie Alley gained fame as Rebecca Howe in the hit TV sitcom Cheers. At the time she was on the show, she divorced her husband of 14 years. Parker Stevenson was in no means as financially or professionally successful as Alley, by whom he has two children. According to ABC News, Stevenson told the media that the pair lived a lavish lifestyle while they were married and he requested for Alley to compensate him so that he could continue living in the lifestyle he was used to. Forbes reported that he agreed to a one-time payout of $6 million.
11 Kim Basinger
Before Kim Basinger married Alec Baldwin back in 1993, not very many people know that she was married previously to make-up artist Ron Britton, who was 15 years her senior. The marriage lasted for 9 years and they divorced in 1989, by which time Basinger was already a pretty successful actress and was earning big. As a result, she was ordered to pay Britton $12,000 a month in spousal support. She went through an even more dramatic divorce drama when she split from her second husband Baldwin.
10 Halle Berry
Even though she’s well and settled with husband Olivier Martinez, no one can really forget all the drama Halle Berry was ensnared in a few years back regarding her custody battle with her ex-boyfriend Gabriel Aubry. Berry shares a daughter with Aubry, but when the pair split it was anything but amicable and the issue was taken to court. Because Berry was the higher earner of the two, she was ordered to pay $16,000 a month to Aubry for child support, according to ABC News. She will continue to fork over payments to her ex until their daughter graduates from high school.
9 Christina Aguilera
She’s come a long way from her days as a member of the Mickey Mouse Club and today, Christina Aguilera is one of the music industry’s most popular stars. According to People, she married music marketing executive Jordan Bratman in November of 2005 and they had a son Max in 2008. But the marriage dissolved and Aguilera filed for divorce in 2010. A report in Madame Noir states that the couple had a pre-nuptial agreement, but Aguilera still paid Bratman an undisclosed amount so that she could move on as quickly as possible with her new boyfriend.
8 Roseanne Barr
Out of Roseanne Barr’s three husbands, her most well-known one is comedian Tom Arnold, whom she was married to for four years. When her lawyers advised her to obtain a pre-nup before the wedding, she was so incensed at their suggestion and promptly fired them. But she should have listened to them because the marriage went downhill and an ugly divorce battle ensued. According to Marie Claire, Arnold walked away with $50 million post-divorce.
7 Anna Faris
Before Anna Faris fell in love and married Chris Pratt, she was involved with another actor, Ben Indra whom she met while filming the indie film Lovers Lane. The two were married in 2004, but divorced three years later, citing irreconcilable differences. According to People, Faris, who was earning more than Indra, consented to paying her ex $900,000, as well as divide properties and acting royalties. She has since moved on with Pratt, by whom she has a son Jack.
6 Janet Jackson
She comes from the famous but troubled Jackson clan and as a testament to the family’s reputation of having very colorful personal lives, Janet Jackson has been married three times. Her second husband was choreographer Rene Elizondo, Jr., whom she was married to for eight years. When the couple divorced, Elizondo asked for alimony, even filing a multiple lawsuit against Jackson. Just to get everything over and done with and move on with her life, she agreed to pay him $10 million.
5 Elizabeth Taylor
She had as much jewelry (possibly more) as she did husbands, having married eight times to seven different men. Elizabeth Taylor’s last husband was construction worker Larry Fortensky, who was 20 years younger than the legendary actress. The public scoffed at the union because of the age gap and the immense difference in social status. The marriage lasted for all but five years and Fortensky asked for $6 million as a settlement. Taylor refused and in the end, paid him a mere $1 million.
4 Martina Navratilova
Back in the early 1980s when homosexuality was still considered taboo, tennis great Martina Navratilova bravely came out of the closet. At first, she said she was bisexual, then later identified herself as a lesbian. According to The Daily Mail, Navratilova has had financial run-ins with two of her ex-lovers. She dated Judy Nelson for eight years and paid her an alleged $3.5 million after the split. Then after a bitter break-up with Toni Layton, Navratilova was again forced to pay up after Layton threatened to expose the tennis star’s secrets. That threat cost Navratilova a cool $3 million.
3 Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lopez has been married three times to men who were less bankable than the Latina beauty. Her second husband Cris Judd was a former back-up dancer who caught Lopez’s eye. They were engaged and married in a heartbeat and eight months later, the union ended in divorce. Given their respective financial situations, Lopez was expected to pay up as part of the divorce negotiations. Judd was able to walk away with an impressive $15 million.
2 Britney Spears
Britney Spears’ relationship with Kevin Federline began the way it ended: in the blink of an eye. But not after they had two little boys in succession. After three years of marriage, they filed for divorce and Spears’ behavior turned disturbing. She showed signs of being a neglectful mother, prompting the courts to give temporary physical custody of her sons to Federline. According to eonline, the divorce was finalized and Federline was to receive $15,000 a month in child support. For a time, he was also receiving $20,000 a month in spousal support from Spears.
1 Madonna
Her ex-husband Guy Ritchie is no pauper, as he’s successful in his own right as a film director. But if your partner is worth more than $800 million, it’s pretty hard not to be viewed as a gold digger. Madonna and Ritchie were married for a good eight years and they share two children together. When the couple divorced, the settlement went into the history books as one of the biggest divorce dole outs, not to mention the fact that the payer was a woman. According to ABC News, Madonna paid Ritchie approximately $85 million, though the pair has denied it and has kept mum on the exact amount.
Sources: abcnews.go.com, dailymail.co.uk, people.com, marieclaire.com
