Is the divorce rate in America increasing? These celebrity couples say YES

Celebrity marriages have never been the pinnacle of stable, healthy relationships, in fact, they might just be what’s driving up the divorce rate in America. While there are a few couples that have been together for decades, a lot of times we see famous couples split just a few years after saying “I do”.

If the time is right to part ways then by all means, divide your streaming subscriptions and move on with your life. However, celebrity marriages notoriously come with a short shelf-life, and we’re never too surprised to find another relationship has bitten the dust. Maintaining a relationship along with fame & a career isn’t easy, but we’re wondering if maybe some of these marriages weren’t a little hasty to begin with.

Armie Hammer & Elizabeth Chambers

The announcement on July 10th that Armie Hammer & Elizabeth Chambers were divorcing came as a bit of a shock, as the couple had spent roughly a decade married. Hammer & Chambers’s split appeared amicable though – it’s a bit sad considering the two have two children together, Harper Grace & Ford Douglas Armand.

Kacey Musgraves & Ruston Kelly

It was only after two years of marriage that Kacey Musgraves & Ruston Kelly decided to split. The two singers nevertheless parted with no malice whatsoever and stated that their partnership just “simply didn’t work”. The couple made a joint statement where they also said, “Though we are parting ways in marriage, we will remain true friends for the rest of our lives.”

Clark Gregg & Jennifer Grey

Sometimes even those who have spent years together will see the need for divorce. Such was the case for Clark Gregg & Jennifer Grey, a couple that seemingly snubbed the high celebrity divorce rate in America and stayed by each other’s sides for nineteen years. On July 3rd, the couple announced they had separated in January, and were sad but ready to start a new chapter in their lives.

Kelly Clarkson & Brandon Blackstock

Kelly Clarkson & Brandon Blackstock spent seven years together as a married couple before Clarkson filed for divorce on June 4th. It seemed so perfect for the stepson of Reba McEntire & Kelly Clarkson to be with each other, but it just wasn’t meant to be. The couple did leave behind a legacy as they share two children, River Rose & Remington Alexander.

Julianne Hough & Brooks Laich

Social distancing has split up many couples during the pandemic, and actress Julianna Hough & hockey player Brooks Laich were just another casualty. While Laich was riding out isolation in Idaho and Hough was in their LA home, the two decided that divorce was in their future after three years together.

Mary-Kate Olsen & Olivier Sarkozy

The relationship between American fashion designer Mary-Kate Olsen & French banker Olivier Sarkozy was a bit eccentric from the start, considering their twenty-seven year age gap. Everything seemed to be going fine since they tied the knot in 2015, but in April Olsen requested an emergency order to file for divorce. However, due to the pandemic New York courts haven’t been accepting divorce filings.

Christina Ricci & James Heerdegen

The split between Christina Ricci and her film producer husband James Heerdegen is one on the list that doesn’t appear amicable. Ricci was granted an emergency protective order after police were called to their LA home. The actress filed for divorce in June after citing irreconcilable differences as the reason and asked for sole custody of the couple’s child, Freddie.

Megan Fox & Brian Austin Green

Megan Fox & Brian Austin Green are another long-term couple who have decided to call it a day. The couple were married for ten years and had three sons during the course of their marriage. Green had stated they had grown apart and were separated for months before deciding to divorce.

Pamela Anderson & Jon Peters

Speaking of increasing the divorce rate in America, Pamela Anderson set a personal record for shortest marriage after she split from movie mogul Jon Peters after just twelve days. The two first met at the Playboy mansion in the mid-80s and found their way back to each other late in 2019.

Celebrity couples: proof the divorce rate in America is increasing? (2026 update)

Celebrity couples are not causing America’s divorce problem—but they are a clean, public signal of it. By 2026, the pattern is hard to ignore: faster marriages, faster breakups, and fewer attempts to quietly endure unhappy unions.

The big picture

The U.S. divorce rate surged after the pandemic shock, leveled off, then ticked upward again through 2024–2025 as delayed separations finally happened. By 2026, lawyers, therapists, and courts agree on one thing: fewer people are “staying for the kids” or reputation. Celebrity splits mirror that acceleration—compressed timelines, decisive exits, public reframing.

High-visibility splits that defined the cycle

Recent celebrity breakups followed a familiar arc: long courtships, rapid life changes, then swift legal closure.

Kim Kardashian & Kanye West
A short, public unraveling that normalized decisive separation over prolonged damage control.
Sophie Turner & Joe Jonas
The custody-plus-career pressure cooker: mobility, touring, and parenting logistics colliding at speed.
Kevin Costner & Christine Baumgartner
Late-life divorce with high assets—proof the trend isn’t age-limited.
Ariana Grande & Dalton Gomez
Quiet filing, fast settlement. Less spectacle. More efficiency.

These aren’t anomalies; they’re representative.

What’s actually driving the increase

Celebrity cases expose the same structural forces hitting everyone else:

Post-pandemic clarity
Lockdowns compressed years of relational stress into months. Many couples reached a point of no return, then waited out logistics before filing.
Economic independence
Especially for women. Financial autonomy lowers the tolerance for chronic dissatisfaction. This is visible on red carpets and in middle-class suburbs alike.
Cultural permission to leave
The stigma collapsed. Public narratives now frame divorce as corrective, not catastrophic.
Speed over secrecy
Celebrities once hid splits for brand protection. By 2026, they move quickly to control the story—often through joint statements and rapid settlements.
Children ≠ delay
Co-parenting norms and legal frameworks have improved. Couples are less willing to model misery “for stability.”

Why celebrity couples matter as evidence

They are not statistically representative, but they are behaviorally predictive. Celebrities have early access to therapists, lawyers, and social permission. What shows up in Hollywood today tends to normalize nationwide within a few years.

Shorter marriages becoming socially acceptable
Fewer reconciliation cycles
Cleaner, faster legal exits
Less moral judgment attached to leaving

Bottom line

Celebrity divorces don’t prove causation. They prove visibility and velocity. By 2026, America isn’t divorcing more because stars are doing it; stars are divorcing more because the country already has.