Celebrity breakups are rarely newsworthy or noteworthy. With tabloids constantly slewing nasty divorce stories and breakup features on their covers, it’s hard to find sympathy for these strangers who we only know on paper. Still, every so often there comes along that one couple whose breakup shocks and stuns the world. This year, there have already been two.
Just last night, country stars Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton announced their divorce after four years of marriage. And last month, movie stars Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner announced their split after 10 years. With so many notable breakups as of late, it’s hard to keep up.
So without further ado, here is a list of other iconic celebrity couples that called it quits, hopefully to be remembered for their happier times and legendary couple status that still lives on today.
1. Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston
Now approaching 10 years of divorce, this celebrity couple was once known for its impossibly perfect genes and 90s TV/cinema takeover. With Aniston’s 10-year reign as “Friends’” Rachel Green and Pitt’s dozens of Oscar-worthy films, the duo seemed unstoppable, and at the time, unbreakable — that is, until Angelina came along.
2. Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck
Breaking up in 2003, just days before they were supposed to reach the altar, Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck were one couple we always rooted for and then sadly cast aside when it didn’t work out. And even though Affleck’s recent divorce announcement with wife Jennifer Garner is tragic, fans are already planning a J. Lo/Affleck reunion.
3. Nicholas and Cathy Sparks
Though they might not count as a celebrity couple in the traditional sense, the divorce of the great American romance novelist and his wife definitely left us all temporarily questioning the existence of happy ever after. Even so, the couple remains close and Sparks still credits Cathy as being his longtime romantic muse in his writings. Hopefully their years of happiness will be enough to get Sparks writing yet another American classic sometime soon.
4. Amy Poehler and Will Arnett
The comedic couple was married for 10 years, joking all the while. The “Parks and Recreation” and “Arrested Development” stars were once known for being the slaphappy, creative pair that no one had a doubt about and, even though it didn’t work out, Poehler has no regrets. She even wrote in her 2012 memoir, “I don’t think a ten-year marriage constitutes failure. That being said, getting a divorce really sucks.” Amen to that.
5. Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams
While this breakup technically didn’t include a divorce, the breakup of “The Notebook” stars Gosling and McAdams may be the most heartbreaking of them all. Having dated for more than two years, the couple still remains on good terms. And even though Gosling now has a child and McAdams is in a rumored relationship, we can’t help but hope these two end up reconciling in a dramatic rain scene after many years apart.