Relationships are funny things. When we aren't in one, we're wondering what we're missing out on and trying to meet new people to find that special someone (which is hard, not to mention socially and emotionally exhausting). Then, once we're in a relationship, we're flying high and super happy. Usually. Once the initial high wears off, we start noticing the little things that drive us crazy and then comes the dreaded breakup. Breakups are awful; there is pain and crying, hurt feelings and harsh words thrown around. And that's just how normal relationships go.
In Hollywood, there are the added pressures of star status and being in the public eye all the time. Some stars manage to break up smoothly and stay friends afterward. Others explode across social media and the tabloids as their personal battle rages across front page news. And then there are the indecisive on-again-off-again couples who keep us all equally entertained and exasperated by their constant breakups and reunions. Here's a list of stars who got broken up with in heartbreaking ways. Obviously celebs are in fact human so they do deserve our sympathy, because going through a break up is never easy, no matter how famous you are.
15 Katy Perry: Got A Divorce Over Text Message
Singer and songwriter Katy Perry is hugely successful now but back in 2010, she was still building her career and creating a name for herself. That requires a lot of work, effort, and focus. So, it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise when her short spontaneous marriage to Russell Brand fell apart in 2013, after only 14 months together.
According to Huffington Post, Perry had this to say about the divorce:
"Let’s just say I haven’t heard from him since he texted me saying he was divorcing me December 31, 2011.”
She further added that Brand turned out to be a controlling person which wasn't a good thing for their relationship. It took awhile for Perry to recover from the shock of being dumped via text message.
14 Jennifer Lopez: Hold The Bells
Jennifer Lopez's relationships are usually high profile and well-known by the press and media at large. Back in 2003, she was a rising name in the film industry (which she's thoroughly conquered now) and was engaged to fellow actor Ben Affleck.
But the day before their wedding, Jennifer was in for a very unpleasant surprise.
Turns out that Ben wasn't so keen to get married after all.
Though they blamed the wedding breakup on the media, there were other issues at play. According to Elle, Jennifer said, "When Ben and I split up at the moment when I thought we were committing to each other forever, it was my first real heartbreak. It felt like my heart had been torn out of my chest."
13 Taylor Swift: 25 Second Phone Call
Way back when Taylor Swift was 18, had golden curls, an innocent persona and was America's darling, she got her heart broken. Her breakup with Joe Jonas was the first in a string of breakups for the young star.
According to Elle, Swift said, “It's like when I find that person that is right for me, he'll be wonderful and when I look at that person I'm not even going to be able to remember the boy who broke up on the phone with me in 25 seconds when I was 18." Ouch. We honestly can't believe Joe would be so cold, he generally seems like a nice guy. Nobody really knew who Taylor was talking about in the above quote until she hosted SNL and basically outed Joe as the culprit in her monologue song.
12 Ariana Grande: Broken Up With Right Before Going On Stage
Ariana Grande was on tour in 2013 and was in the midst of getting ready for her first performance of the tour. She was excited and focused on her performance when her phone pinged. It was a text from her then-boyfriend Jai Brooks who was breaking up with her. Something like that would have ruined anyone else's evening, but she still had a show to perform. Grande pulled through and came out stronger but that was still pretty poor timing on Brooks' part.According to Elle, Grande had this to say on the incident:
"The worst way I've been broken up with would probably be over a text message the opening night of my tour right before I was about to go on stage."
Now that's a new low. Grande seems to have gotten over it though as she is now in a devoted relationship with Mack Miller.
11 Jennifer Aniston: Brangelina Won That Round
At the close of the iconic ’90s, Jennifer Aniston met Brad Pitt and the two were married in 2000. But their relationship was short-lived. They filed for divorce in 2005, with many speculating it was due to Brad having fallen for Angelina Jolie. This caused widespread press attention and lots of media coverage on a very personal matter for Aniston. She went on to date other guys with mixed success but her marriage to Brad is now Hollywood history.
According to Elle, she said afterward, "He makes his choices. He can do—whatever. We're divorced, and you can see why." In an interview with Vanity Fair, she added that he was missing a sensitivity chip somewhere in his mental programming. As his ex-wife, she'd know firsthand if that's true or not.
10 Brad Pitt: Karma Came Back Around
After the high-profile divorce of Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt, Pitt went on to date and eventually marry Angelina Jolie. They had six kids together (four were adopted), and they were very much Hollywood's new "It" couple.
But in 2016, Jolie filed for divorce, seeking full physical custody of their children. It left everyone truly shook.
As he readjusts and grieves the loss of his marriage, Brad works to co-parent. According to Variety, he takes responsibility for the marriage ending saying, "I’m really, really happy to be done with all of that. I mean, I stopped everything except [drinking] when I started my family. But even this last year, you know—things I wasn’t dealing with. I was [drinking] too much. It’s just become a problem." We're not saying karma bit him for what he did to Jen...but it sure seems that way.
9 Minnie Driver: Broken Up With On A Talk Show
In 1998, the Hollywood "It" couple was Minnie Driver and Matt Damon. Their careers were on an upward trajectory and they were incredibly glamorous together. But apparently, they weren't very good at clear communication. One month Damon was singing her praises on the David Letterman Show and the next he's on Oprah announcing to everyone (including Minnie) that he was single. This obviously took everyone by surprise.According to Elle, Minnie has this say about the incident,
"It's unfortunate that Matt went on Oprah; it seemed like a good forum for him to announce to the world that we were no longer together, which I found fantastically inappropriate."
Other Hollywood scandals soon eclipsed theirs but getting dumped on national television isn't something we'd wish on anyone.
8 Rachel McAdams: True Love Doesn't Last
Ironically, what started out as a tense working relationship led to a cute whirlwind romance and then finally a surprise mutual conclusion for Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams. They met while filming The Notebook and right off the bat they couldn't stand each other at all. After a screaming match, things leveled out a bit.
Once the film was all said and done, they found themselves dating and fans everywhere went wild. But just as quickly and not too surprisingly, things cooled back off and they ended things agreeably.
According to Huffington Post, Ryan had this to say on the whole affair, "The only thing I remember is we both went down swingin’ and we called it a draw." At least they both tried to make it work.
7 Jennifer Garner: Despite It All, She Still Tries To Co-Parent
Ben Affleck doesn't exactly have the greatest record for relationships but his marriage to Jennifer Garner was by far the most successful and longest-lasting of his romantic relationships. So, when rumors of divorce were confirmed by the couple announcing their separation, everyone was a bit thrown off course.
Immediately, rumors surfaced of Ben having had an affair with the nanny who was fired by Jennifer before the separation became public.
Those rumors faded eventually and the couple put in the extra effort to maintain a friendly relationship to co-parent their children and they still technically live together.
According to E!, Jennifer addressed the nanny rumors openly, "We had been separated for months before I ever heard about the nanny. She had nothing to do with our decision to divorce. She was not a part of the equation."
6 Robert Pattinson: It Was Front-Page News
Fans of the Twilight saga were over the moon when they found out that the stars, Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, were dating for real. But after five years, something was bound to break and break it did. Pattinson found out that his girlfriend, Kristen was unfaithful all thanks to the tabloids with their tell-all photos. Kristen was seen getting close with Huntsman director, Rupert Sanders.
After the initial explosion, the couple attempted to reconnect but Pattinson couldn't quite get past the broken trust and pain she'd brought him so they called it quits for good. Afterward, he seemed to have found peace with the decision and told People, "The hardest part was talking about it afterward. Because when you talk about other people, it affects them in ways you can’t predict.”
5 Rita Ora: She Heard It On Twitter First
One of the lowest ways to break up with someone is via texting, as we all know. But Tweeting it is also a big no-no in this social day and age. So, when Rita Ora woke up one morning and found her Twitter feed full thanks to her then-boyfriend, Calvin Harris, tweeting that they were over without talking to her first, we can definitely sympathize with her heartbreak and confusion.
According to Elle, she said,
"It was more of a thing where I was in awe. I was at that point in my relationship where I felt he could do no wrong..."
"...I thought he had my back and that he'd never steer me wrong. But then ‘I Will Never Let You Down’ came out, and everything started to go a bit weird. I don't know if it was because business was mixed with personal or what."
4 Kris Humphries: He Actually Wanted To Make Things Work With Kim
Back in 2011, before Kanye came around, Kim made headlines for her whirlwind romance and marriage to Kris Humphries. And then more headlines for dumping him just 72 days into their marriage.
Reportedly, poor Kris found out via TMZ and not directly from Kim herself which is definitely very odd. How do you not tell your husband you want a divorce?
The breakup took the young basketball star by surprise and he wanted to work on the marriage but Kim was on a different page.
Afterward, according to Daily Mail, she said, "I think when you know so deep in your heart that you just listen to your intuition and follow your heart, there's no right or wrong thing to do." That didn't answer a lot of questions but it sounds nice and neutral.
3 Sandra Bullock: She Gave The Relationship Her All
In 2010, Sandra Bullock was happily married to tattooed bad boy Jesse James, which made many people scratch their heads and wonder at the odd pairing. But Sandra was happy and doted on her man—right up till she found out he had an affair behind her back. Later on, he publicly stated it was because she didn't make him feel loved. The couple cut ties completely and don't speak to this day.
According to The Daily Beast, James later said, "I think it was several factors: ego, loneliness, distrust, which probably led to resentment. When you have a certain amount of shame and guilt in your life that spurs from other stuff, you can manufacture resentment in any situation; because I’m not getting the attention I need or the love that I need, when all I had to do was ask for it and she would give it to me."
2 Sophia Bush: Mixing Professional And Personal
Actress Sophia Bush began her career in her 20s with One Tree Hill and fell in love with the show and her handsome co-star Chad Michael Murray. The couple quickly got married in 2005 but after only five months, things went south and they were divorced that same year. Rumors were that Chad actually had an affair with Paris Hilton while married to Sophia.
According to Us Weekly, it was a traumatic time for Sophia. She wrote,
"I refuse to let that one relationship define me, which is why I've done my best to avoid discussing it for 10 years..."
"...The reality is that, yes, it was a massive event in my life. And the trauma of it was amplified by how public it became, which was incredibly foreign and bizarre to a girl who'd been just another college kid 24 months before her life blew up."
1 Jordin Sparks: She Got Ghosted
Singer and songwriter Jordin Sparks was happily dating her boyfriend of three years, Jason Derulo, when things started going sideways. They had a couple's argument over something minor and he stopped talking to her. When he finally decided what he wanted to say, he was supposedly out of town so he just called her up and broke things off. At least that's sort of better than a text.
According to Elle, afterward, Jordin explained, "I'm the type of person who needs communication, right, and I'm like, 'We need to talk about this so we can move past it.' I'm like that with all of my relationships, whether it's friendships or not." When one person in the relationship prioritizes communication while the other one clams up, friction sets in and nothing productive occurs.
References: HuffingtonPost, Elle, Variety, HuffingtonPost, EOnline, People, DailyMail, DailyBeast, UsMagazine
