15 Celebrity Couples Who Managed to Remain Close Friends After They Broke Up
Not everyone is strong enough to remain friends with their ex-partner. So, you can imagine how hard it is for celebrities whose relationships are always in the limelight. But luckily, some celebrities managed to fulfill this difficult task quite successfully.
At CHEERY, we put together a list of 15 celebrity couples who managed to remain friends, even after their romantic relationship failed.
1. Jason Momoa and Lisa Bonet
In January 2022, Jason Momoa and Lisa Bonet announced their separation after 17 years together. This period of time wasn’t easy for them. It was rumored that they tried to reconcile and even started couples therapy. However, in March, Jason confirmed that their split was final, “We’re not back together. We’re family, you know? We have 2 beautiful children together. We’re not getting back together. We’re family forever.”
During their marriage, Jason and Lisa had 2 children — son Nakoa-Wolf and daughter Lola. And the former spouses maintained a friendly relationship for them. At the same time, Jason supports not only his own children but also Bonet’s daughter Zoe Kravitz. He attended a screening of The Batman starring Zoe with her boyfriend, Channing Tatum.
2. Prince Harry and Chelsy Davy
Prince Harry talked about his relationship with Chelsy Davy during an interview conducted for his 21st birthday. But in 2009, the couple separated after 5 years together. Chelsy wasn’t seduced by the idea of making her life public domain. She once said to her friends, “It’s not a life for me.” Harry accepted his girlfriend’s choice and managed to maintain a warm relationship with her. In 2011, he invited her to his brother’s wedding, and 7 years later, she was among the guests at his own wedding to Meghan Markle.
3. Florence Pugh and Zach Braff
Pugh and Braff kept their relationship secret almost all the time. Florence said that they wanted to keep their personal lives away from prying eyes. At some point, the couple disagreed on what the next steps in their lives they should take, and in 2022, they made a decision to split amicably.
4. Mindy Kaling and B.J. Novak
The former Office co-stars dated on-screen and off-screen while working together on the series. Eventually, they decided to remain just friends, and they still are. B.J. Novak became the godfather of Mindy’s first child. This is how the actress described their relationship, “The truth is that BJ is so much more like family now than a platonic friend. He’s the godfather to my daughter, he comes over like once a week. Sometimes he’ll come over just to hang out with her.”
5. Elizabeth Hurley and Hugh Grant
The separation of Elizabeth Hurley and the famous ladies’ man Hugh Grant could hardly be called peaceful, but the couple managed to overcome their differences and remain friends. Elizabeth confirmed that she’s still close with Grant and his new wife, Anna Eberstein, “I’ve known him way too long, 31 years! Hugh is my oldest friend... and I get on with Anna incredibly well.”
6. Miley Cyrus and Cody Simpson
Miley Cyrus and Australian singer Cody Simpson began dating after she divorced Liam Hemsworth in 2019 and had a brief fling with Kaitlynn Carter. They broke up in August 2020 but have never really left each other’s life. Cody raved about Miley’s song Midnight Sky and shared a screenshot of their celebratory FaceTime call on his Instagram story. “So proud of you,” he wrote over the photo. “Congratulations to the most special of all. Go cop that new!”
7. Avril Lavigne and Deryck Whibley
Avril Lavigne and Sum 41 lead vocalist Deryck Whibley used to be friends for a couple of years, then they began dating and married in 2006. 2 years later, their marriage broke down but their friendship remained. Avril said about their divorce, “I am grateful for our time together, and I am grateful and blessed for our remaining friendship.”
8. Diane Kruger and Joshua Jackson
Diane Kruger and Joshua Jackson broke up in 2016 after 10 years together but remained friends. Just a few days after this happened, they were noticed in Los Angeles talking to each other nicely. And a couple of weeks later, Joshua drove Diane to the Los Angeles airport and hugged her goodbye warmly.
9. Clark Gregg and Jennifer Grey
The actors tied the knot in July 2001. That same year, they welcomed their daughter, Stella. 20 years later, they announced their separation but remained close friends. In March 2022, Clark wished his ex-wife a happy birthday by posting their family photo. He captioned this photo with #BestExEver.
10. Joe Jonas and Taylor Swift
Joe Jonas and Taylor Swift dated for just a few months — from July to October 2008. Joe broke up with her over the phone, but then she, guided by impulse, invited him to Ellen DeGeneres Show. In 2016, she revealed that she regretted this.
It seems that their short romance is unlikely to grow into a good friendship, but lately, Joe and Taylor have been spotted hanging out several times over the years. In November 2021, Joe and his wife, Sophie Turner, attended Swift’s Saturday Night Live performance of All Too Well. In order to support her, Sophie declared herself a massive Swiftie and wore both the scarf and ring from the singer’s merchandise line for the Red album.
11. Kate Hudson and Chris Robinson
Kate Hudson married Chris Robinson, the frontman for the Black Crowes, in 2000. In January 2004, the couple had their only child — Ryder Russell Robinson. In 2006, the couple split, and a year later, had joint custody over their son. Since then, Hudson and Robinson have remained close friends for the sake of their son Ryder.
12. Kate Bosworth and Alexander Skarsgård
Kate and Alexander dated for 2 years, broke up in 2011 but remained close. They worked on the movie Straw Dogs together, and Alexander said about his co-star, “Kate is such a great actress and she’s so much more than a good-looking Hollywood starlet. We shared a really special experience on that film.” They also reunited at an afterparty for the 2018 Met Gala where they not only exchanged pleasantries but also posed for photos together.
13. Kourtney Kardashian and Scott Disick
The Keeping Up With the Kardashian co-stars dated on and off from 2006 to 2015. The couple had 3 children: sons Mason Dash and Reign Aston, and daughter Penelope Scotland. And their children became a good reason for them to remain close friends.
Kourtney once said to Scott, “I do think we are very lucky to be doing it this way and we can if we have an issue or something that, you know, one of the kids is going through, we can deal with it together. Nobody knows our kids better than us so to be able to do that together and, like, come up with solutions together, I think is, you know, there’s no better... Like, what else could you want.”
14. Tobey Maguire and Jennifer Meyer
Tobey Maguire met jewelry designer Jennifer Meyer in 2003 while he was filming the movie Seabiscuit. They got engaged in April 2006 and had their daughter Ruby in November that year. Their second child, son Otis, entered this world in May 2009.
In 2016, the couple split after 9 years of marriage but divorced only in 2020. Toby and Jennifer are still very close and often appear in public together. In an interview, Jennifer once said that Toby was her best friend.
15. Tom Cruise and Cher
Very few people know that the famous actor had a flick with the legendary singer. They met in 1985 at Madonna and Sean Penn’s wedding when Tom was 23 and Cher was 38. Alas, the couple soon broke up, but years later Cher told Oprah Winfrey that this could have been a “great big romance” if they hadn’t been forced to part ways due to their busy schedules. Nevertheless, Tom and Cher have remained friends to this day.
Which couple of friends do you like the most? Tell us in the comments below.