Relationships are a beautiful part of one’s life. They can greatly influence your personal growth in either positive or negative ways. However, there are times when relationships don’t work. Either the people in the relationship make certain mistakes, or the stars simply don’t align.
The most notable of unhealthy relationships include Depp-Heard, Kim-Kanye, and Rihanna-Chris. Common unhealthy elements in these relationships were a scarcity of time, deep-seated insecurities, and some form of violence, verbal and/or physical. Lack of respect and unfaithfulness further sealed the split.
Toxic relationships can turn life upside down for couples and cause a hard time moving on from them.
Most Popular Celebrity Couples Who Had An Unhealthy Relationship
Let’s take a look at the most famous celebrity breakups from toxic relationships and how they damaged their life and their happiness.
1. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie met in 2004, married in August 2014, and separated in 2016. They had their first meeting during the filming of Mr. & Mrs. Smith in 2004.
Brad Pitt was married to Jennifer Aniston at the time. Jolie and Pitt married each other after dating for almost a decade and had a total of six children, of which five were adopted.
Everything was going excellently until they both filed for a divorce. On 20th September 2016, Jolie filed for divorce from Pitt and asked for custody of their children. Both Pitt and Jolie were having a rough time.
They argued a lot over their children’s custody, and financial issues came into the picture as well. It is seen that the reason for their divorce was primarily an incident on their jet.
Jolie had reported that Pitt had physically and verbally assaulted her children in the jet, because of which they faced a lot of trauma and anxiety, the NBC report said.
He was drinking continuously and also poured beer on her. An argument spiked between them when they had different perspectives on their parenting styles. He grabbed Jolie by her head and shook her.
It is also reported that, until the jet landed at the destination, he had been shouting continuously at them and physically assaulted his wife, Angelina Jolie.
After three years of the divorce being filed, they got separated legally. It was a very unhealthy and toxic relationship.
When the parenting styles of both parents do not match, it causes a lot of difficulties for the parents.
Pitt’s alcoholism was also an issue, under the influence of which he had abused his own family both mentally and physically.
2. Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore
Ashton Kutcher, 25, had first met Demi Moore, 41, at a dinner party in the year 2003. They both got married in 2005, and in November 2011, news of their separation came out.
They parted their ways from a six-year marriage. Their separation was made very public and had many allegations involved. News outlets heard whispers that Kutcher had cheated on Moore.
After a few years, Demi confessed that she blamed herself for the miscarriage of their child at six months.
She also told The New York Times that she had begun drinking alcohol and abusing Vicodin as a coping mechanism, negatively influencing their relationship.
Moore was also found to be very insecure about their age difference. Alcoholism and infidelity have the power to ruin a relationship to a great extent.
Moore’s alcoholism and drug abuse combined with Kutcher’s infidelity led to the breakup of a relationship that could have been really beautiful.
Toxic relationships can devastate one’s life, and it can become near-impossible to move on from the trauma a damaging relationship causes to both the people involved.
3. Anna Faris and Chris Pratt
Anna Faris and Chris Pratt both shared a marriage of 8 years; they got married in 2009. After three years of marriage, they expected their first child, and in 2012, they welcomed their child, Jack.
They announced their breakup in August 2017. After having Jack, things started becoming difficult for both of them because of their fame. Their careers made it difficult to manage the relationship.
When Pratt was shooting a movie in 2013, his schedule was hectic and kept him on his toes every time, due to which he couldn’t meet his son and could only see him twice in a span of six months.
In 2015, it was reported that Pratt was probably cheating on Farris with one of the actresses of Hollywood. These were rumors that were not true but ultimately led to many differences between them.
They both announced their separation in 2017, which shocked everyone.
Also, in 2021, Faris said on her podcast “Anna Faris is Unqualified” that she and Chris never shared their problems with each other or their friends, which was a major factor in their breakup.
Reading this, one can surmise that not sharing your problems and insecurities with your partner can lead to many hindrances in the relationship.
It grows into a larger issue in the future, potentially destroying the connection between two people. Communication is the key to a healthy relationship.
If one doesn’t do it, it obviously leads to more differences and difficulties between the duo.
4. Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise
Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise married in November 2006 in Italy. Their romance and love story seemed perfect. It was in 2012 that Katie Holmes allegedly called Tom Cruise and told him she filed for divorce.
They announced their divorce from a six-year marriage soon after that. They both began dating in 2005 and got engaged in the same year. She also wanted to convert to Cruise’s religion of Scientology.
Scientology is defined as “a religion to help people use scientific approaches to self-actualize their full potential.”
In October, just four months later, Katie Holmes announced that she was expecting their first child. In April 2006, they welcomed their daughter.
After some time, in November 2006, they both got married. There isn’t much known about their reason for separation, but Cruise says he “hadn’t expected” his wife to file for a divorce.
One of the rumors reported by HuffPost in 2013 was that Cruise had discussed that Holmes’ had an aversion to raising their daughter, Suri, in the Scientology religion.
Katie Holmes wanted to remove herself and their daughter Suri from any involvement with the Church of Scientology. That is what is considered the reason for their breakup.
The family remains tight-lipped about any other problems they might have faced back then. Differences in religion and their respective practices can also lead to differences in the relationship.
There are times when two people are not comfortable following each other’s faith, and neither can decide what their child will follow. If so, an ultimatum crops up, and problems become the size of a mountain.
This relationship is unhealthy for both the parents as well as the child.
5. Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan
Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan met on the set of the dance movie Step Up in 2006. They married in Malibu in 2009 and had a daughter in May 2013.
However, in April 2018, Channing and Jenna both announced their separation. It is reported that they both had said that “they really wanted their marriage to work,” but the situation was not right.
According to the reporters, the couple separated because “more time was spent apart because of the work pressure.” Channing Tatum was working non-stop, with four movies announced in 2018 only.
It was hard for both of them to spend so much time alone without each other.
They both tried to make their marriage work, but they were on different paths, and it seemed their marriage had become more of a friendship.
However, they both still take care of their daughter together. Giving time to each other is essential for making a relationship healthy and productive.
If you’re unable to do so, then differences might arise between the couple. You can end up growing apart due to the lack of time given to each other.
You can end up growing apart due to the lack of time given to each other.
6. Rihanna and Chris Brown
Rihanna and Chris Brown were the hitmakers and the most popular couple of their time. They started dating in 2007 and had broken up by April 2013.
The couple had many ups and downs throughout the relationship, making it highly toxic for both. But one incident stood out, leading to their separation.
In 2009, Chris physically assaulted Rihanna in a Lamborghini the night before the Grammys. Rihanna had a busted lip and a black eye, and all over her face was bruised.
Brown had also been unfaithful to Rihanna, which she later discovered. Brown also later said, “She didn’t care, she just didn’t trust me after that,” he said.
“From there, it just went downhill because it would be fights, it would be verbal fights, physical fights as well […] We were fighting each other. She would hit me, I would hit her. But it never was OK.”
Being unfaithful and physically abusive is the extreme of toxicity in relationships.
Physically assaulting your partner and being unfaithful can only make a relationship broken and can dramatically impact the life of the partner being abused and lied to.
7. Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson
Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson were madly in love and having the best times of their lives on the set of the Twilight movies. They had also made many appearances together in public.
By 2011, they both admitted that they were seeing each other. After some time, the news came around that the duo had broken up. In 2012, a photograph made the rounds on the Internet.
It showed Stewart in an intimate position with Rupert Sanders. Rupert Sanders was the director of “Snow White and The Huntsman” in which Stewart had played the main lead role.
Stewart was already in a relationship with Pattinson, and Sanders was also married to Liberty Ross. Still, they were seen together and were cheating on their partners.
She also apologized publicly for her infidelity and for hurting her boyfriend, Pattinson. Pattinson was obviously very hurt, but he still took her back.
Though the duo got back together, they still had arguments and fights. Pattinson’s family was still unable to forget about Stewart’s cheating and was adamant that she didn’t deserve Pattinson, their son.
Many tweets were also made by Pattinson’s family members, saying Kristen Stewart doesn’t deserve their son, Robert Pattinson. The couple then broke up in 2013, mainly because of Kristen’s infidelity.
Their second chance for the relationship also failed because Pattinson couldn’t forget about the action that Kristen did. That incident left a significant impact on their relationship.
Sometimes second chances don’t work when relations between the couple have been drastically devolved because of infidelity.
It is better not to give a relationship a second chance if you feel that you can’t ever forgive the other person.
8. Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez
Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez started dating in the year 2010 and ended their relationship in November 2012. They were together for almost two years until Gomez dumped Bieber due to major trust issues.
Gomez broke up with Justin in early November when she was around 20 years old and revealed that Bieber had a tiring and hectic schedule because of his concerts, which made the relationship difficult.
The leading cause of their separation was the trust issues that Gomez faced. Justin also implied he cheated on her with someone else but never explicitly admitted it or revealed any details.
The packed schedule of the pop singer Justin Bieber was also the root of many differences that they both faced as a couple.
The above reason for their breakup shows that not giving enough time to your partner and not communicating enough can create a void in the couple’s relationship.
Giving time to each other and solving issues, whether it be trust issues or any other type of difficulty, is essential to make the relationship work better and maintain a close-knit bond.
9. Kanye West and Kim Kardashian
Kanye West and Kim Kardashian made their relationship public in April 2012. However, Kim was legally married to Kris Humphries at that time.
Kardashian and West’s wedding took place in Florence, Italy, in the year 2014, and they had four kids. They both looked madly in love, and their bond seemed unbreakable.
But, in 2016, West expressed his support for Donald Trump. He went on a controversial rant on TMZ about supporting Trump and his ideologies which caused a rift between Kim and Kanye.
The duo’s separation was confirmed in 2020 after they were reported living separately during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The primary cause of their breakup was different political beliefs, as Kim supported Hillary Clinton and Kanye affiliated himself with Donald Trump.
Kim then also elaborated on the reason behind their divorce during the finale of “KUWTK” on June 10, 2021, saying that “she wasn’t fully fulfilled by her marriage.”
The reason behind their divorce was opposing political ideologies, which had the potential to wear down any relationship.
Different political beliefs can cause differences between the two partners because every political party has a different set of rules and a totally different mindset.
Suppose two partners’ political choices are not matching. That situation shows how their perspectives differ from each other and that they prioritize beliefs that oppose each other.
10. Amber Heard and Johnny Depp
Amber Heard and Johnny Depp seemed to be a perfect pair, but the couple parted ways in 2016. Depp and Heard’s relationship had started more than a decade ago and ended on a very toxic note.
The couple fought in court when their relationship ended in 2016. She described it as a domestic violence case without mentioning Depp’s name.
This is the timeline of Depp and Heard’s relationship that led up to the court:
2009
Depp and Heard met during the filming of “The Rum Diary”.
2012
Depp and Heard began dating, according to the documents given by Heard. In the same year, Depp and his long-term partner, Vanessa Paradis, ended their 14-year-old relationship.
2014
Heard was spotted wearing an engagement ring, and Depp later confirmed the engagement in the news.
2015
Heard and Depp got married in a very private ceremony.
2016
In the month of May, Heard filed for divorce and was granted a temporary restraining order against him. Heard claimed that Depp had also thrown a phone at her, which left her bruised.
“During the entirety of our relationship, Johnny Depp has been verbally and physically abusive to me,” Heard said in a declaration.
Police also did not press charges against Depp, as he also denied attacking Jolie. Later, a statement was made that the couple had announced that they had settled their divorce.
2017
The couple’s divorce was finalized.
2019
Depp sued Heard for defamation. Depp also claimed that she is not a domestic violence victim but, instead, the perpetrator.Depp sought $50 million in damages.
2020
Depp bought claims that Heard had an affair with businessman Elon Musk and actor James Franco. He also claimed that Heard had put her fecal matter in their bed, and she was physically violent toward him.
2021
Heard countersued Depp for $100 million.
2022
All the allegations made by Amber Heard about Depp were found to be a pure lie. Johnny Depp won the case, and Amber Heard was exposed.
This issue was a well-documented and polarizing media sensation, from which the main lesson is that not everything or everyone can be taken at face value.
Conclusion
A relationship is a two-way road. Both people need to work hard to make it successful and smooth. A bad relationship can negatively affect life and lead to more anguish and struggle.
If there is a lack of time, lack of effort, infidelity, wrong allegations, and alcoholism, then it can undoubtedly make the road of a relationship bumpy.
This road invariably diverges, concluding at separation. Also, the differences in parenting styles, religion, and political ideologies can also contribute to a breakup.
It’s essential to communicate, give time and respect each other’s values to make a relationship work and not turn it into a toxic one.