Hollywood divorces seem to happen at every turn and often involve lengthy proceedings as celebrities and their legal teams work through all the fine details of separating and dividing their hefty assets. High-stakes celebrity divorces can take not just months, but years and years to be finalized — and for good reason. For starters, in many cases one member of the celebrity couple usually has far more to lose financially than the other, and beyond that, there are often kids and homes and sometimes even joint business ventures to consider.
Any divorce can be ugly, grueling, and gut-wrenching, but it undoubtedly gets a lot more complicated when there are massive fortunes involved, not to mention intense public scrutiny. Most celebs have to keep up a brave front through it all, or risk tarnishing their image, which we're sure makes it even more complicated than usual. And still, there are some Hollywood couples who simply don't seem to be in any hurry to get their divorces done and dusted.
So it's no huge surprise that some celebrity divorces seem to take absolutely forever to be finalized. Some involve marriages that lasted for decades and others that were over in the blink of an eye, but all of them were seriously complicated. Keep scrolling to see which celebs endured the longest divorces.
Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt
Things got seriously ugly for one-time Hollywood power couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie after they announced their plans to divorce in 2016. In 2019, it was ruled that although all the details of their divorce have yet to be finalized, they are each legally single. Since then, they've been engaged in a fierce custody battle and busy hashing out how to divide their significant assets. Though Brad was finally awarded joint custody in May 2021, Angelina has vowed to fight on — and on.
Mariah Carey & Nick Cannon
Legendary songstress Mariah Carey is currently worth 10 times more than her ex-husband, TV personality Nick Cannon, and the disparity was even greater when they initially decided to divorce. It seems Nick was holding out for more money. The couple — who dated for six weeks, were married for six years, and have twins together — took more than two years to finalize their divorce.
Maria Shriver & Arnold Schwarzenegger
Aging beefcake actor, bodybuilder, and former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver, filed for divorce in 2011 after a cheating scandal, and get this — it wasn't until more than 10 years later that their divorce was finally official. (Maybe Arnold wasn't in a big hurry because he wanted to keep those coveted Kennedy connections, at least on paper.)
Bethenny Frankel & Jason Hoppy
Real Housewives of New York City alum Bethenny Frankel admitted in 2020 that she and her ex Jason Hoppy were still legally married despite having filed for divorce a whopping eight years prior. The pair's relationship famously imploded with the cameras watching in 2012 — and it wasn't until January 2021 that their divorce drama finally, finally came to an end. Bethenny is officially legally single, and just in time: Two months later, she got engaged to boyfriend Paul Bernon.
Kim Kardashian & Kris Humphries
The entirety of Kim Kardashian and NBA player Kris Humphries' relationship played itself out on Keeping Up With the Kardashians, so fans were privy to many of the events that led them to the altar and, eventually, to divorce court. The couple was engaged and married in less than a year. Their union lasted a total of 72 days before Kim applied for an annulment. Two years later, Kim found herself pregnant with her first child with Kanye West, while still legally married to Kris. Finally, in April 2013, Kim and Kris were granted a "dissolution of marriage," just two months before Kim gave birth. A year later, she married Kanye.
Aryn Drake-Lee & Jesse Williams
Grey's Anatomy star Jesse Williams and his wife of five years, Aryn Drake-Lee, didn't finalize their divorce for three and a half years. The former couple, who share two children, both accused the other of unhealthy behaviors, including infidelity and verbal abuse. The divorce was completed in fall 2021, but the two are still embroiled in a messy custody battle.
Elvira & John Schneider
Actor and singer John Schneider (of Dukes of Hazzard fame) and his second ex-wife, Elvira "Elly" Schneider, were married for more than 20 years when they filed for divorce in 2014 but they weren't legally divorced until almost five years later. John apparently made repeated attempts to offload assets without splitting the money with Elly prior to the divorce being finalized.
Khloé Kardashian & Lamar Odom
Perhaps Kourtney Kardashian was on to something when she chose never to marry Scott Disick, considering that her sisters Kim and Khloé Kardashian went through such ordeals with their divorces. After four years of marriage to Lamar Odom, Khloé filed for divorce in 2013, but it took Lamar more than a year to finally sign the papers. Unfortunately, the Los Angeles County Court was experiencing a backlog and nearly two years later, when Lamar had a near fatal overdose in 2015, they still weren't divorced.
Khloé even famously called off the divorce so she could better help him through his recovery, even though they were no longer a couple. Finally, in December 2016, they were officially divorced.
Hilary Duff & Mike Comrie
Actress Hilary Duff and her NFL player ex-husband Mike Comrie announced their separation in 2014, but they were open about the fact that they could possibly reconcile. They were spotted together multiple times over the course of the following year, but then Mike was caught on camera having a wild night sans Hilary. She filed for a divorce the next day, and it was finalized a year after that.
Gwyneth Paltrow & Chris Martin
Actress and entrepreneur Gwyneth Paltrow and Coldplay frontman Chris Martin famously announced their "conscious uncoupling" in March 2014 after having been secretly separated for a year. Despite their divorce being quite amicable, it wasn't finalized until more than two years later. They each have massive fortunes, so it's no surprise it took so long for them to figure it all out.
Fergie & Josh Duhamel
Singer Fergie and her actor ex Josh Duhamel had a seriously tumultuous marriage, eventually separating in 2017 after eight years of marriage. The couple, who have one child together, didn't officially file for divorce until more than a year later, and it wasn't finalized until another two years after that.
Jules & Michael Wainstein
Perhaps unsurprisingly, another Real Housewives of New York City star also went through an incredibly messy divorce. In total, it took more than four years for Jules and Michael Wainstein to finalize their split. Michael was the one who initially filed in 2016 after he was accused of cheating. Then it later came out that his wife had been physically abusive to him. The divorce was wrapped up toward the end of 2020.
Jennifer Garner & Ben Affleck
Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck spent 10 years as a Hollywood dream couple, and fans were not happy when they announced their plans to divorce in 2015. The proceedings went on for so long that there was much speculation that the two, who share three children, would reconcile. Ben famously struggled with addiction for several years, and the ever-supportive Jennifer refused to finalize the divorce until he was sober. So their marriage didn't officially end until late in 2018.
Jennifer Lopez & Marc Anthony
Megastar Jennifer Lopez and her Latin music legend ex-husband Marc Anthony filed for divorce in 2011 when their twins, Max and Emme, were 3 years old. But with massive fortunes to consider, it was more than three years before they were officially divorced. So technically, they were married for a decade but separated for nearly a third of that time.
Amy Poehler & Will Arnett
Forever was not to be for beloved comedians Amy Poehler and Will Arnett, who broke up in 2012 after being married for nine years. Their split wasn't so cut-and-dried, though. They didn't file for divorce until almost two years later and even after that, it was another two years before they were finally divorced in 2016.
Carey Lowell & Richard Gere
Actor Richard Gere and his wife of 10 years, model Carey Lowell, filed for divorce in 2012, but negotiations weren't complete until 2016. It took four years for the two to work out the details, with things apparently getting quite tense in court at times. Although they managed to keep many of the details under wraps, presumably it was finances that were the sticking point.
Toni Braxton & Keri Lewis
Singer and reality TV star Toni Braxton was married to fellow musician Keri Lewis for a dozen years, the last four of which they were separated. The couple announced their split in 2009. Toni spoke publicly about having to figure out where her life was headed outside of her union with Keri during that time.
Amber Heard & Johnny Depp
This one is interesting. Actor Johnny Depp and model Amber Heard got married in 2015 and just over a year later in 2016, Amber filed for divorce, claiming she was a victim of domestic violence. The divorce was finalized at the beginning of 2017, but the drama didn't end there. Mid-2021, the two — who did not have a prenuptial agreement, despite Johnny's net worth being vastly greater than Amber's — kicked off a contentious court battle. Johnny sued Amber for defamation of character due to the abuse allegations, and Amber countersued. Johnny ultimately emerged as the victor in June 2022, with a Virginia jury ordering Amber to pay him $15 million in damages.
