Anyone else notice that a bunch of celebrities are in the midst of really ugly divorces right now? Of course, celebrities getting divorced is nothing new. But with the recent rash of headlines surrounding stars such as Kelly Clarkson, Dr. Dre, and Kim Kardashian and their soon-to-be ex-spouses, it got us thinking about all the other celebrity divorces we've witnessed from the outside throughout the years — and wow, have there been some seriously messy splits! Divorce is never pleasant, but celeb status has a way of making it even more dramatic.
When celebrities tie the knot, a lot more is at stake than there is for the average person — well, at least in some respects. When it's two celebs, they often don't have to worry as much about losing their livelihood, but dividing up assets can be really tricky, especially when the celebs have worked together and their businesses are intertwined.
Other times, cheating, substance abuse, physical and emotional abuse, and custody battles complicate things for celebrities who want to get divorced. It can take years and years before some celeb splits are finalized, and honestly, in some cases it gets so nasty it's hard to believe the pair ever truly loved each other. That's not for us to judge, but perhaps as a cautionary tale, we're going to share some of the celebrity couples who have gone through major divorce drama.
Kim Kardashian & Kanye West
Although Kim Kardashian and Kanye West often have presented a united front since filing for divorce in February 2021, their divorce proceedings have hit a few bumps in the road. Namely, in the past few months, Kanye has continued to publicly proclaim that he wants Kim back and even alleges not to have been given any divorce papers to date.
Kelly Clarkson & Brandon Blackstock
Talk about messy! It seems every other week, some sordid detail surrounding Kelly Clarkson's divorce from Brandon Blackstock comes out. The two got married in 2013 and filed for divorce almost seven years later, citing "irreconcilable differences." Kelly has been very open about how the split has affected her emotionally, but as the months have gone on, things have gotten complicated. There have been rumors that the prenup is being contested, Kelly has allegedly been asked to pay Brandon an exorbitant monthly amount in support, and they've butted heads over custody of their two children and property arrangements.
There also have been ongoing legal issues between Kelly and her soon-to-be ex-father-in-law's talent management company, which claims the singer owes it more than $1 million. A source has even said that Brandon was "extremely jealous" of Kelly and her success throughout their relationship.
Johnny Depp & Amber Heard
Yes, this divorce is still going on! Any time abuse is alleged, things get really sticky. Amber Heard filed for divorce from Johnny Depp in 2016, and five years later the two are still in the midst of a bitter legal battle. They were technically divorced in 2017, but the legal dispute between them is ongoing.
Amber has accused Johnny of domestic violence, even writing an op-ed about the abuse, and Johnny — who vehemently denies her claims — countersued her for defamation, leading to the courts unearthing all sorts of personal details from home videos, text messages, and testimonies from Johnny's famous friends.
Erika Jayne & Tom Girardi
Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Erika Jayne filed for divorce from her husband of 22 years, Tom Girardi, in November 2020. Though initially she said she wanted to proceed through the divorce with "respect," it wasn't long before some nasty details began to leak out. First, the couple did not have a prenup, and both requested that the other be denied spousal support.
Then we learned that they are both being sued and accused of using their divorce as a means to embezzle money and that the entire thing is a sham. However, conflicting sources say that Tom has cheated on Erika multiple times over the years, which supposedly led her to file for divorce.
Jaime King & Kyle Newman
After more than 12 years of marriage, actress Jaime King filed for divorce from Kyle Newman in May 2020 and subsequently filed for and was granted a partial temporary restraining order against him. Kyle petitioned for sole custody of their two children, claiming that Jaime is a drug addict and that she had failed an alcohol stipulation test related to the custody case. Oh, and less than a year after filing for divorce, Kyle fathered a child with his new girlfriend.
Kristin Cavallari & Jay Cutler
Kristin Cavallari's split from Jay Cutler seemed like it was going to go smoothly at first, but ugliness eventually surfaced. They filed for divorce in April 2020 after being together for seven years. Shortly afterward, the divorce paperwork came out, and it was revealed that Kristin said, "[Cutler] is guilty of such inappropriate marital conduct as renders further cohabitation unsafe and improper."
As time has gone on, more sources have come forward saying the two grew to completely dislike each other and that their marriage had been falling apart for months before the divorce filing and even that there had been repeated accusations of infidelity between them.
Tom Cruise & Katie Holmes
Honestly, we're not even sure if Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes still speak to each other or if Tom ever sees his young daughter, Suri. He and Katie seem to have completely cut ties in the wake of their messy divorce. She secretly filed to end their marriage in 2012 after being together for almost a decade, and Tom was reportedly caught completely off-guard
To add insult to injury, Katie was awarded full physical custody of Suri just 11 days after filing the papers. Reports indicate that the way Katie approached the divorce was calculated and an apparent attempt to get Suri out of the world of Scientology. Katie even allegedly fired Tom's daughter Isabella from her position at her now-defunct clothing line shortly before divorcing Tom.
Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie
In the beginning, everything seemed par for the course with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's divorce, but they've been stuck in an ongoing bitter custody battle for years. Angelina filed for divorce in 2016 after she alleged that Brad got drunk on a flight and behaved abusively toward their son Maddox, who was 15 at the time. However, the FBI cleared Brad of those charges. In the spring of 2021, Brad was granted joint custody, which Angelina tried to halt at every turn and continues to fight.
Wendy Williams & Kevin Hunter
Talk show host Wendy Williams filed for divorce from Kevin Hunter after being married for 22 years. Her decision came after she discovered that Kevin had fathered a child with his mistress. Wendy seemed to move on quickly, and it might have something to do with the fact that she told Insider that Kevin was a serial cheater and that she had been planning to divorce him since two years into their marriage.
Dr. Dre & Nicole Young
Dr. Dre is rich — like, really, really rich. So it's not terribly surprising that his divorce from Nicole Young, his wife of 25 years, got really complicated. Nicole filed in June 2020, claiming ongoing abuse, and since then Dre has sued her for allegedly embezzling money from his company bank account. In December 2021, he scored a big win when he settled the divorce for $100 million — far less than half of his nearly billion-dollar net worth.
Brad Pitt & Jennifer Aniston
This is still one of the saddest divorce stories in the memories of so many people. Jen and Brad were married for five years, and it seemed to come out of absolutely nowhere when they announced their split in 2005. As people delved further into their split, however, it became evident that Brad had likely cheated on Jen with Angelina Jolie.
Kim Kardashian & Kris Humphries
Kim Kardashian's marriage to Kris Humphries may have only lasted 72 days, but it caused a lot of drama in her life for quite a bit longer. Kris actually filed for an annulment, claiming that Kim only married him for TV. Kim followed up by filing for divorce.
Before any of that was finalized, though, she began seeing Kanye West and ended up getting pregnant with her first child, North West, while she was still legally married to Kris. As her due date approached, her panic to finalize the divorce before giving birth was well-documented on Keeping Up With the Kardashians.
Britney Spears & Kevin Federline
Britney Spears divorced Kevin Federline in 2007, shortly after Britney gave birth to their second child and long after her fans accused him of being a gold digger. Their breakup the year before seemed to contribute to Britney's infamous public breakdown in 2007. Kevin refused to sign the divorce papers for months. After the divorce, the two initially shared custody of their boys, but Britney later lost custody.
Charlie Sheen & Denise Richards
Denise Richards pulled the trigger and filed for divorce from Charlie Sheen while she was still pregnant with their second child. Charlie had relapsed with his sobriety, and it caused major issues in their marriage. Years later, they were still at odds over child support. A judge ended their child support agreement in October 2021, after Denise made public claims that Charlie had gone years without paying anyway.
Tiger Woods & Elin Nordegren
Golfer Tiger Woods' marriage to Elin Nordegren ended in the most dramatic fashion ever when the two got into a fight about his cheating on Thanksgiving in 2009 that ended with him getting into a car crash. Elin subsequently filed for divorce, which was finalized less than a year later. During the divorce proceedings, Tiger ended up in treatment for sex addiction, and Elin secured a $110 million settlement despite not having a prenup.
Channing Tatum & Jenna Dewan
Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan have been divorced for a few years, but things still aren't settled between them, even though they have both moved on romantically and managed to separate their personal lives. They were together for nine years and share one child, so perhaps unsurprisingly, the issue is assets.
As of 2021, they were still working out the financial aspects of their divorce. Oh, and there's also the pesky detail of Channing starting a relationship with singer Jessie J just a few months after he and Jenna split and not bothering to give her a heads-up.
Usher & Tameka Foster
For Usher and Tameka Foster, the drama was about the kids. The pair was only married for two years and stopped living together months before they filed for divorce. While they were working out the details of their split, Tameka's son from a previous relationship was killed in a jet ski accident at just 11 years old. Usher requested that negotiations halt so they could grieve the boy, and they put everything on hold for a month but continued to butt heads when negotiations resumed.
Usher wanted full custody, and the two went tit-for-tat with accusations of bad parenting. Usher eventually won the battle, and now he and Tameka reportedly maintain a harmonious co-parenting relationship.
Janet Jackson & Wissam Al Mana
Music icon Janet Jackson has been married three times, most recently to billionaire businessman Wissam Al Mana. The two were married for five years and split up in April 2017 just a few months after their son was born. Janet's brother Randy actually told People that the situation was "abusive.
There was a prenup, though, and reports indicate that Janet could leave the marriage with half a billion dollars. Financial and custody negotiations have reportedly been painful for Janet, however, who broke down in tears on multiple tour dates in 2017.
Mel B & Stephen Belafonte
Former Spice Girls singer Mel B's divorce from Stephen Belafonte was downright ugly. She filed for divorce after more than 10 years of marriage, claiming abuse and requesting a restraining order. He denied the abuse, and got a restraining order against her in return, but he also cheated and fathered a child with their nanny during their marriage. Six months after the divorce was final, Mel was ordered to pay Stephen $350,000.
Kris Jenner & Caitlyn Jenner
At first, it seemed as if Kris and Bruce Jenner would divorce amicably after Bruce admitted that he was transgender. But as their divorce proceedings moved along and Bruce transitioned into Caitlyn, things got more difficult.
Caitlyn publicly badmouthed Kris, which was all documented on Keeping Up With the Kardashians, really hurt all of their children, and made things quite awkward between them for a while after the ink was dry. The awkwardness sprang up because of things Caitlyn wrote about their marriage in her memoir, The Secrets of My Life.
Sandra Bullock & Jesse James
We almost forgot about this celebrity marriage simply because Sandra Bullock is so much bigger than her relationship and subsequent divorce from West Coast Choppers founder Jesse James. The two were married from 2005 to 2010, but everything fell apart when Jesse admitted to being a serial cheater.
Jesse blamed insecurity for his infidelities, but Sandra wasn't having any nonsense. She fought back by ensuring that the child she and Jesse adopted together would not be subjected to his questionable character and managed to obtain full custody.
