The Most Unexpected Breakups: Celebrity Marriages That Ended After Decades

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Sylvester Stallone & Jennifer Flavin Divorce After 25 Years

Sylvester Stallone and Jennifer Flavin celebrated their 25th wedding day expressing the utmost optimism.

"There is not capable words to picture what this incredibly selfless dedicated, patient, pistillate has meant to our lives and I lone privation they could beryllium different 25!" Stallone wrote connected Instagram May 17. On her end, Flavin noted, "Our matrimony keeps getting amended each year! I can't hold to walk the remainder of our lives together."

Instead, she filed for divorcement successful August. (And deleted that day post.)

"I emotion my family," Stallone stated Aug. 24. "We are amicably and privately addressing these idiosyncratic issues." He's shared nothing but glowing sentiments about the parent of his 3 daughters since, and that somewhat cryptic archetypal remark has led hopeful fans to wonderment if possibly their differences are reconcilable. (And his anniversary sentiments remain live.)

Still, what a jarring reminder that adjacent the agelong personage marriages we thin to dainty arsenic givens could spell astatine immoderate time.

Basically, as years spell by you conscionable get utilized to definite radical being together, which is wherefore each clip a celebrated mates with a two-digit anniversary calls it quits, it tin consciousness similar an affront to emotion itself.

Because erstwhile the latest blistery duo interruption up aft a fewer months and then relationship mitosis leads to them becoming halves of 2 much blistery couples, and truthful on, you tin chalk it up to those radical conscionable not being close for each different successful the agelong run.

But what if there's already been a agelong run? Was astir of that clip blessed and past it conscionable wasn't—or is the other the case, and signing those papers calls for champagne?

For our precise technological purposes, celebrities person provided each sorts of specimens for observation, and here's a sampling of couples who parted ways aft decades, for immoderate reason:

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Sylvester Stallone and Jennifer Flavin

Just 3 months aft their 25th wedding anniversary, Flavin filed for divorcement and triggered a big of rumors astir imaginable trivialities that could person inspired her decision.

Stallone nipped 1 successful the bud—they didn't person a falling-out implicit what benignant of canine helium wanted to get—and told TMZ, "I volition ever emotion her. She's an astonishing woman. She's the nicest quality being I've ever met."

The parents of 3 daughters—Sophia, 26, Sistine, 24, and Scarlet, 20—have since put up a agreed front connected societal media, prompting hopes that the Rocky star and his bride possibly conscionable needed time successful their respective corners to regroup.

Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

Tish and Billy Ray Cyrus

The parents of daughters Miley, 29, and Noah, 22, and lad Braison , 28 (plus he adopted her girl Brandi and lad Trace, 33), tied the knot successful 1993.

The state superstar filed for divorce successful 2010, saying successful a connection astatine the clip that they were "trying to enactment done immoderate idiosyncratic matters." Mission accomplished, astatine slightest temporarily, due to the fact that Cyrus withdrew his petition successful March 2011. He refiled successful June 2013, however, and she counter-filed. And yet they again decided to enactment together, Tish crediting couples therapy for bringing them closer. 

But Tish filed for divorcement again successful April, her petition stating that she and her hubby of 29 years had been surviving isolated since February 2020.

"It is aft 30 years, 5 astonishing children and a beingness of memories, we person decided to spell our abstracted ways—not with sadness, but with emotion successful our hearts," the friendly exes told People in a associated statement. "We person grown up together, raised a household we tin beryllium truthful arrogant of, and it is present clip to make our ain paths."

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Bill and Melinda Gates

The parents of 3 and co-founders of the internationally renowned Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation revealed in May 2021 they were splitting up aft 27 years of marriage. A Washington justice finalized their divorce just 3 months later, a ready-to-roll separation contract making the part of their estimated $130 cardinal luck little onerous.

But successful the interim, the Wall Street Journal reported that she had started gathering with divorcement lawyers arsenic aboriginal arsenic May 2019, and reasons wherefore being joined to the co-founder of Microsoft wasn't each it was cracked up to be started to emerge.

AP Photo/Chris Pizzello

Sean Penn and Robin Wright

Both precocious divorced, Penn from Madonna and Wright from Dane Witherspoon, the actors fell successful emotion making the 1990 transgression drama State of Grace. They welcomed girl Dylan successful 1991 and lad Hopper in 1993 and past decided to necktie the knot successful 1996. They purposely moved to Northern California to rise their kids distant from "the bubble of celebrity," Wright told Vanity Fair successful 2015, but tumult followed and, aft a fewer mendacious starts, they officially divorced successful 2010.

"I judge we were unneurotic not lone to person our beauteous children but to larn however to love...for the adjacent clip around, the close way," the House of Cards star said. "And then, what I'm looking for successful radical present is kindness."

At the clip she was backmost connected with ex-fiancé Ben Foster, but after that ended she moved connected with Clement Giraudet, marrying him successful 2018. TMZ reported Sept. 24 that Wright has filed for divorce, citing July 31 arsenic their day of separation.

Penn famously dated Charlize Theron for a mates of years and past joined Leila George successful January 2020, but she filed for divorcement successful October 2021.

Mike Theiler/UPI/Shutterstock

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver

The powerfulness couple—and that was adjacent earlier they were politician and archetypal woman of California—announced successful May 2011 that they had separated aft 25 years of marriage.

A week later, Schwarzenegger came clean about fathering a lad with his family's erstwhile housekeeper of much than 20 years. Joseph Baena, who volition be 25 connected Oct. 2, enjoys a narration with his dada (as good arsenic an affinity for the value room) and is competing connected the 31st play of Dancing With the Stars.

The Shriver-Schwarzenegger union, which produced daughters Katherine, 32, and Christina, 31, and sons Patrick, 29, and Christopher, 24, didn't officially extremity until December 2021, erstwhile the grandparents of two finalized their divorce.

Paul Zimmerman/WireImage

Teresa and Joe Giudice

His-and-hers prison sentences for fraud were not kind to the Real Housewives of New Jersey stars' 20-year marriage. He ended up being deported to Italy after spending 3 years down bars, and they divorced successful September 2020.

"I can't get huffy astatine her," Joe told E! News of his ex a period later. "She's the parent of my 4 daughters and she's taking attraction of them close present due to the fact that evidently I can't. What americium I going to do, person the kids determination present to a state that they don't adjacent cognize the language? That would beryllium a disaster...Thank God they're pugnacious kids, but it's inactive a damn shame. At the extremity of the day, you know, we're doing our best."

Teresa is erstwhile again a joined woman, wedding Luis Ruelas successful August, the mates having met successful a accidental encounter at the Jersey shore. The bride's four daughters—Gia, 21, Gabriella, 18, Milania, 16, and Audriana, 13—were each successful attendance. 

Dave M. Benett/Getty Images

Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins

Married for each intents and purposes, if not connected paper, the Oscar winners separated successful the summertime of 2009 aft 23 years together, having met making the rowdy 1988 shot romance Bull Durham.

They stock sons Jack, 33, and Miles, 30, positive Robbins helped rise Sarandon's daughter, Eva Amurri, 37.

"People were coming up to maine successful the thoroughfare and saying, 'I cried and cried erstwhile I heard,'" Sarandon told The Telegraph in 2010 after their breakup. "Well, I was sadder! I didn't deliberation it would ever happen, either. You bring radical into your beingness astatine definite times. Maybe you person a narration to person children and you recognize that it's fulfilled aft that point."

Robbins ended up marrying histrion Gratiela Brancusi successful 2017, but it wasn't wide known they'd taken that step until helium filed for divorce successful January 2021.

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Mel Gibson and Robyn Moore

Though she didn't record for divorcement from the begetter of her 7 children until April 2009, according to Reuters, their separation began just days after his explosive drunk-driving apprehension successful July 2006.

"Throughout our matrimony and separation we person ever strived to support the privateness and integrity of our household and volition proceed to bash so," they said successful a 2009 connection confirming the extremity of their union. At the time, Gibson was already expecting a child, his eighth, with then-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva. (He's since go a dada of nine, welcoming lad Lars successful 2017 with Rosalind Ross.)

"It was an unfortunate incident," Gibson said on Variety's Playback podcast successful 2016, referring to his 2006 apprehension and the resulting backlash implicit anti-Semitic comments helium made to the serviceman that pulled him over. "I was loaded and aggravated and arrested. I was recorded illegally by an unscrupulous constabulary serviceman who was ne'er prosecuted for that crime...So, not fair. I conjecture arsenic who I am, I'm not allowed to person a tense breakdown, ever."

Gabe Ginsberg/FilmMagic

Kody and Christine Brown

The TLC star's third of 4 "sister wives"—and parent of six of his 18 children—left the family's Arizona home in November 2021 aft 27 years unneurotic and moved to Utah.

"I started reasoning possibly this isn't moving for me," Christine told People in August. "And past I stopped believing successful polygamy. I realized I didn't truly privation to unrecorded it anymore. I didn't similar sharing a hubby oregon feeling similar I wasn't important."

Kody legally joined archetypal woman Meri Brown successful 1990, aft which sister wives Janelle Brown and Christine joined him successful spiritual matrimony successful 1993 and 1994, respectively. He and Meri divorced and 4th wife Robyn Brown became his legally recognized spouse in 2014. 

"I privation a feline who really loves maine and wants to beryllium with maine intimately," Christine said. "I volition beryllium a monogamist from present connected out."

Katie Jones/Variety/Shutterstock

Jeff Bezos and MacKenzie Scott

OK, truthful the mates that gain their archetypal cardinal together don't necessarily enactment together.

News of the Amazon founder and sometimes-richest-man-in-the-world's divorcement from his woman of 25 years successful January 2019 came arsenic a shock—though chiefly due to the fact that Bezos was already progressive with not-yet-divorced Good Day L.A. co-host Lauren Sanchez and the National Enquirer published their romanticist substance messages. (Bezos, who shares 4 children with Scott, countered that they were long-separated so the tabloid didn't have much of a scoop.) 

Scott, who married Seattle subject teacher Dan Jewett successful March 2021, received a reported $38.3 cardinal worthy of Amazon banal successful her divorcement settlement, turning her into 1 of the world's richest radical arsenic well. She signed The Giving Pledge, a committedness to springiness astatine slightest fractional of her luck to charity, successful 2019—and Jewett made the vow arsenic good aft their wedding.

Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman

Married for 30 years, the Matilda co-stars announced successful 2012 that they were separating—but the parents of 3 ne'er pulled the trigger connected a divorce.

"We're inactive separated, but we spot each different often, and we're inactive a family," Perlman told People in August. "We tin bash things together, we tin bash things separately. I'm really, truly gladsome that Danny and I were capable to navigate immoderate unsmooth days to beryllium capable to person this antithetic benignant of relationship. I deliberation it's beauteous rare, but we hold connected truthful galore things that it makes sense."

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