Celebrity Couples Over 50 Who Had 'Gray Divorces'
It’s always a major bummer when some of our favorite celebrity couples have decided to call it quits, whether it be after a year together or even after multiple decades of romance. Speaking of the multiple decades, it especially hurts when it’s a couple that have been together for 20 or 30 years and ends up calling it quits in their 50s, 60s, or even 70s. There’s a term describing this, and it’s called a “gray divorce,” and we’ve seen it quite a few times in Hollywood.
Over the years, gray divorces have actually increased in numbers. According to a survey conducted by Business Insider in 2015, gray divorces accounted for “10 out of 1,000 couples aged 50 and older,” which is a major bump compared to previous years.
In 2023 alone, we’ve seen quite a few gray divorces happening right before our eyes. In some cases, only one of the parties is over 50, and the other is in their late 40s, but we’re still going to count it. For instance, we’re seeing one of the messiest gray divorces play out in front of our eyes between Kevin Costner and Christine Baumgartner. Along with that, fans were Beyond shocked when the divorces of Reese Witherspoon and Jim Toth, and Sofia Vergara and Joe Manganiello were announced.
And that’s only the tip of the iceberg!
Check out which celebrity couples had gray divorces below:
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Judge Greg Mathis & Linda Reese
After nearly 40 years of marriage, Judge Greg Mathis and Linda Reese have filed for divorce. Per People, Reese filed for divorce, citing “irreconcilable differences.” They share four children together.
Reza Jarrahy & Geena Davis
Actress Geena Davis was 62 when her surgeon husband, Reza Jarrahy, who is 15 years her junior, filed for divorce in 2018. The couple, who had been married for 17 years, began a bitter divorce battle that ended in 2021. The exes share three children.
Hugh Jackman & Deborra-Lee Jackman
The Wolverine star, 54, met his wife, 67, split after 27 years of marriage in 2023. The couple met in 1995 and married a year later but announced their split on September 15.
“We have been blessed to share almost 3 decades together as husband and wife in a wonderful, loving marriage. Our journey now is shifting and we have decided to separate to pursue our individual growth,” the couple, who share two children together, said in a statement to People.
“Our family has been and always will be our highest priority. We undertake this next chapter with gratitude, love, and kindness. We greatly appreciate your understanding in respecting our privacy as our family navigates this transition in all of our lives.”
Anthony Anderson & Alvina Stewart
Black-ish star Anthony Anderson was 52 when his marriage to Alvina Stewart ended in 2022, after 23 years. They share two kids.
Robin Willliams & Marsha Garces
Robin Willliams and wife Marsha Garces were married for nearly 19 years before their 2010 divorce. At the time, Williams was 59 and Garces was 54.
Rhea Perlman & Danny DeVito
In 2012, Rhea Perlman and Danny DeVito announced they were separating after 30 years of marriage and over 40 years together. They reconciled in March 2013 but later split for good in March 2017. At the time, Pearlman was 69 while DeVito was 72.
The couple remain married, and have no plans to divorce, and also consider each other great friends.
“It was very difficult at first,” Pearlman said of their split during a 2023 appearance on Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Wiser Than Me. And there were a lot of reasons that we separated, which I’m not gonna go into. But it took time for us to come to this somehow pretty decent understanding and relationship with each other.”
Christie Brinkley & Peter Cook
Christie Brinkley was 52 and Peter Cook was 47 when they ended their 10 year marriage.
Cook, who shares a daughter with his supermodel ex, went on to publicly label Brinkley a “narcissistic egomaniac” after their contentious divorce battle. Brinkley defended herself during a 2012 appearance on Today, Cook broke their agreement to not speak about each other publicly.
“I have turned the other cheek,” Brinkley said. “There’s not one quote from me, anywhere.” She added: “I just want peace. And every time I have any joy or any kind of success in anything, he has to try to destroy it.”
Joe Manganiello & Sofia Vergara
Joe Manganiello was 46 when he split from a 51-year-old Sofia Vergara, making this barely hit the mark for a gray divorce.
The pair met back in 2014 and were together for nearly 10 years before their shocking 2023 split. Later, Vergara candidly revealed that they split because Manganiello wanted children and she did not.
“My marriage broke up because my husband was younger,” she told El País in January 2024. “He wanted to have kids and I didn’t want to be an old mom.”
“I feel it’s not fair to the baby. I respect whoever does it, but that’s not for me anymore,” she noted. “I had a son at 19, who is now 32, and I’m ready to be a grandmother, not a mother.”
Kevin Costner & Christine Baumgartner
Christine Baumgartner and Kevin Costner divorced at ages 49 and 68. They couples, who share three kids and were married for almost 18 years, went on to battle it out over properties, child support payments, and more before eventually finalizing their split in September 2023.
Bill & Melinda Gates
Melinda Gates was 56 years old and Bill Gates was 65 when they announced their shocking divorce in 2021. The pair met back in 1987 at a NY trade fair, and within seven years, they wed in Hawaii and remained married for nearly 27 years. The Wall Street Journal reported that Bill’s ties with Jeffrey Epstein were a major concern for Melinda.
Reese Witherspoon & Jim Toth
Reese Witherspoon and Jim Toth were married for nearly 12 years, tying the knot in 2011 before going on to welcome a son in addition to her two kids from her marriage to Ryan Phillippe. The couple split suddenly in 2023. Witherspoon was aged 47, and Toth aged 52.
Morgan Freeman & Myrna Colley-Lee
Morgan Freeman and Myrna Colley-Lee married on June 16, 1984 after being set up by a mutual friend. They were together for over 20 years before separating in 2007, and divorcing in 2010.
The reason? Freeman allegedly was having multiple affairs. Reports even went as far as to allege that he was having an affair with his step-granddaughter, which he vehemently denied.
Freeman was 73 at the finalized divorce, and Colley-Lee was around 69.
Joan Collins & Peter Holm
Joan Collins has been married five times and two of her divorces happened when she was in her 50s. Collins was 50 when she split from ex-husband Ronald Kass and 54 when her marriage to Peter Holm ended.
“We married at the height of my Dynasty fame, but I came home early from work one day and found him in bed with another woman,” she told The Guardian in 2013. “Our marriage was a sham, and I was his meal ticket.”
Jane Fonda & Ted Turner
Jane Fonda and Ted Turner kept their relationship quite private. They married on Dec 21, 1991, but later separated in 2000. Their divorce was finalized soon after, on May 22, 2001. Turner revealed in his book Call Me Ted that they had trouble communicating.
Fonda was aged 64, and Turner was aged 63 at the time of their divorce.
David Gest & Liza Minnelli
Liza Minnelli married concert promoter David Gest in March 16, 2002, after meeting on the set of a Michael Jackson show the year prior. Their marriage didn’t last long because they separated a year later and officially divorced in 2007 after Gest alleged that she assaulted him while drunk, which she denied, per Washington Post.
Minnelli was 57 at the time of their separation and 61 at the time of their divorce. As for Gest, he was aged 50 at their separation and 54 at their divorce.
Billy Ray Cyrus & Tish Cyrus
Billy Ray and Tish Cyrus secretly married back in late 1993, and they filed for divorce multiple times from one another before officially calling it quits in 2022. Billy Ray originally filed for divorce from Tish back in 2010, dropping it a few months later in March 2011. Tish then filed for divorce in 2013 but rescinded it a month later. On April 11, 2022, news broke that Tish filed for divorce from Billy Ray again.
By the time of their final divorce in 2022, Billy Ray was 60 and Tish was 55.
Mel Gibson & Robyn Moore
Mel Gibson and Robyn Moore met while Gibson was filming Mad Max back in the 1970s, and married in 1980. They were together for over 25 years before they decided to split up.
They separated in 2006, reportedly after Gibson was involved in a drunk driving incident, and within three years, they were divorced. Gibson was aged 53, and Moore was only aged 38.
Melanie Griffith & Antonio Banderas
Melanie Griffith and Antonio Banderas originally met back in 1995 while filming Two Much, and within a year, they wed in 1996. They divorced officially in 2015 citing “irreconcilable differences,” while they were aged 58 and 55, respectively.
Grace Hightower & Robert De Niro
Grace Hightower and Robert De Niro married in 1997 after a year together. They split in 1999, but soon reconciled. But then, sadly, the two decided to call it quits for good in 2018 after 20 years together. De Niro was aged 75 and Hightower was around 63 years old.
Valerie Bertinelli & Tom Vitale
Valerie Bertinelli and Tom Vitale started dating in 2004, but didn’t get married until 2011. However, in late 2022, Bertinelli announced she was officially divorced from Vitale.
“My lawyer just called, the papers were all signed. They are about to be filed,” she said on Twitter. “On 11/22/22, I am officially f—ing divorced! Happily divorced. God, finally! It’s finally over.”
Bertinelli was aged 62 and Vitale was 59.
Rupert Murdoch & Jerry Hall
Media proprietor Rupert Murdoch and Jerry Hall shocked people when they announced their divorce in 2022 after marrying in 2016. They divorced when Murdoch was 92, and Hall was 66.
Arnold Schwarzenegger & Maria Shriver
Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver tied the knot in April 1986 but separated after 25 years together in 2011 amid reports of Schwarzenegger’s infidelity. Their divorce was one of the longest to finalize in Hollywood, but it officially closed in Dec 2021 when Schwarzenegger was aged 73 and Shriver was around 65.
Kris Jenner & Caitlyn Jenner
One month after her divorce from Robert Kardashian, Kris Jenner and Caitlyn Jenner married excuse me, in April of 1991. They were together for many years until they separated in 2013, with Kris fighting your conceivable differences and within two years they divorced, per Today. Kris was 58 and Caitlyn was 65.
