11 Celebrities Who Weren’t Afraid to Tell the World How Hard Their Breakups Were
Marilyn Monroe once said that “Sometimes good things fall apart, so better things can fall together.” However hopeful that may sound, people might not always feel it when they go through a breakup. All they feel during the first period is grief, pain, and sadness. And in the case of celebrities, they also have to deal with cameras and reporters who question them on what went on and why they broke up.
1. Winona Ryder and Johnny Depp
These 2 were a very popular couple back in the late 1980s and early 1990s, getting engaged only 5 months after they started dating. However, they broke up in 1993, something that left Winona very hurt. She struggled a lot with her mental health after the breakup, and as she admitted, “I just wasn’t taking care of myself.”
In 2001, during an interview, she said, “I had my first real relationship with Johnny, a fiercely deep love that I don’t know that I’ll ever find. The first love is like that, isn’t it? I don’t know today, it was a real wild time back then.”
2. Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman
These 2 actors met in 1997, got married a year later, and welcomed 2 children together. However, in 2003 they decided to get a divorce, and the whole world had its eyes on them. Ethan Hawke said in an interview that the world was spinning so fast for both of them due to their success, and “I thought marriage would decrease my variables or something. I was absolutely wrong.” In all honesty, he also said that, “I had no business taking vows that would last more than 2 weeks.”
While he was at the peak of his career, his personal life collapsed and as he puts it, “I got divorced and my personal life fell apart. I don’t know if you feel this way, but when you’re depressed, it’s really easy to see everything that is fake about other people and life, and I just started seeing all that. How phony celebrity was, how phony everything is.”
3. Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt
This one was and still is one of the most famous breakups in the history of celebrities. The 2 actors decided to get a divorce in 2005, something that, according to Jennifer, was very painful. As she put it during an interview in 2005, “Am I lonely? Yes. Am I upset? Yes. Am I confused? Yes. Do I have my days when I’ve thrown a little pity party for myself? Absolutely. But I’m also doing really well. Relationships are 2 people — everyone is accountable.”
She also said, “It’s sad, something coming to an end. It cracks you open, in a way—cracks you open to feeling. When you try to avoid the pain, it creates greater pain.” In recent years, the 2 of them seem to have a good relationship, with all the past drama being left behind them.
4. Bella Hadid and The Weeknd
The famous model and the artist were in an on-again and off-again relationship for a few years, and Bella never tried to hide her pain. As she admitted during an interview, “When I love somebody, I love them with my whole heart. It was my first break-up and so public. As an outsider, you might think I handled it so well, but it’s always in your heart, and you always feel it very heavily.
It’ll be hard for a while. Love hurts, but you have to pull through. I’ll always respect him, and I’ll always love him. Sometimes you want to be sad about it or handle it differently, but at the end of the day, you never want to burn a bridge that you’ve fought so hard to build.”
5. Perrie Edwards and Zayn Malik
The 2 musicians were together for a total of 4 years, being engaged for 2 of those years. However, the breakup was a huge surprise for Perrie, who never saw it coming. As she confessed, “It was horrible, the worst time in my life. A 4-year relationship and a 2-year engagement ended by a simple text message. Just like that, even though things in my career were going really well, it was incredibly difficult for me.”
Zayn Malik spoke publicly and denied that he broke up with his ex-fiancé that way. “I have more respect for Perrie than to end anything over text message. I love her a lot, and I always will, and I would never end our relationship over 4 years like that.”
6. Gwyneth Paltrow and Brad Pitt
Both actors were so young when they started dating in 1994, and they got engaged in 1996, only a few months before they broke up. Gwyneth said about the breakup that, “I think I was a kid, and I wasn’t ready. He was too good for me. I honestly do think I was too young and didn’t know what I was doing.”
Talking to Brad through the interview, she said, “So, Brad Pitt, if you’re listening, I messed that up, Brad.” Even though their relationship ended, they have remained friendly with each other, and they recently took a stroll down memory lane together.
7. Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck
Their relationship is well-documented, and it dates back to 2002 when they first met and started dating each other about a year later. In 2016, JLo said that “I really felt like when I met Ben, ’Okay, this is it.’” Even though they were engaged and had planned their wedding, they decided to officially break up in 2004.
JLo has also said about the breakup that “I think different time different thing, who knows what could’ve happened, but there was a genuine love there.” And that turned out to be very true since, in 2021, they rekindled their relationship and announced that they were back together. Not only that, but they got married in August 2022.
8. Lady Gaga and Taylor Kinney
The famous pop star started dating the actor in 2011 during the filming of her smash hit You and I. They were together for 5 years and even got engaged in 2015, but broke up a year later. In Gaga’s Gaga: Five Foot Two documentary, she explained how she and Taylor had to break up due to the growth of her career.
She said, “I did a movie and lose Taylor. This is the third time I’ve had my heart broken like this.” It doesn’t seem that there is any bad blood between the 2 since Taylor had only nice things to say about her. In a tweet he mentioned that “I’m only proud and happy for Stef.”
9. Geena Davis and Jeff Goldblum
The couple met in 1985 during the shooting of a film and decided to get married in 1987. Jeff said that it was love at first sight, and they flew over to Las Vegas in order to celebrate their union. However, in 1990 they filed for divorce, and Geena said that “We certainly had high hopes and every good intention, and it was upsetting that it could not work out.”
In an interview from back when they were still together, Jeff said, “Geena made love, falling in love, so easy. She’s purely loving, beguiling — irresistible. Steps would be taken gradually sometimes, and sometimes it swept along.” However, it seemed like he wasn’t interested in having any kids at that point in his life.
10. Florence Pugh and Zach Braff
Florence Pugh and Zach Braff began their relationship in 2019. Despite an age difference of 21, the couple had been together for almost three years. According to Florence, she was painfully aware of the gossip about their affair that had appeared in the press from time to time. And when the couple decided to break up, they tried to do it in secret from the public.
“We’re not together. So we’ve done that. I automatically get a lumpy throat when I talk about it,” said the star. Before breaking up, the lovers were working on A Good Person. Braff wrote the script, the heroine of which was based on Pugh. In this movie, Florence would be picking herself up after a tragedy.
11. Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott
Since 2017, the public has been following the relationship of Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott like a reality show. The lovers broke up several times, then got back together again. And now the year 2023 started with news: the couple decided to finally break up for good. People around them say the two have different views on family. Travis loves vibrant life full of parties and celebrations. Kylie, on the other hand, devotes all her attention to her children and work.
Once after another breakup Travis shared his feelings: “The hard part about relationships is just trying to be in one without a million outside voices interfering.” Loving, much less breaking up under the sights of the cameras, is a big challenge: “I love my daughter’s mommy and I always will.” The couple has already announced that they will try to maintain a good relationship for the sake of their children together.
Which one of your breakups (if you have any) has been your most hurtful? How did you manage to power through it and would you do things differently if given the opportunity?