Remember way back in April, when days of quarantine were still filled with random activities, and the biggest story in the news was Kristin Cavallari and Jay Cutler’s shocking divorce? Well, here we are five months later, still in quarantine, and still talking about Kristin Cavallari. What a f*cking year. Back in April, we didn’t get much information about the split, other than their initial Instagram posts, and some messy legal details that were seemingly resolved pretty quickly. This was all just weeks after the fam returned from their never-ending trip to the Bahamas, so the whole timeline was very confusing. But his week, Kristin spoke to People, and while she was mostly there to promote her new cookbook (random, but sure), thankfully she also spilled some much-needed info on WTF happened between her and Jay.
Unsurprisingly, she says that the split “didn’t happen overnight,” despite whatever happy façade fans saw. She continued, saying “We tried really, really hard for years and years,” and that the split “was the hardest decision I’ve ever made.” I think most of us assumed their divorce wasn’t just a split-second decision, because that’s not how divorces tend to work, but Kristin and Jay were definitely a couple that managed to keep most of their drama private, despite the fact that they did a reality show together for three seasons.
Speaking about the public perception of her marriage, Kristin told People, “I always thought it was interesting when people would refer to us as ‘couple goals.’ I was like, if you guys only knew.” Maybe I’m in the minority here, but from watching Very Cavallari, it never actually seemed like things were that perfect in Kristin and Jay’s relationship. They weren’t having huge fights or anything, but Jay never seemed that thrilled to be there, and Kristin was almost constantly annoyed with him. Kristin admitted that things were not going well during filming for the show’s third and final season, but that “we definitely kept a lot of stuff private. Producers saw stuff, but they didn’t put it in the show—which is good, because I don’t want my kids to ever .”
When asked about the actual reasons that led to the breakdown of her marriage, Kristin kept things pretty vague. And by that, I mean that she definitely did NOT reference the cheating rumors that have persisted about Jay Cutler since before the split was even announced. Instead, she painted a broad picture, saying, “Every relationship has their stuff. I met Jay when I was 23. I was a baby. Jay and I had so much love for each other, but we grew up. When you work at something for so many years and nothing’s changing, I think you have to just make a decision. We all want to be happy.” Amen, sister… but what about the cheating rumors?
But rumors aside, it sounds like Kristin and Jay are in a pretty good place now. After those initial legal issues immediately following their split, they came to a co-parenting agreement, and Kristin was able to buy her new house in Nashville. She shared that “I still care so much about and talk to him almost every day. We have three kids together. He’s going to be in my life forever.”
She may be stuck with Jay, but she seems happy with her decision to leave reality TV in the past—for now, at least. When she began Very Cavallari three years ago, the focus was mainly on her business, but the spotlight shifted to her personal life in more recent seasons. She says that she’s “relieved” the show isn’t coming back, because “I just knew I was going to have to talk about everything, and I didn’t want to. Thinking about filming was giving me anxiety.” Kristin maintains that her current focus is on what’s best for her three kids, and that’s “Probably not doing a reality show, having to talk about divorcing their dad.” Fair enough. Honestly, Very Cavallari was not that entertaining to begin with, so I’m happy to find something else to watch.
Along with the cheating rumors, I’m also a little disappointed that Kristin didn’t address that photo she posted with Stephen Colletti this summer. Like, I know in my heart that they’re not back together, but I still need to hear it directly from her. Kristin says that she’s “really excited about the future all around,” but who’s to say that future can’t include a fling with her old flame? For now, I will continue to hold out hope, because it’s really all I have left at this point.
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Images: Timothy Hiatt/Getty Images
Welcome, friends, to the first in what I hope will be a recurring column in which I investigate whether recent celebrity news is real or a PR stunt. Now, you might be asking yourself what gives me the right to judge the intimate details of a complete stranger’s life and decide for myself if their most recent headline-making dalliance is real or something cooked up by their publicist? Well, I have been recapping The Bachelor for the last five seasons and seeing as how that show is a modern-day Ringling Brothers Circus that specializes in creating Kris Jenner-worthy storylines for the sake of our Monday night entertainment, I’d say that’s all the certification I need. Mmkay?
Moving on. Today I thought we’d focus on a headline that is dominating entertainment news feeds as well as five of my personal group chats. I’m, of course, talking about the selfie seen ‘round the world of Kristin Cavallari and her ex-Laguna Beach lover Stephen Colletti. Last night Kristin shared a selfie on Instagram of her SITTING ON HER EX’S LAP for the entire world to see with the caption “2004 or 2020?!” Subtle, Kristin, veeery subtle.
As you’ll recall, in March, Kristin and Jay Cutler announced that they were getting a divorce after 10 years of marriage. Soon after their very chill, very “we love co-parenting” divorce Instagram announcement, headlines started popping up accusing Jay of some alleged “misconduct.” There were cheating rumors, rumors that Jay was holding the family’s bank account hostage so Kristin couldn’t find another house to live in, and other wild accusations. In May they finally reached a joint custody agreement and have been laying relatively low ever since.
Which brings us to Tuesday night and the Instagram that launched 1,000 ships speculations. Are Kristin and Stephen back together? How long have they been talking? Will she plan a vacation to Cabo for old time’s sake and, more importantly, will Stephen get drunk and call Kristin a slut for dancing on the bar?
Ah, young love! So cute! So healthy!
These are the questions that keep me up at night. But is this for real or is this a mere PR stunt? Well, let’s take a look at the evidence.
From the outside (and probably all sides, tbh) this looks very much like a PR stunt. As we’ve mentioned, Kristin’s marriage is over. For those of you who watched Very Cavallari (guilty), you know that her marriage was arguably the most interesting thing about the show. What we used to love about Kristin during her Laguna Beach era (her mean girl antics, outrageous love triangles, and ability to make choppy bobs look chic) have been completely abandoned on Very Cavallari in favor of interviews about her pilates schedule, b-roll of her pretending to cook family meals, and modeling microscopic jewelry for her Instagram followers. Jay carries the show with his bare minimum personality while Kristin maintains the stage presence of a Cobb salad.
Speaking of Very Cavallari, in May Kristin announced that we wouldn’t be getting another season of the hit E! show and was instead focusing on this “new chapter” in her life. Booooo. I’m assuming this next chapter is going to focus on growing her jewelry “empire” which consists of mid-level expensive midi rings and layering necklaces. Let’s be honest here folks, the girl could really use a PR boost.
And she’s not the only one whose publicist is probably thirsty for more media coverage. According to Stephen Colletti’s IMDb page, his last television appearance was on a show called Everyone Is Doing Great about washed-up heartthrob actors “struggling to reclaim their previous level of success and relevance”, and the pilot appears to have been filmed in his basement during quarantine. Brb just going to copy and paste that entire entry to share with Merriam Webster in case they’re looking for a sentence to illustrate the definition of “rock bottom.”
Now, I can already hear some of you coming for me in the comments section with “bUt WhAt iF tHeY’rE jUsT fRiEnDs??” and, yes, they could just be friends! In fact, sources tell TMZ that the two have remained “good friends” since their break-up many eons ago, and that’s why they were seen together Tuesday night. Good friends that in the last 16 years have never posted or spoken about each other unless they’re in the midst of promoting their latest book or a trailer for the upcoming season of their show.
Final verdict: this is 100% a PR stunt. This wasn’t a nostalgic get-together with old friends or—and I hate to break my eighth grade heart—an epic Laguna Beach romantic reunion. If anything, it was a casual dinner and drinks situation that maybeee ended in a hookup on Stephen’s futon couch that triples as a bed and dining room table (IDK, I just feel like he has one of those), and Stephen pretending they’ll “totally do this again sometime” as he responds to a random’s DM on Instagram. Good luck, kids! Ever happiness to you both!
Images: @kristincavallari /Instagram (3); SheKnows.com (1); Giphy (1)
As the coronavirus has spread, and we’ve all been forced into various forms of quarantine, this spring has been a stressful time for everyone. For some of us, it means we’ve spent way too much time alone (hi), but for those in relationships, it’s been an intense few months of ~quality time~ together. I’m sure this has brought some couples closer together, but not every relationship is meant to survive, and quarantine szn has turned into breakup szn.
Several high-profile celebrity couples have called it quits since mid-March, when things really got real with Miss Rona, and the details are fascinating. From out-of-nowhere divorces to couples that seemed like a ticking time bomb, here are all the celeb couples that have broken up during quarantine.
Mary-Kate Olsen & Olivier Sarkozy
I won’t pretend to be sad about this relationship ending, because it always felt a little weird. But I was surprised by last week’s sudden revelation that Mary-Kate wants a divorce. I say “wants” because for the time being, the New York courts aren’t accepting new divorce filings, and her request for an emergency divorce was denied. According to new sources, one of the major issues in their marriage was that Mary-Kate wants to have kids, and Olivier isn’t interested in having any more. Now, he’s trying to terminate the lease on their main apartment together, and it seems like things will probably be ugly between these two for a while.
Kristin Cavallari & Jay Cutler
Am I the only one who feels like this happened six years ago already? As we all know by now, Kristin and Jay announced their decision to divorce last month, and they’ve already settled their disputes surrounding custody of their children, and whether Kristin is allowed to buy a gigantic house (answer key: joint custody, and yes). With allegations of misconduct, this seemed like it would be dramatic at the jump, but things seem to have worked out okay for now.
Surprisingly, Kristin announced this week that after three seasons, she won’t be continuing with her reality show Very Cavallari. Honestly, the show is okay at best, so this isn’t a great loss, but I wasn’t expecting it. If anything, I thought Kristin would use the show, which has previously focused a lot on her home life with Jay, as a way to launch her new chapter as a single woman. But it’s important to note that this decision would potentially clear a path for Kristin to return to The Hills in the future. Much to consider!
Megan Fox & Brian Austin Green
It’s been a long road for these two, but it seems that they may finally be done for good. They started dating way back in 2004 (when she was just 18), and eventually got married in 2010. After having two kids, Megan filed for divorce in 2015, but they got back together and had a third child the following year. Fast forward to 2020, and they’re officially separated again. After Megan was seen hanging out with Machine Gun Kelly and Brian posted the bizarre butterfly Instagram above, he confirmed their separation on his podcast. Thankfully, he said he and Megan are on good terms, and will still go on trips and spend time together with their kids. I’m glad they’re in a good place for co-parenting, but it looks like it’s finally the end of the line for their relationship.
Cara Delevingne & Ashley Benson
Out of all the breakups on this list, this one hit hardest. Earlier this month, reports surfaced that Cara and Ashley had split after roughly two years of dating. It seemed like they went through a lot together—they even bought a sex bench! While neither of them gave any details, things seemed pretty final when Ashley was recently spotted kissing G-Eazy. Sad, but I would kiss G-Eazy too. In her first public comment on the whole situation, Cara posted an Instagram story asking people to stop coming for Ashley, and saying that only the two of them know the truth. Ashley reshared the story, so whatever happened here, at least it seems like they don’t hate each other.
Stacey Dash & Jeffrey Marty
I loved Stacey Dash in Clueless, but times have changed. These days, she’s mostly known for her questionable political views and messy personal life, and she announced last month that her fourth marriage was coming to an end. Dash and Jeffrey Marty got married in April 2018, just TEN DAYS after meeting for the first time. I’m sorry, but nothing good has ever come of getting married that quickly. Their relationship has been rocky, and last year, Stacey called the cops, alleging Jeffrey tried to choke her. But when they showed, Stacey ended up getting arrested for assaulting Jeffrey. The charges were ultimately dropped, but it seems like these two might be better off apart.
Considering that LA’s stay home order has already been extended through July, I’m sure that there will be some more Hollywood quarantine breakups in the weeks and months to come. We already have some ideas about which couples might not make it, but you never know who will be next. For a second, I was even scared that Bella Thorne and her Italian pop star boyfriend had broken up after she tweeted about being done with dating, but he’s back to commenting “would smash” on her Instagrams, so I think we’re good. It was a close call, and in times like this, these breakups can come out of nowhere.
Images: Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock.com; kristicncavallari, arent_you_that_guy, ashleybenson, staceydash / Instagram
We all know that relationships are hard. Whether your current relationship struggles are getting your S.O. to give you some space during quarantine, or getting that new guy from an app to text you back, we all go through it. But you know what sucks even more than your average relationship bullsh*t? Divorce. Divorce is like a sh*tty layer cake of lawyers, paperwork, and potential financial ruin, and even when it goes relatively smoothly, no one is having a good time.
But the most fun thing about divorce is that, like snowflakes, no two are exactly alike. Each divorce is a new and different sh*t storm, and when celebrities get involved, things tend to get especially complicated. From cheating scandals to money issues to nasty custody battles, these are some of the messiest celebrity divorces ever.
Kristin Cavallari & Jay Cutler
Maybe in a year or two, this one won’t have turned out so bad, but right now, it’s hard to keep up with all the sources that are coming out of the woodwork about these two. It’s been less than two weeks since Kristin and Jay announced their split, and they’ve already filed competing legal documents, disagreed on finances and custody arrangements, and now seemingly come to an agreement on those things. This week, sources said that Kristin got sick of Jay being “unmotivated” and “lazy” around the house after retiring from his pro football career. Things are happening fast here, and I have a feeling the mess is far from over.
Johnny Depp & Amber Heard
When Amber Heard filed for divorce from Johnny Depp in 2016 after just over a year of marriage, she alleged that he had been physically and verbally abusive, and obtained a restraining order against him. Depp said that her claims were false, and accused her of “attempting to secure a premature financial resolution by alleging abuse.” Ultimately, the divorce was finalized in 2017, and Heard donated her full $7 million settlement to charity.
Things got ugly once again last year, after Amber Heard wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post, in which she talked about being a victim of domestic abuse. Johnny Depp sued her for $50 million for defamation, claiming that Heard was actually the abusive one in the marriage. This lawsuit still hasn’t been settled, and we probably won’t ever know the full truth of what happened in their troubled marriage.
Kim Kardashian & Kris Humphries
I’m bad at remembering how long most celebs have been married to each other, but I will never, ever forget Kim K’s 72-day marriage to Kris Humphries. How could I forget a mess like this? After releasing a wedding fragrance and getting paid millions of dollars for a two-part TV wedding special, people were quick to accuse Kim of orchestrating the whole thing for publicity. This included one of her former publicists, whom Kim ultimately sued. She won, btw, and he was forced to apologize to her. Kim and Kris’s divorce wasn’t finalized until nearly two years later, just two weeks before Kim gave birth to her first child with Kanye.
Denise Richards & Charlie Sheen
After four years of marriage, Denise Richards filed for divorce from Charlie Sheen in 2006. At the time, she claimed he was paranoid and abusive, and that he tried to convince her not to vaccinate their two daughters. She ultimately obtained a restraining order against Charlie, and in 2010, she was granted full custody of their children, due to Charlie’s “marital turmoil, sobriety issues and criminal problems.” In more recent years, Charlie and Denise’s relationship has improved, but even this season on Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, we’ve heard Denise talk about her ongoing child support case with Charlie. This really is never-ending.
Prince Charles & Princess Diana
I feel like we don’t give enough credit to the messy celeb drama of the ’90s, but Charles and Diana’s divorce was one for the ages. After getting married in 1981, both of them became unhappy pretty quickly, and they each had long-term affairs with other people. This became public in 1992, when tapes of phone calls between Prince Charles and his now-wife Camilla Parker-Bowles leaked to the press. After a couple years of general mess, the Queen intervened, writing Charles and Diana a letter ordering them to get divorced ASAP. Lol, you know things are bad when your mom has to get involved.
To add insult to injury, Diana was stripped of her HRH title after the divorce, which she was reportedly extremely upset about. Honestly, all of this makes the drama with Harry and Meghan look tame. I mean, they just want to live in LA!
Brandi Glanville & Eddie Cibrian
This has got to be one of the most dramatic cheating scandals of all time. In 2009, it was revealed that Eddie Cibrian and Leann Rimes were cheating on their respective spouses with each other. After the scandal broke, Rimes divorced her husband Dean Sheremet, and Cibrian divorced Brandi Glanville. To this day, Brandi and Eddie don’t really get along, and there’s been plenty of drama between them over the years. In 2017, Brandi accused LeAnn of stalking her after she showed up at a restaurant where she was eating. This prompted Eddie to write an open letter to Brandi, saying that “every couple of months there is another accusation coming from Brandi in an attempt to drum up drama to stay relevant.” I have a feeling once their sons turn 18, Brandi and Eddie are going to try their best to never see each other again.
Christie Brinkley & Peter Cook
Lots of high-profile marriages have fallen apart due to cheating, but this one is especially bad. In 2006, Brinkley discovered that her husband Peter Cook was having an affair with a 17-year-old, which is downright disgusting. He also gave the teen hundreds of thousands of dollars and helped her buy a car, all to get her to stay quiet. Needless to say, their marriage didn’t survive this, and their divorce was finalized in 2008. Christie Brinkley won big in their divorce case, getting full custody of their daughter, most of their property, and the satisfaction of the whole world knowing Peter Cook was an asshole.
Tiger Woods & Elin Nordegren
If Tiger Woods’ cheating scandal wasn’t so awful, I might actually be impressed. In November 2009, it was first reported that Tiger had cheated on his wife Elin, who is a model. Why do guys always cheat on models? I don’t get it. While he initially denied those rumors, it wasn’t long before sh*t hit the fan. Eventually, over a dozen women publicly claimed to have had affairs with Tiger while he was married, and he eventually confessed to cheating with over 120 women, including the 21-year-old daughter of a neighbor. I mean, ew. As a result of the scandal, Tiger lost many of his brand partnerships, and his performance on the golf course also took a nosedive. Unsurprisingly, Elin divorced Tiger in 2010, and she reportedly got around $100 million in the divorce settlement. It’s what she deserves.
Jon & Kate Gosselin
Can you believe that Jon and Kate’s sextuplets just turned 16 years old?? I guess time flies when you’re being messy. In 2009, Jon and Kate Gosselin announced on their show that they were separating, and things have basically been sloppy ever since. While they both claimed the show would go on, TLC placed it on hiatus, because I guess it was supposed to be about the kids, not a train wreck divorce. At first, they took turns staying at the family home with the kids, but the police had to be called a couple months later, when Kate showed up during Jon’s scheduled time and the couple got into a fight.
Though the divorce was finalized over a decade ago at this point, the custody disagreements have continued. In 2017, the police were called to an orthodontist’s office over a custody dispute. Lol, what? Now, after years of disagreements in court, Jon has full custody of two of the sextuplets, while the other four still live with Kate. Sounds normal.
Paul McCartney & Heather Mills
Paul McCartney married model and media personality Heather Mills in 2002 at an Irish castle, but the fairytale didn’t last long. They separated in 2006, and Mills blamed McCartney’s daughter (Stella McCartney, you may have heard of her), whom she called “jealous and evil.” Yikes. In leaked documents, Mills also accused McCartney of pushing her into a bathtub while she was pregnant and stabbing her with a broken wine glass. Not good. When McCartney and Mills got married, they famously had no prenup, so Heather Mills got a pretty nice pay day in divorce court. Her lump sum was close to $50 million, in addition to $70,000 a year in child support and lots of other perks.
Every divorce is messy in its own unique way, but these are definitely some of the sloppiest from top to bottom. LMK your favorite celeb divorce disasters in the comments, because the possibilities are endless.
Images: Timothy Hiatt/Getty Images; kristincavallari / Instagram; Giphy (3)
UPDATE: As this week has gone on, there have been about a million anonymous sources popping up, claiming to have some insider info about Kristin Cavallari and Jay Cutler’s divorce. It’s hard to know which of these stories are true, but now we finally have a concrete look at some of the alleged “misconduct” that Kristin included in her filings. According to new documents obtained by Us Weekly, Kristin is accusing Jay of withholding money from her, and the situation sounds pretty rough.
According to the court papers, things weren’t good in their marriage for a while, and Kristin started looking for her own house way back in November 2019. She even had a house under contract at one point, until Jay “informed her that his attorney was going to stop her from purchasing the house she wanted” and that the attorney “was going to tell their business manager to not release the funds” for her to buy the house. Yikes.
For a normal couple, buying a second house would be a huge financial strain, but considering that Kristin and Jay have an estimated net worth of over $60 million, this feels a little petty. In addition, an Us Weekly source says that Kristin “always knew that Jay was trying to keep some of his money from her,” and the house situation was just the proof that she needed. If their marriage was already on the rocks, this kind of situation definitely wouldn’t have helped things.
Fast forward to April, after they got back from their extended Bahamas trip, and the money disagreements continued between the couple. As they decided to separate, the documents show that Jay offered Kristin an initial settlement amount. Kristin’s filing says that she “refused to accept the settlement,” finding it “unfavorable,” because she has made “significant financial contributions to the marital estate.” We don’t know any specifics about the amounts here, but obviously Kristin has her own money on top of whatever Jay made playing football. No one is broke here, and any settlement should reflect that.
Kristin also alleges that Jay filed divorce papers as quickly as possible “as a way of punishing her” for turning down the settlement offer. Of course, Kristin’s filing is only one side of the story, but if she’s telling the truth, there was definitely some financial manipulation happening here. I’m sure we’ll get more details and context in the weeks and months to come, but there was clearly more going on in this marriage than we ever knew about.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE: Let’s face it: most divorces are messy. While not every marriage ends with a dramatic scandal or betrayal, most people don’t wake up and decide to get divorced just because they’re bored. When Kristin Cavallari announced on Sunday that she and Jay Cutler were splitting after 1o years together, the tone was positive—a little too positive. She wrote that their relationship had reached a “loving conclusion”, and that she and Jay have “nothing but love and respect for one another.” That’s all well and good, but of course, we wanted to know what really happened here. If things were really so loving, would they be filing divorce papers?
Well, that “loving conclusion” didn’t last long. On Monday morning, less than a day after Kristin Cavallari’s divorce announcement, Kristin filed legal papers that suggest there’s a lot more to this story than her initial claim of “two people growing apart.” Color me shocked. Kristin’s filing, obtained by TMZ, is in response to Jay’s original divorce filing, and it’s clear that they are not on the same page when it comes to any of the details surrounding their split.
In her legal filing, Kristin Cavallari accuses Jay Cutler of misconduct, stating that he “is guilty of such inappropriate marital conduct as renders further cohabitation unsafe and improper.” There have been some cheating rumors surrounding Jay Cutler in the past, but “unsafe and improper”? That sounds serious. Her filing also claims that “any misconduct alleged or implied against in the complaint for divorce” was only a result of Jay’s original misconduct… but Jay didn’t make any misconduct allegations in the divorce filing. I’m not a lawyer, but something’s not adding up here, and I want answers.
Unfortunately, the consequences of divorce are often harshest on young children, and it looks like Cavallari and Cutler are gearing up for a custody battle. While Cutler is seeking joint custody of their three children, Cavallari wants primary custody, with Cutler only having visitation rights. Both Kristin Cavallari and Jay Cutler are claiming that they have been the “available at-home parent and primary caretaker” during their marriage, and since two people can’t be the primary caretaker, I have a feeling this is going to get messy.
While the new filings bring up a lot of questions, and not too many answers, we are getting a clearer picture of the timeline here. In Jay Cutler’s divorce filing, he listed a separation date of April 21st. That was just last week, but this is another spot where Kristin disagrees. In her filing, the separation date is listed as April 7th—the day after the family returned from their month-long Bahamas vacation-turned-quarantine. I really need to know what the hell went down on that trip, because it sounds like it was far from paradise.
Images: Dfree / Shutterstock.com
