11 Celeb Breakups That Shocked Us

Some celebrity splits come after months and months of troubling rumors, but others seem to come out of the blue. Here are examples of the latter variety:

• We were so distracted with tales of Gwyneth Paltrow's epic battle with Vanity Fair, we were blindsided when she "consciously uncoupled" with hubby Chris Martin.
• Katie Holmes kept her divorce plans so quiet, even Tom Cruise was shocked when they came to pass.
• And Ben Harper reportedly "stunned" Laura Dern when he filed for divorce in 2010.
• It came as a huge surprise when Janet Jackson announced she was divorcing Rene Elizondo—because no one knew they were married.

story continues below

• The couple who dons matching Halloween costumes together stays together .. right? Wrong, at least in the case of Heidi Klum and Seal, whose split was particularly baffling considering they used to renew their wedding vows every year.
• Another seemingly solid couple who split suddenly: Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis. Remember, during their 14-year relationship, Paradis said things about Depp like, "I want to mob him all the time, I do" and "We are together and, in a way, one person."
• And Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones saw each other through serious health issues, which is one reason their split after 13 years of marriage came as a shock.
• Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman's split came as a shock mostly because they were together for so darn long—41 years in total.
• And when Amy Poehler and Will Arnett separated, it was surprising mostly because everyone loved them together.
• George Lopez and wife Ann were married 17 years before they divorced—and she had given him one of her kidneys.
• Susan Sarandon didn't think she'd ever split with Tim Robbins, and after 23 years together, neither did we. Sadly, they did.

Need some cheering up? Check out some celebrity couples you can still root for. (Read more celebrity breakup stories.)