15 celebrity couples who broke up after more than 2 decades together
Meryl Streep and Don Gummer, who married 45 years ago, have been separated for more than six years.
They're not the only Hollywood couple that called it quits after decades together.
Hugh Jackman and Deborra-Lee Furness split after 27 years together.
Meryl Streep and Don Gummer announced in October 2023 that they've been separated for "more than six years." They wed in 1978.
A representative for Streep confirmed to Insider in October that the Oscar winner and her husband "have been separated for more than six years," and "while they will always care for each other, they have chosen lives apart."
Streep and Gummer, who share four children, met in 1978 just a few weeks after the death of her boyfriend, actor John Cazale that March. They were wed six months later in October 1978, according to an announcement in The Lewiston Daily Sun.
While it's unknown if they have plans to legally separate or divorce, the two have not been seen in public together since walking the red carpet of the 2018 Academy Awards.
Hugh Jackman and Deborra-Lee Jackman (née Furness) announced their separation in September 2023, five months after their 27th anniversary.
People reported the news on September 15 with a statement from the former couple. They called their 27 years together a "loving marriage" and said their "journey now is shifting and we have decided to separate to pursue our individual growth." They also said this would be their "sole statement" on the subject.
Jackman and Furness share two children, People reported.
The "Logan" star celebrated their 27th wedding anniversary in April 2023 on Instagram.
"Together we have created a beautiful family. And life," he wrote. "I love you with all my heart."
Dan Aykroyd and Donna Dixon announced their separation in April 2022 after 39 years together.
Aykroyd and Dixon got together in 1983, when they tied the knot after starring in "Doctor Detroit," People reported. They appeared in multiple other projects together after their wedding, including "Spies Like Us" and "Exit to Eden." They share three daughters.
In April 2022, the couple announced their split, but also their intention to stay legally married.
"After 39 years as a couple we are now on separate life paths. We remain legally married, co-parents, co-workers and business partners," the couple told People in a joint statement. "This is our choice in loving friendship."
Billy Ray Cyrus and Tish Cyrus filed for divorce after 28 years of marriage, from 1993 to April 2022.
The Cyruses, who share five kids including Miley and Noah Cyrus, wed in 1993.
The estranged couple have filed for divorce before, in 2010 and 2013, but this time appears to be different. According to court documents obtained by People in 2022, the exes had been separated for two years.
In August 2023, Tish married "Prison Break" star Dominic Purcell, according to Vogue. Billy Ray has been engaged to Australian singer Firerose since August 2022, he told People.
Kris Jenner and Caitlyn Jenner were officially divorced in 2015 after 24 years of marriage.
The Jenners' relationship was shown on "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" from the very first episode, though by that point they'd already been married for 16 years and shared two daughters, Kendall and Kylie.
But viewers watched their relationship slowly deteriorate on the show, and the two reality stars announced their separation in 2013, and Kris filed for divorce in 2014, The Guardian reported. The split was legalized by 2015, E! News reported.
After the divorce, in June 2015, the former Olympic athlete announced that she is a trans woman in Vanity Fair and began going by Caitlyn. The process was documented on "I Am Cait" on E!.
Anthony Anderson's wife, Alvina Stewart, filed for divorce for a second time in March 2022. They've been married since 1999.
Anderson, star of "Black-ish," married Stewart in September 1999, almost 23 years ago.
In 2015, Stewart filed for divorce, but they had officially reconciled by 2017. However, in March 2022, People reported that Stewart had filed for divorce for a second time.
Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins were together for 23 years until their split in 2009, though they were never legally wed.
The actors met on the set of the 1988 baseball rom-com "Bull Durham." They were together for over two decades and share two kids. Fans were shocked when they announced their breakup in 2009 in a statement to ABC News in December 2009.
"You can't do a meditation on death and stay in a situation that's not authentic," Sarandon told AARP Magazine in February 2014, about how performing in the play "Exit the King" made her question her life. "It made me examine where I was in my union and in my life, and to have discussions about making changes."
Chris Rock was married to Malaak Compton-Rock for 20 years, from 1996 to 2016.
The former "SNL" star and recipient of a certain slap married Compton a few years after he left the famous sketch show. They have two daughters together.
Fans speculated that there was trouble in paradise after Rock directed, co-wrote, and starred in the comedy "I Think I Love My Wife" in 2007, in which Rock plays a happily married man who is tempted by an old friend coming back into his life, though the couple claimed that their marriage was strong, People reported.
However, seven years later in December 2014, Rock's wife filed for divorce, People reported. Their split was finalized in 2016, People reported.
"You get to reset," Rock said of his divorce in a 2017 interview with Rolling Stone. "It's not a breakdown, but something in your life broke down."
Maria Shriver and Arnold Schwarzenegger's divorce was finalized in 2021, although they first separated in 2011 after 25 years of marriage.
These two, for a time, were political and Hollywood royalty, as Schwarzenegger was a huge movie star and the governor of California, while Shriver was his first lady and member of the Kennedy dynasty.
But that came crashing down in 2011 when news of the "Terminator" star's extramarital affair with their housekeeper Patricia Baena and their child together, Joseph, was made public by Radar Online.
Ten years after Shriver filed for divorce, their split was made official in 2021, TMZ reported. In total, they had been married for 35 years.
During a Reddit AMA in 2014, Schwarzenegger said, "I'm least proud of the mistakes I made that caused my family pain and split us up."
Sam Shepard and Jessica Lange dated for almost 30 years and had two kids together before confirming their split in 2011, two years after it had happened.
Lange and Shepard, who died in 2017 due to complications from ALS, began dating in 1982 after meeting on the set of the movie "Frances," People reported. They had two kids together, born in 1985 and 1987.
"I mean, we have long periods of relative calm. But then you know," Shepard told The Guardian in 2010. "We're definitely an incredible match. But, you know, not without fireworks […] although at this point, you know, she's the only woman I could live with. Who could live with me! What other woman would put up with me?"
They confirmed their split to People in 2011, though they had already been broken up for two years.
The same day that Shepard's death was announced in July 2017, an interview with Lange in AARP Magazine was coincidentally published.
"I wouldn't call Sammy easygoing and funny, but everybody has their dark side, and he always does it with a sense of humor," she said of her ex.
Morgan Freeman and Myrna Colley-Lee were married for 26 years before their split in 2010.
Similarly to other couples on this list, Freeman and Colley-Lee were separated for three years before their divorce was finalized — in this case, they separated in 2007, Today reported, and were divorced in 2010, according to an Associated Press report published by the New York Daily News.
"It was done without a trial," Freeman's lawyer William R. Wright told AP. "Everybody is glad it's over."
Al and Tipper Gore were married for 40 years. They split in 2010.
The former vice president and second lady wed in 1970, and they had four kids together: Karenna, Kristin, Sarah, and Albert.
Much was written about their (what some called) excessive PDA on the campaign trail, including this famous kiss at the 2000 Democratic National Convention.
However, their marriage was over just 10 years later. Their split was announced in 2010, after 40 years of marriage, The Christian Science Monitor confirmed.
In a statement announcing the breakup, they said it was "a mutual and mutually supportive decision that we have made together following a process of long and careful consideration."
Harrison Ford has been married three times, with his longest marriage (for now) being to Melissa Mathison. They were legally married for 20 years.
Ford wed screenwriter Mathison, who died in 2015, in 1984, right after his iconic role as Han Solo in "Star Wars" concluded. They had two children together.
In 2000, news broke that they had separated, reported ABC News, and Ford had been spotted with actress Lara Flynn Boyle.
By the time their divorce had been finalized in 2004, Ford had begun living with his now-wife Calista Flockhart, Today reported. Ford and Flockhart are now one of Hollywood's longest-lasting couples themselves.
Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale were together on-and-off from 1995 to 2015, before finalizing their divorce in 2016.
Stefani and Rossdale met in 1995 when their bands (No Doubt and Bush, respectively) were performing for a local radio station. They dated for six years before getting married in 2002, Rolling Stone reported. The rock stars went on to have three sons together.
However, in August 2015, news of their divorce broke with Stefani claiming "irreconcilable differences," TMZ reported. Over time, it was revealed that the breakup was much messier than it appeared with allegations of infidelity against Rossdale, Us Weekly reported.
The divorce was made official in April 2016, TMZ reported.
"It wasn't until I had to go through the worst tragedy that it really opened up a channel for me to be like, 'God gave me a gift. I'm going to use it now. Because if I don't, I'm going to die,'" Stefani told Time in March 2016, on how her divorce helped her music.
She married Blake Shelton in July 2021.
Robert Redford was married to Lola Van Wagenen for 27 years, from 1958 to 1985.
Redford is one of the most famous sex symbols of all time, but in actuality, he was married for the biggest parts of his career. He was just 22 years old when he married Van Wagenen in 1958.
Redford and Van Wagenen had four kids together, including one son who died at 2 months old due to sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS.
In 1985, after almost 30 years of marriage, they split.
"It was mutual and it was right to move on," Redford told The Telegraph in 2001. "We still have great love, great affection, great friendship. It is wonderful, and I think we probably deserve credit for it because the kids are great, they came through it OK."
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