The Most Surprising Celebrity Breakups of 2024
This year, many celebrities found lasting love: Just look at Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater. But sadly, just as many ended their long-term relationships. While some of these splits were unsurprising — we kind of knew Tori Spelling and Dean McDermott were not going to make it, no? — others truly shocked us. Let’s look back at all the ways (celebrity) love died this year.
Channing Tatum and Zoë Kravitz
Ever since Channing Tatum and Zoë Kravitz got together in 2021, we have been hearing about how perfect they are for each other. Tatum, 44, and Kravitz, 36, met during pre-production for Kravitz’s directorial debut, Blink Twice (f.k.a. Pussy Island), on the heels of Kravitz’s divorce from Karl Glusman — remember that? — and they have routinely praised each other’s artistry in public. They got engaged at the end of 2023 and spent most of this year gearing up for the film’s premiere. Tatum then famously posted this photo of Kravitz sleeping on Instagram, declaring in the caption, “I got you forever. Me and you back to back against it all. I’ll never blink. Let’s go.”
Unfortunately, “forever” turned out to mean “a few weeks.” In October, People reported Tatum and Kravitz had broken up and called off their engagement. “They haven’t been on the same page and grew apart,” a source claimed. What?! Perhaps it was difficult for the two of them to parse the less-than-positive reviews of their film. Only Cara Delevingne knows what happened for sure (Kravitz was spotted “dishing” to her over BLTs at Dimes recently).
Brianna Chickenfry and Zach Bryan
This one was extra surprising in that I was stunned to learn a person named “Brianna Chickenfry” exists in the first place. Her real name, it turns out, is Brianna LaPaglia, and she is a 25-year-old Barstool Sports personality who got her nickname from a viral video about her legs resembling Burger King’s chicken fries. And she was, until October, dating the 28-year-old country singer Zach Bryan, who is not Zach Brown, who sings the country song “Chicken Fried.” Got it?
Ms. Chickenfry ruled the tabloids for roughly a month this year as she made wilder and wilder claims about Bryan: that he announced their breakup on Instagram without telling her, that he offered her $12 million to sign an NDA, and that he kept their cat, “Stump,” out of spite.
In November, LaPaglia posted a TikTok in which she could be seen cuddling with a new man. “That was fast,” said one commenter. “Well I was cheated on my whole relationship so yeah,” she replied. I hope we hear more from this gal in 2025.
Sacha Baron Cohen and Isla Fisher
Remember Rebel Wilson’s book tour? While promoting her memoir Rebel Rising in March, Wilson made several claims about Sacha Baron Cohen’s unseemly conduct on the set of The Brothers Grimsby in 2014. “Now the asshole is trying to threaten me,” Wilson alleged on Instagram. “He’s hired a crisis PR manager and lawyers. He’s trying to stop press coming out about my new book. But the book WILL come out and you will all know the truth.”
Cohen, in turn, denied Wilson’s claims (among them: that he asked Wilson on set, “Rebel, can you just stick your finger up my butt?”).
A week later, Cohen and his wife of 20 years, Isla Fisher, announced on their Instagram Stories that they were in the process of divorcing. “After a long tennis match lasting over twenty years, we are finally putting our racquets down,” they wrote, alongside a photo of them in tennis gear. “In 2023 we jointly filed to end our marriage. We have always prioritized our privacy, and have been quietly working through this change. We forever share in our devotion and love for our children. We sincerely appreciate your respecting our family’s wish for privacy.”
Timing is everything!
Andrew Garfield and Dr. Kate Tomas
This relationship was surprising to begin with: Andrew Garfield is a famous actor, and Dr. Kate Tomas is a self-described “professional witch.” The two were first photographed together on a double date with Phoebe Bridgers and Bo Burnham in March. Tomas, who offers spiritual mentorship to clients including celebs like Megan Mullally and Lena Dunham, mentioned the relationship a few times on social media, but Garfield never publicly said anything about it. And their connection, it seems, was short-lived: Tomas announced in a comment on one of her Instagram posts in October that the two had broken up “months ago.” Sources told DeuxMoi that she was the one to end things because Garfield, in her view, was not speaking up enough about the situation in Gaza. (For the record, Garfield signed a letter to President Biden demanding a ceasefire in October 2023 and expressed his support of Palestinians in Gaza at a 92NY event earlier this year.)
ANDREW GARFIELD AND DR. KATE
— deuxmoi (@deuxmoiworld) October 18, 2024
A breakup with a twisthttps://t.co/YBz3WclDfd
Bennifer
After two weddings and two European honeymoons, I thought Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez’s marriage was doubly sure to last. But in May, J.Lo attended the Met Gala by herself, and by August, on the two-year anniversary of their second wedding, she filed for divorce.
Why God? These two Leos could not be more right for each other. The only thing that gives me hope is that they are not yet officially divorced. Back in September, Us Weekly reported that the estranged couple hadn’t quite closed the door on their relationship: “J.Lo has stayed over at Ben’s place a couple times. When it’s good, it’s really good, but when it’s bad, it’s really bad — and things are so good when they are friends.”
Maybe they just need some time together during the holidays to work everything out.
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