Hollywood: a land full of celebrities, breathtaking scenery and constant change. Change itself is just part of the industry, but it can sometimes be hard to endure. Not only does it affect the celebrity, but it affects their fans as well. This is because as fans, we become invested in these celebrities’ lives, celebrating their successes and sadden by their failures. We identify with their life choices and support their endeavors whether good, bad, or ugly. We look up to them and see them as mentors. Well, some more than others, but you get the point. After following a celebrity for so long and becoming invested in their lives, the sad moments really can upset us. And relationships are definitely one of the soft spots.
This past year hasn’t been a great one for celebrity duos with noteworthy couples like Demi Lovato and Wilmer Valderrama, Taylor Swift and Calvin Harris, Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, and Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner all headed to Splitsville. Some of these breakups occurred after a few months and some after a few years, but the list of breakups just goes on and on. This past week alone, two-long term celebrity couples called it quits: Lady Gaga and Taylor Kinney called off their engagement after five years together, and Diane Kruger and husband Joshua Jackson called off their marriage after 10 years together. The heartbreak is real, people-- both for the celebrity couples and their loving fans.
Putting a spotlight on Gaga and Kinney’s relationship for a minute, in my eyes, her and Kinney were honestly the perfect couple. So different, yet so perfect for one another. Her eccentric and out-there nature was perfectly complimented by his more quiet and laid-back demeanor. The couple met five years ago on a Gaga music video shoot, and the rest is history. Their love seemed magical, and when they talked about one another, you could just see the genuine sparkle in their eyes, showing how much they truly loved each other. But that all came to a halt last week when Gaga was spotted without her engagement ring while on vacation in Mexico and Kinney celebrated his birthday sans Gaga.
Breakups like these are hard to swallow, especially with a couple so picture-perfect like Gaga and Kinney. Their relationship was something magical to watch. Like with so many other Hollywood couples, I became invested in their journey by listening to them gush about one another in interviews, post about each other in social media, and read about their love through magazine articles and photos of them together. I will truly miss seeing Lady Gaga and Taylor Kinney gawking over each other in interviews, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner walking red carpets together arm-in-arm, and Taylor Swift and Calvin Harris’s romantic tropical vacation posts on Instagram.
Although breakups are a major staple of the Hollywood lifestyle, it doesn’t always have to be about the heartbreak. There are plenty of celebrity couples still out there who we can gawk at and view as our #relationshipgoals. Take John Legend and Chrissy Teigen, one of the most picture perfect couples in Hollywood. Neither spouse misses an opportunity to gush about one another, attend an event in support of their partner, or make fun of one another on social media. Just like the list of breakups, the list of admirable couples in Hollywood is also pretty long: Adam Levine and Behati Prinsloo, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, David and Victoria Beckham and many more.
Hollywood has its ups and downs, both through its many hills and its celebrity’s ever-changing relationship status. As fans, we experience the highs and lows of a celebrity’s life with them because we are sort of, in a weird way, a part of it. So when those sadder moments in a celebrity’s life hit hard, such as an end to a relationship, the heartbreak can be real, both for the celebrity couple and their devoted fans.
