The Shortest Celebrity Marriages

Some matches are made in heaven — and others are made in Hollywood. Home to legendary love stories, both on-screen and off, Tinseltown is also the graveyard of many whirlwind romances. Celebrity marriages here have lasted as little as 55 hours (we're looking at you, Britney). Meanwhile, for notables like Nicolas Cage and Kim Kardashian, matrimonial bliss wasn't just a short-lived concept, but also a messy one. Given how many celebrity linkups are perched on the love-at-first-sight pedestal, a trope that Hollywood itself has immortalized, the irony is glaring. True, any marriage is susceptible to divorce — but experts believe the stakes are much higher with impulsive marriages.

"It's not that a fast marriage can't work," according to relationship coach Kate Wachs, who explained that it could just be infatuation guiding the happy couple (via the Los Angeles Times). That fireworks feeling of being drunk in love with someone is "not the kind of love that marriage requires over the long haul," per therapist Sharon Gilchrest O'Neill (via Brides). The odds simply don't seem to be in favor of hurried nuptials. But since there are no rules to this game called love, many celebrities threw caution to the wind and said their hasty "I dos" anyway. Did they end up becoming fleeting fairytales or cautionary tales? You decide. Here's a look back at some of the shortest marriages in show business.

In what is probably one of the shortest marriages ever, Britney Spears was married for a teensy total of 55 hours. The "Toxic" hitmaker was 22 when she briefly tied the knot with her old friend and then-beau Jason Alexander, whom she had known since her childhood in Louisiana. After a few days of dating in 2003, the duo rang in New Year's together in Las Vegas (via MTV). Spears and Alexander were apparently in their hotel room at the Palms Casino watching "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" late one night when, as typically happens in Sin City, the urge to "do something" kicked in (via Entertainment Weekly) — so they decided to get married. 

The nuptials were hastily put together, with Spears reportedly turning up in a baseball cap and being walked down the aisle by the hotel bellman. As soon as the morning after, they regretted their decision and an annulment was in order. Spears later described her 2004 wedding (her first) as her "being silly, being rebellious, and not really taking responsibility" (per The Sun). Alexander, on the other hand, remembered the moment more sentimentally: "I was in love with her," he said, claiming the wedding was Spears' idea, ABC News reported. He even held out hope for them to get back together. In June 2022, Alexander crashed Spears and Sam Asghari's wedding and was arrested on charges of trespassing. Alexander alleged that Spears had invited him, the BBC reported.  

Nicolas Cage has several film credits to his name — but also many marriages. The Oscar-winning actor has tied the knot a total of five times, his shortest union being with makeup artist Erika Koike. As most impulsive weddings go, it happened in Las Vegas in March 2019, with Cage filing for an annulment just four days later (via The Guardian). TMZ reported that Cage and Koike were spotted spatting both before and after saying their "I dos." 

The circumstances of Cage and Koike's split were anything but amiable. For starters, per court documents, the "Ghost Rider" star admitted that both parties were "drinking to the point of intoxication" before the matrimonial ceremony and that Cage "reacted on impulse" (per The Blast). There were also allegations that Koike had a criminal history and concealed the details of her involvement with someone other than Cage.

Their divorce was finalized in May, thus ending Cage's fourth marriage. Speaking to The New York Times Magazine, Cage reflected, "I have to be careful about what I can divulge. There was a recent breakup. I don't really want to talk about it." He added that the incident had left him upset. Cage's other marriage that came close to being as short-lived as this one was to Lisa Marie Presley. Three months after marrying Elvis Presley's daughter, Cage filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences, refusing to divulge any details (via People). 

For "Baywatch" beauty Pamela Anderson, wedding bells have chimed several times over — a total of six times, to be precise (via Bustle). Out of all of Anderson's infamous romantic affairs, her shortest endeavor was with film producer Jon Peters, to whom she was married for only 12 days in 2020. But the duo's love story preceded their marriage by many years, dating back to the 1980s. 

"I walked in and saw this little angel sitting at the bar. It was Pammy. She was like 19. I knew she would be a big star," Peters told The Hollywood Reporter of the first time he laid eyes on the former Playmate at Hugh Hefner's Playboy mansion. The two linked up, sharing a relationship that reportedly extended through Anderson's abusive marriage to Tommy Lee, during which Peters claimed to have supported her. 

Three decades and four marriages (each) later, Anderson and Peters rekindled their romance and tied the knot in a low-key ceremony in January 2020. "For 35 years — I've only wanted Pamela," Peters said (via The Hollywood Reporter). But the marriage was over before it started. Less than two weeks later, Anderson split from her husband, claiming that the two were "never legally married ... no hard feelings — no marriage, no divorce ... just a bizarre theatrical lunch" (via People). Peters later alleged that he paid off almost $200,000 in debts for Anderson, after which their marriage went kaput (via Page Six). 

For showbiz heavyweights Eddie Murphy and Tracey Edmonds, marital bliss was only a two-week affair. But they saved themselves loads of hassle by becoming Mr. and Mrs. only symbolically, not legally. In a fairytale event on a private island in Bora Bora, complete with a romantic tropical sunset in the backdrop, Murphy and Edmonds brought in 2008 by tying the knot on January 1. According to People, it was a close-knit affair with only 25 people in attendance. Murphy and Edmonds — both of whom were previously married — also marked their children's presence at the celebration by exchanging beads engraved with their names. The celebrity couple knew from the get-go that they wanted to keep their nuptials low-key: "We want to make it fun and casual — small," Edmonds said at the time. 

In a shocker statement just a fortnight after Murphy and Edmonds' dreamy wedding, the couple announced they were splitting. "While the recent symbolic union in Bora Bora was representative of our deep love, friendship, and respect that we have for one another on a spiritual level, we have decided to remain friends," the pair jointly explained, per Reuters. They stated that their relationship didn't need further definition and that they would not be legalizing their union in the United States. According to Access, Murphy and Edmonds' marriage was over long before they announced their breakup to the world, and they had allegedly called it quits just three days after the ceremony. 

Mario Lopez and Ali Landry's marriage and breakup was a messy affair, echoes of which continue to resound decades after the events transpired in 2004. The "Saved by the Bell" actor and Landry, famous as the 1998 Doritos girl (per The Hollywood Reporter), tied the knot at a posh Mexico resort in April 2004. The duo had reportedly been an item for six years before saying their "I dos." 

Two weeks into the marriage, the union was called off and an annulment was ordered. It appeared that the marriage was doomed to fail from the get-go, with accusations of infidelity surrounding Lopez. "He's cheated on her for several years, and she just found out last week," a source told People.

In 2011, Lopez appeared on radio jockey Howard Stern's show and pinned down his fateful split to his bachelor party weekend (via Us Weekly). Landry apparently wasn't told about Lopez's elaborate pre-wedding travels, during which he confessed to hooking up with another woman. "I was wrong for obviously lying, and I shouldn't have been in that position," he said. He also addressed the infidelity in his memoir "Just Between Us," writing, "Ali was hurt and angry, rightfully so." Landry, meanwhile, went on record to say she was thankful to have been saved from "a Tiger Woods situation" with Lopez, saying the event changed her. 

Sinead O'Connor has never been one to live predictably. So when the Irish singer wed her fourth husband, Barry Herridge, no one foresaw that the union would be as temporary as 16 days (via Vulture). Held at Las Vegas' renowned Little White Wedding Chapel, which has witnessed the nuptials of iconic Hollywood couples including Elvis and Priscilla Presley, O'Connor's December 2011 drive-thru ceremony apparently lived up to her idea of a dream wedding (via Page Six). The wedding was memorably an all-pink affair — with the bride donning a stunning pink gown and saying "I do" in a pink Cadillac — and was made all the more special with O'Connor marking her birthday on the same day. "I love Sinead more than anyone I have ever met, or anybody I will ever meet," said Herridge, a drug counselor. 

A surprise announcement on O'Connor's website just two weeks into the marriage relayed news of their breakup. "Within three hours of the ceremony being over, the marriage was kyboshed by the behavior of certain people in my husband's life," the "Nothing Compares 2 U" hitmaker's cryptic message read (via People). She attributed the separation to her husband's unhappiness, admitting that they had rushed into the marriage and she was setting him free. Two years later, when fans thought the Herridge chapter in O'Connor's life was long gone, the couple reconciled and planned to renew their wedding vows (via Independent.ie), but later scrapped those plans.

Given that she has lived much of her life in the spotlight, Drew Barrymore's fleeting first tryst with matrimony in 1994 was bound to receive ample tabloid attention. Barrymore, then 19, had been dating 31-year-old Jeremy Thomas for about six weeks when she felt it was time to solemnize their relationship (via People). The celebrations were an apt reflection of the couple's impulsive decision to get hitched: "Let's do it right now," Barrymore apparently said, right after broaching the subject of marriage to Thomas. The ceremony was officiated by a clairvoyant-cum-private detective at The Room, a Los Angeles bar owned by Thomas, with a few friends in attendance. The Los Angeles Times noted that the duo hadn't lived together before tying the knot. "We're going to disappear inside a romantic little bungalow," a thrilled and married Barrymore said at the time. 

The union, which left many in the film industry shocked (per Entertainment Weekly), wasn't destined to last long. Merely 19 days into playing husband and wife, Thomas and Barrymore's marriage ended. Per the Tampa Bay Times, Barrymore soon filed for divorce and asked for her maiden name to be restored. In an interview given decades later to Radar Online, Thomas looked back on his brief marriage to Barrymore, revealing that the two got to know each other when the "E.T." star began frequenting his bar. He added: "I didn't marry her because she was Drew Barrymore, I married her because she was cute!"

It was all a hush-hush affair when LeToya Luckett's short-lived marriage to Rob Hillman came to an end in 2016. One of the original four of the iconic girl group Destiny's Child, Luckett kept the circumstances of both her romance and her split from Hillman tightly under wraps. In fact, the pair managed to tie the knot in January 2016 without letting the tabloids catch wind of it. It was only when, two months into the marriage, the couple split and TMZ reported on it that the relationship came to wide attention. There was reportedly a clause in the divorce agreement preventing either party from giving out details about the event. At the time, Luckett was gearing up to portray the legendary R&B singer Dionne Warwick in a biopic about her life, according to People. 

Per Page Six, Hillman was a public speaker known for his talks about relationships. Appearing on a radio show the year of his reported marriage and split with Luckett, he left people scratching their heads when he said the couple was "not getting married at this point" (via MadameNoire). Luckett gave fans some unexpected insight into her divorce a year later: "Although we really did love and care for each other, it just didn't turn out the way we wanted it to," she said. When asked if she would give her relationship with Hillman another chance, Luckett said she would "rather not go backward." 

Being reality television royalty isn't as easy as it looks: It cost Kim Kardashian an elaborate wedding, a short-lived marriage, and a highly publicized divorce. The socialite's love saga with NBA player Kris Humphries began in 2010 and was televised in all its glory for the sixth season of her family show "Keeping Up with the Kardashians." "He just has a really good heart," Kardashian said of her ex-beau at the time, per Us Weekly. Humphries' assimilation into the K-clan, which included taking a trip to the Bora Bora islands and popping the question to his ladylove, was well-documented on the show. Kardashian and Humphries' whirlwind romance culminated in an opulent fairytale wedding in October 2011, with two "KUWTK" episodes dedicated to the event. 

Seventy-two days in, Kardashian filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences, TMZ reported. Humphries, meanwhile, pushed for an annulment, with a source telling People that he felt "like Kim cheated him out of a real marriage." He further alleged that the wedding took place to rake in television ratings; their wedding special on E!, sure enough, set a 10.5 million viewer record, per Deadline. 

A decade after the breakup, Kardashian admitted that she wasn't ready to wed Humphries, but went ahead and tied the knot because it had already been shot for television (via Insider). She added that she owed Humphries an apology and had even tried to follow up with him, but never heard back. 

Bradley Cooper keeps his private life out of the public eye — at least as much as he can. The Hollywood dreamboat's romantic affairs, however, became common knowledge in 2007 when he split from his wife of four months, Jennifer Esposito. According to Access, it was Esposito who filed for divorce from Cooper. The split was reportedly mutual, with a statement from Cooper indicating that trouble had been brewing in paradise long before the divorce filing in May (via TMZ). "It was just something that happened. The good thing is, we both realized it," Cooper later explained on Howard Stern's radio show (via OK! Magazine). To date, Esposito is the only woman to have been Cooper's wife.

News of the two linking up first surfaced in 2006, when they began gracing red carpets together, per E! News. Though they tried to keep the relationship under wraps, it inevitably came out in the open with their engagement and wedding that same year (via People). The Esposito-Cooper pairing of yore was refreshed for public memory in 2019, when the "Taxi" actor made a cryptic comment about her ex-husband. "Ha," she wrote on an Instagram post by comedian David Spade, who had suggested a romance between "A Star Is Born" costars Cooper and Lady Gaga. Esposito later said that she found Spade's take on the situation funny and that her comment wasn't directed at the celebrities in question (via Harper's Bazaar).

Renée Zellweger and Kenny Chesney's love story was one for the books. Unfortunately, that chapter ended shortly after it began. The celebrity pair reportedly met at a concert in January 2005, but the foundation for their eventual romance was set years in advance. According to Entertainment Weekly, Chesney had been a fan of the Oscar-winning actor, whose highly-quoted line from "Jerry Maguire" was the inspiration behind his 1999 song "You Had Me from Hello." 

"When she [Renée] said that in the movie, it was like instant. I said, 'That could be a wonderful song,'" he said at the time, per ABC News. Chesney and Zellweger's whirlwind love affair culminated in a Caribbean beachside wedding after four months of dating.

Come September, Zellweger filed for an annulment, thus dissolving her first marriage. While the "Bridget Jones" star said the pair had decided to keep the details of their split private, Chesney was quoted saying in the aftermath of the event: "I'm sad, I'm angry, and I'm hurt and confused" (via People). Court documents reportedly cited fraud as the reason for the annulment, with Zellweger saying the legalese didn't reflect her ex-husband's character (via Us Weekly). After a statement from Zellweger mentioned "miscommunication of the objective of the marriage," rumor mills suggested then that Chesney was gay — a claim the country singer denied.

"One Tree Hill" alums Sophia Bush and Chad Michael Murray weren't just on-screen flames. The costars were also briefly married for real back in 2005. People reported that 22-year-old Bush and 23-year-old Murray, who played fan-favorite characters Brooke Davis and Lucas Scott, fell in love after meeting on the set of their long-running show. They began dating in 2003, and a year later, Murray popped the question. But their fairytale romance was destined to be short-lived, with the couple splitting up five months into the marriage. At the time, both actors described the event as being difficult, with Bush adding that she was glad the issue was being resolved, per a statement. 

Bush and Murray's personal affairs did not overshadow their commitment to "One Tree Hill," and the pair continued working together on the drama until 2009. When lauded in a later interview for her professionalism in working with an ex, Bush said she gave her character precedence over everything else (via the Independent). 

The celebrity breakup was surrounded by immense speculation. While there were rumors of Murray linking up with his "House of Wax" costar Paris Hilton, eyebrows were raised when Bush revealed in an interview with Andy Cohen that the marriage "was not a thing [she] actually really wanted to do." In an essay for Cosmopolitan, she recalled the trauma of the publicity her relationship with Murray received, writing, "I refuse to let that one relationship define me."