The Most Devastating Celebrity Breakups Of 2020

There have been some devastating breakups in 2020. That's on top of the fact that we haven't enjoyed our usual festivities and enjoyments, like going to the movie theatre or spending time with friends. So what have most of us done? Spent more and more time on social media, and as such, engaging with our favorite influencers and celebrities even more so than we did before.

That's probably why we're a little more in the know about some of our favorite celebrity couples, some of whom have broken up. Thankfully, soulmate stars like Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis are still together (and if they ever split, love is officially dead), but some of the breakups have been insane and completely unexpected.

Of course, many of us would like to think that we know everything about our favorite celebrity and their partner, given how much time we spend following them on Instagram, catching up on all of the latest details. But that simply isn't the case, and the following breakups are reflective of that. So hold on tight, because here are the most devastating celebrity breakups of 2020.

This one hurt. After nearly a decade together, Jason Sudeikis and Olivia Wilde announced their devastating breakup in November 2020, and it was a lot to process. The pair have two young kids — Otis Alexander Sudeikis and Daisy Josephine Sudeikis — and have been a Hollywood staple for ages. 

Sudeikis and Wilde's breakup was announced exclusively to People, where a source explained what was going on behind the scenes. "The split happened at the beginning of the year," they revealed. "It's been amicable and they've transitioned into a great co-parenting routine. The children are the priority and the heart of the family's relationship." It's great that Sudeikis and Wilde have been focusing on their kids, but our hearts hurt for their romance. 

Sudeikis and Wilde first started dating in November of 2011, after they met at a Saturday Night Live afterparty. Sudeikis told late night host Stephen Colbert that they "hit it off that night" and the rest, we thought, was history. We just hope that these two can continue focusing on their family.

Another gorgeous couple who split in 2020 was Queer Eye's Karamo Brown and his fiancé Ian Jordan; after being together for ten years, the pair announced a devastating breakup. As noted by Today, Brown explained that the couple's wedding was supposed to take place in the summer of 2020, but got postponed because of the pandemic. That's when Brown started to reflect on his relationship and life, which ultimately resulted in the couple calling it off. "It's one of those things where I said we were distracted by so much — with the kids and our careers," Brown said. "During that time, I had to really say, how is our communication? How are other parts of our lives? Are we growing in the same place?" 

These are good questions to ask, and clearly the pair were at different points in their lives because they ended their relationship and officially canceled the wedding. Fortunately, it looks like things are still friendly between them, as Jordan posted a photo of the pair together on Instagram, accompanied by a sweet message on Brown's November 2nd birthday.

Be still our Bachelorette hearts. Of all the Bachelor Nation couples, we really thought Ashley Hebert and J.P. Rosenbaum would make it. After meeting on the seventh season of The Bachelorette all the way back in 2011, the two seemed to be in it for the long haul. Sadly, after eight years of marriage, they called it quits in 2020; a source told People that their split was "a long time coming." 

The source divulged that the two had been "under strain for some time prior to their decision to part ways," and that ultimately, their relationship had to come to an end. "They have had issues for some time and as much as they wanted to make it work, they couldn't," the source added. "They are very different people, but they are great parents to their kids and that is their main focus now." 

Hebert and Rosenbaum have two kids: Fordham Rhys Rosenbaum and Essex Reese Rosenbaum. Here's to hoping that they'll all be ok as a family even after the devastating breakup.

After nearly a decade together, from dating to marriage, actress Lake Bell and her husband Scott Campbell announced their divorce; they both took to social media in October 2020 to address the split. Additionally, although they both maintained that they would still be lifelong friends and parents, the fact that their romance came to an end is still so sad. 

Bell and Campbell got married in 2013 and have two kids together: their daughter Nova Campbell, and their son Ozgood Campbell. In her statement, Bell said that the priority would be to their kids. "After nine years together, seven years married, two sparkling children... Scott and I are ending our marriage but continuing our loving family," she wrote on Instagram. "With respect and thoughtful guidance, we will continue to be parental comrades in arms and best friends for all of our days." 

Campbell echoed the sentiment. "I have invincible confidence in us as parental warriors and as best friends for all our days," he shared on Instagram. Still, when there's kids involved, the celebrity breakups seem to be that much more devastating.

Talk about devastating, because this celebrity breakup hurt us deep in our hearts. Cara Delevingne — who's undergone a stunning transformation — and Ashley Benson were always pretty private with their relationship, rarely sharing photos of themselves together or commenting about their romance. But the glimpses they gave us into their romance seemed beyond perfect, making their April 2020 split that much more difficult to process. 

As noted by People, sources confirmed the actress and supermodel decided to call it quits after their relationship had been very much on the rocks. "Cara and Ashley always had their ups and down before but it's over now," a source revealed. "Their relationship just ran its course." Before that, Delevingne and Benson were quite the groundbreaking couple, and made it known just how special their bond was. They confirmed their romance with an Instagram post in June 2019, sharing a video of the two kissing on the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riot. 

Benson has since been linked to rapper G-Eazy, and even took her new fling as her date to her sister's wedding, as noted by People.

After her very high profile marriage and subsequent divorce from actor Liam Hemsworth, Miley Cyrus moved on fairly quickly. And a lot of us were surprised when she seemed to jump back into a committed relationship, this time with heartthrob Cody Simpson. As noted by Elle, the two seemed pretty smitten together, and took to social media — specifically TikTok — to share fun, flirty videos of themselves dancing and just having a good time. 

But that all ended in August 2020 when Cyrus confirmed that their devastating breakup. "Right now, two halves can't make a whole and we're individually just working on ourselves to become the people we want to be," she said during an Instagram live. "We've been friends for 10 years and we're going to continue to be friends, so just don't make it something that it is not." 

But things did take a bit of a sour turn in November 2020 when the pair officially stopped following each other on social media — the modern indication that love is dead.

After a couple months of marriage difficulties, Dancing With the Stars' Gleb Savchenko and his wife Elena Samodanova announced their devastating breakup, as noted by Us Weekly. It's super sad, especially considering that they have two daughters together. 

However, things reportedly got messy really quickly. "Gleb and Elena had been having issues for a few months, and his relationship with [his Dancing With the Stars partner] Chrishell [Stause] was the catalyst to bringing those issues to the forefront and over the edge," a source shared. "Gleb is a very passionate person, handsome and always gets attention, and Elena can be insecure." So things weren't as simple as a marriage that had run its course. Of course, the source was referring to the on-screen partnership between Savchenko and Stause that had dominated much of the fall 2020 season of Dancing With the Stars. 

And although Savchenko and Stause denied any romantic relationship between them, that didn't stop Samodanova from posting some very cryptic messages on social media, with one saying "I'm just disappointed you turned into everything you said you'd never be." So we'll see what happens with this one.

After 13 years of being together, actor Armie Hammer and his wife Elizabeth Chambers announced their separation, and honestly, we couldn't believe it. It seems like after couples get past the 10-year threshold, that everything will work out, but that clearly wasn't the case here. Not only did their marriage come to an end in 2020, but the exes are now navigating co-parenting, as they have two children together. 

Hammer talked about the devastating breakup in detail with GQ. "Change is not a bad thing always, but that doesn't mean it's painless," Hammer said. "Elizabeth and I are two adults making this decision and the priority is how do we do it in a way that affects our children the least? Or, at least, how do we help get them through this in a way that mitigates as much consternation or fear or damage on their part?" 

That's a very valid concern to have. A 2017 study found that children from divorced families are 50 percent more likely to develop mental health disorders, so hopefully all these divorced celebrity couples are doing what they can to help cushion the blow.

Talk about a headline that we did not expect to read. After seven years of marriage, singer and television star Kelly Clarkson filed for divorce from her husband Brandon Blackstock in 2020, and we were honestly shocked at the devastating breakup. 

According to Entertainment Tonight, Clarkson cited "irreconcilable differences in her divorce filing," and requested joint custody of the couple's two children — their daughter River Blackstock and their son Remington Blackstock. To really put the nail in the coffin, Clarkson made a point of noting in the court filings that she wanted to "terminate the ability to award spousal support to Blackstock," and that she wanted the court to honor the couple's prenuptial agreement. To top it off, Clarkson made it clear that she expected that she and Blackstock would pay for their own legal fees. Yikes. 

All of this ended a marriage that most fans thought would last. Just in April of 2020, Blackstock and the couple's children put together such a sweet message for the singer's birthday. She shared it on social media, and everything between them seemed ok. This one hurts.

Co-stars whose characters date on the show they are cast in make some of the best IRL couples (think Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis). But things didn't work out so nicely for co-stars Lili Reinhart and Cole Sprouse, sadly. As noted by Insider, the two were rumored to have started dating in 2017, the same year that their hit show Riverdale made its way to the screen. Not only were their characters in love, but it appeared as though Reinhart and Sprouse were too, and fans eagerly took interest in their relationship. 

But from what we can tell (both Reinhart and Sprouse are very private), their relationship was a bit rocky, and neither openly spoke about their lives together — and honestly, we understand why. But Sprouse finally took to Instagram in 2020 to address their relationship, and as such, confirmed their devastating breakup. "Lili and I initially separated in January of this year, deciding to more permanently split in March," he wrote. "What an incredible experience I had, I'll always feel lucky and cherish that I had the chance to fall in love." Excuse us while our hearts break.

The coronavirus put a dent in everyone's lives, including Mary-Kate Olsen and Olivier Sarkozy and their devastating breakup. The couple, who'd been married since 2015, were plagued with problems, and according to Vanity Fair, the pandemic only made things worse. 

Olsen initially filed for divorce in New York, but it was ultimately rejected given that the courts were "closed to nonemergency business" due to the pandemic. It was also reported that Olsen feared Sarkozy would try to make her leave their Gramercy apartment. So when the courts finally reopened, Olsen filed for divorce, and the details are wild, so prepare yourselves. "Olivier was concerned for the safety of his family in New York during the pandemic," a source told Page Six. "He insisted to Mary-Kate that he wanted to bring his ex-wife, their kids, and his mother from the city, to their Bridgehampton home." Yep, you read that right. The source added that "while Mary-Kate loves his children, it was too much to have his ex-wife living with them during the pandemic," so she left ASAP. And honestly, we get it.

It seems like it's the couples that we see on reality television who make the most shocking announcements, and that was the case for Very Cavallari's Kristin Cavallari and Jay Cutler. The jewelry designer and football star were so cute on their show, and had a relationship (so we thought) that many people wanted to emulate. They had the kids, the home, the witty banter, everything (it seemed). But according to People, the reality was not nearly as cheery, and the couple announced their split in April 2020 — and fans were seriously shocked. 

Cavallari told People that her marriage to Cutler wasn't nearly as amazing and perfect as the show made it out to be, and divulged that she and Cutler had been "struggling privately for years." "I always thought it was interesting when people would refer to us as 'couple goals,'" she explained. "I was like, 'If you guys only knew.'" 

The couple and their devastating breakup just serve as another friendly reminder to not always believe the "reality" that you see on television or on social media.

After spending time apart, Julianne Hough and her husband Brooks Laich finally called it quits on their marriage. The couple split in May 2020, as reported by People, but didn't hurry to file for divorce — which gave fans a glimmer of hope that they would work out their differences. At the time, they said that they'd come to the decision "lovingly and carefully," and since divorce wasn't in the statement, it seemed like they were destined for a devastating breakup. 

Fans of the dancing pro were teased at the possibility of the couple getting back together in September 2020, when Hough posted a photo of Laich's dog, but it was too good to be true. In November 2020, Hough officially filed for divorce, and as such squashed all hope that the couple would reconcile. 

The saddest part? A resurfaced statement from Hough that she made in 2016. "I've never really been the person to think about 'When you know you know,' but it was just kind of like that," she said at the time. "When we first met each other we were like, 'And we're done.'"

We saved the most devastating breakup for last. After nine years of being together, actors Vanessa Hudgens and Austin Butler officially ended their relationship in January 2020, and by extension, crushed all of our hearts in the process. According to Harper's Bazaar, the couple called it quits due to "scheduling conflicts and long-distance issues," and have remained friendly with each other. But ending after nine years? Ugh, our hearts can't handle it. 

But here's where some hope might kick in. According to an insider who spoke to E! News, the couple might get back together. "They're 'going to see what happens,'" the source shared. "They have such a history and deep connection they could find their way back to one another." If it's meant to be, we really hope they do, because they really were so cute together. 

Hudgens spilled about Butler when interviewed by Women's Health in 2018, saying that he inspired her more than anyone, and that "it's nice to have a best friend you can share victories with as well as losses." Here's to hoping that the future will bring these two back together.