6 Hollywood celebrity breakups that defined the decade
We are still having trouble getting over some of these splits
PHOTO: FILE
The 2010's were a decade marked by a devotion to skinny jeans, comic book franchises, and Instagram 'influencers' redefining every industry imaginable.
It was also time of heartbreak — we said good bye to Barneys, Game of Thrones, and more celebrity couples making up and breaking up than ever.
Before we enter a new decade full of couples and celebrity romances yet to even be dreamed up, follow along below as we recount the celebrity breakups that defined the last one, as compiled by InStyle.
Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony (2004-2011)
In early 2004, Jennifer Lopez and then-partner Ben Affleck (better known at the time as "Bennifer") infamously split. Shortly after, the world got what felt like a match made in heaven when Lopez started dating singer Marc Anthony and married him within the year. The couple had their first children (twins) in 2008, but broke up a few years later in 2011. They officially divorced in 2014.
Several years after, Lopez revealed that she knew her marriage to Anthony was a mistake “very quickly,” telling W Magazine, “I hung in there for seven years.”
Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin (2002 – 2014)
Opposites attract, we said. Fix You, we sang. But alas, the pair famously began their "conscious uncoupling" in 2014. In keeping with Martin and Paltrow’s vow to avoid the “drama of divorce," Paltrow wed writer/director/producer Brad Falchuk in September 2018. Martin has been dating actress Dakota Johnson since late 2017.
Top 10 celebrity weddings of 2019 according to Google Trends
Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck (2004 – 2015)
The star duo were the antidote to wild celebrity couples of the early aughts but after ten years of marriage and three children together, Bennifer came to an end. In 2016, the actor described their relationship in detail when she told Vanity Fair, "When [Affleck’s] sun shines on you, you feel it. But when the sun is shining elsewhere, it's cold. He can cast quite a shadow."
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie (2005 – 2016)
One of the biggest, if not the biggest, Hollywood celebrity couples relationship began with a media frenzy, and ended with one as well. The dissolution of "Brangelina" was difficult for a lot of people — not because of what their relationship was, but what it represented. Just as they fell for each other on the set of Mr. & Mrs. Smith, we, too, fell for the Jolie-Pitts. In 2016, the couple announced their split after only two years of marriage, but about a decade together. Both parties have remained relatively low key about it all.
Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber (2010 - 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015?, 2016?, 2017 - 2018)
The two felt like that dramatic high school couple that would break up and make up every other week for four years, then went to college only to realize they were completely different people. For the teen stars, their version of high school lasted a little longer than the typical experience, but, you know, apologizing to your ex via a chart-topping hit would make it a little more dramatic. The Baby singer wed model Hailey Baldwin just a few months after reportedly splitting from Gomez. In late October, Gomez reminded those eager to buy into a dating rumor that she’s been "single for two years."
Emma Stone is getting married
Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth (2009 – 2013, 2016 – 2019)
Similar to Gomez and Bieber, Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth are a celebrity couple that we thought would always find their way back to each other. When, after nearly ten years of public relationship drama, they tied the knot in a quiet ceremony over the holidays of 2018, we thought their fate was sealed. But just seven months later, it was all over. “Ever-evolving, changing as partners and individuals, they have decided this is what’s best while they both focus on themselves and careers,” Cyrus’s representative confirmed.
Before we had a chance to process the end of their relationship, Cyrus was reportedly dating Kaitlynn Carter, and then Cody Simpson. Hemsworth, too, found solace in others, sparking relationship rumors with actor Maddison Brown, and then model Gabriella Brooks. Amid the rumors that followed the early weeks of their separation, Cyrus reiterated, “I love Liam and always will.”
Have something to add to the story? Share it in the comments below.
It was also time of heartbreak — we said good bye to Barneys, Game of Thrones, and more celebrity couples making up and breaking up than ever.
Before we enter a new decade full of couples and celebrity romances yet to even be dreamed up, follow along below as we recount the celebrity breakups that defined the last one, as compiled by InStyle.
Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony (2004-2011)
In early 2004, Jennifer Lopez and then-partner Ben Affleck (better known at the time as "Bennifer") infamously split. Shortly after, the world got what felt like a match made in heaven when Lopez started dating singer Marc Anthony and married him within the year. The couple had their first children (twins) in 2008, but broke up a few years later in 2011. They officially divorced in 2014.
Several years after, Lopez revealed that she knew her marriage to Anthony was a mistake “very quickly,” telling W Magazine, “I hung in there for seven years.”
Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin (2002 – 2014)
Opposites attract, we said. Fix You, we sang. But alas, the pair famously began their "conscious uncoupling" in 2014. In keeping with Martin and Paltrow’s vow to avoid the “drama of divorce," Paltrow wed writer/director/producer Brad Falchuk in September 2018. Martin has been dating actress Dakota Johnson since late 2017.
Top 10 celebrity weddings of 2019 according to Google Trends
Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck (2004 – 2015)
The star duo were the antidote to wild celebrity couples of the early aughts but after ten years of marriage and three children together, Bennifer came to an end. In 2016, the actor described their relationship in detail when she told Vanity Fair, "When [Affleck’s] sun shines on you, you feel it. But when the sun is shining elsewhere, it's cold. He can cast quite a shadow."
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie (2005 – 2016)
One of the biggest, if not the biggest, Hollywood celebrity couples relationship began with a media frenzy, and ended with one as well. The dissolution of "Brangelina" was difficult for a lot of people — not because of what their relationship was, but what it represented. Just as they fell for each other on the set of Mr. & Mrs. Smith, we, too, fell for the Jolie-Pitts. In 2016, the couple announced their split after only two years of marriage, but about a decade together. Both parties have remained relatively low key about it all.
Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber (2010 - 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015?, 2016?, 2017 - 2018)
The two felt like that dramatic high school couple that would break up and make up every other week for four years, then went to college only to realize they were completely different people. For the teen stars, their version of high school lasted a little longer than the typical experience, but, you know, apologizing to your ex via a chart-topping hit would make it a little more dramatic. The Baby singer wed model Hailey Baldwin just a few months after reportedly splitting from Gomez. In late October, Gomez reminded those eager to buy into a dating rumor that she’s been "single for two years."
Emma Stone is getting married
Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth (2009 – 2013, 2016 – 2019)
Similar to Gomez and Bieber, Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth are a celebrity couple that we thought would always find their way back to each other. When, after nearly ten years of public relationship drama, they tied the knot in a quiet ceremony over the holidays of 2018, we thought their fate was sealed. But just seven months later, it was all over. “Ever-evolving, changing as partners and individuals, they have decided this is what’s best while they both focus on themselves and careers,” Cyrus’s representative confirmed.
Before we had a chance to process the end of their relationship, Cyrus was reportedly dating Kaitlynn Carter, and then Cody Simpson. Hemsworth, too, found solace in others, sparking relationship rumors with actor Maddison Brown, and then model Gabriella Brooks. Amid the rumors that followed the early weeks of their separation, Cyrus reiterated, “I love Liam and always will.”
Have something to add to the story? Share it in the comments below.