From screen legends Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton’s affair that lead to a walk down the aisle — not once, but twice — to the latest trial captivating the nation following the tumultuous marriage between actor Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, the fallout of romantic relationships between some of Hollywood’s biggest stars has remained a routine topic of the public’s interest.
Sometimes those relationships have worked out, but other times they have ended in complete disaster. Today we’ll be taking a deep dive into five of those on-and-off again celebrity relationships that went spectacularly bad.
To start things off, let’s go back to the 1960s when sparks flew between Taylor and Burton on the set of the 1963 film “Cleopatra,” where the actress played the ruler of Egypt and Burton one of her lovers, Mark Antony. The two were married to other people at the time, Taylor to singer Eddie Fisher and Burton to actress Sybil Williams. Burton and Williams would divorce the same year the film was released.
In 1988, the “Cat On a Hot Tin Roof” actress said when she saw “him on the set of Cleopatra, [she] fell in love and… loved him ever since,” reported People magazine.
Despite being already married, the two began a scandalous affair, reported Vanity Fair in 2020. Nine days after Taylor divorced Fisher in March 1964, Taylor and Burton tied the knot. Their relationship would become fodder for tabloids which highlighted their turmoil-filled romance, from fighting — both in private and in public — to excessive drinking. Taylor and Burton were married for the first time in 1964, and ended their marriage in 1974 with a divorce. The two were remarried a year later, however, though their second marriage ended in divorce in 1976.
Another celebrity romance that made headlines due to its toxicity and scandalous affairs was between legend Frank Sinatra and Hollywood star Ava Gardner. When the two met in 1943, Gardner was married to Mickey Rooney, and Sinatra was married to Nancy Barbato. By the age of 23, Gardner had already been married twice and had a reputation of being a serial cheater, even while she and Sinatra were married, reported the Mirror UK.
The “Fly Me To The Moon” singer and the “The Barefoot Contessa” actress started secretly dating one another behind their respective spouses’ backs and eventually went public with their romance in 1950. In 1951, Barbato divorced Sinatra. A few days after their divorce, Sinatra and Gardner were married. Over the next few years the two reportedly had numerous affairs behind each others’ backs and finally divorced in 1957, reported Slice. Throughout their marriage the two became known for all the “drinking, arguing, and then passionately making up in public,” they did, the outlet noted.
Fast forward to the 2000s when fans were still holding out hope that Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt would find their way back to each other after their divorce in 2005. However, that wouldn’t become a reality after the 58-year-old actor worked with Angelina Jolie on the set of their movie “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” in 2003.
“Because of the film, we ended up being brought together to do all these crazy things, and I think we found this strange friendship and partnership that kind of just suddenly happened,” Jolie told Vogue of Pitt in 2007, reported People.
Jolie and Pitt would remain “very, very good friends” until Pitt and Aniston announced their separation in 2005, and then their friendship turned into more. Jolie said tying the knot was not a priority, and the two became an item, having their first daughter, Shiloh Jolie-Pitt, in 2006 as well as adopting several children over the next few years. By 2012, Pitt said their six children were pressuring him to put a ring on their mother’s finger, The Hollywood Reporter reported. The two were engaged later that year and tied the knot in 2014, and it seemed as though they had found their happily ever after.
However, forever would not be the case for the Hollywood superstars, for the “Eternals” star filed for divorce in 2016. A lengthy and costly divorce was followed by a long custody battle that lasted for the next few years. In 2021, a judge finally granted the superstar actor joint custody of his children with Jolie, as previously reported by The Daily Wire.
Fans of the off-again-on-again relationship between Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth would probably tell you that they are still not over how things went down with this couple. The two first got together after meeting on the set of their movie “The Last Song” in 2010.
Their romance would lead to headlines for the next decade of them breaking up and getting back together numerous times before they found their way back to each other for the last time in 2016. The “Hannah Montana” star and Hemsworth were together for several years after their 2016 reconnection. It appeared as though the two had finally weathered the storm of their troubles by December 2018 ,despite their home burning down a few months earlier, and had made it to forever after tying the knot in a small ceremony surrounded by a few friends and family.
However, their marriage wouldn’t even last a year. In July 2019, the “Wrecking Ball” singer told Elle magazine that she definitely didn’t “fit into a stereotypical wife role” and said that, despite being in “a hetero relationship,” she’s still “very sexually attracted to women.” Several months later, stories surfaced that Miley and Liam had split. The “Hunger Games” star put speculations to rest after posting on his Instagram that it was a “private matter” and that they had indeed “separated.” The divorce was finalized in December 2019, reported TMZ at the time.
Last but certainly not least, there’s actor Johnny Depp and actress Amber Heard who met on the set of their 2009 movie, “The Rum Diary.” At the time, the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star was romantically linked with Vanessa Paradis, whom he shares two children with. The two split up in 2012.
During the 58-year-old actor’s recent testimony at his defamation trial against Heard — over claims that she allegedly defamed him in an op-ed she wrote for The Washington Post in 2018 — he admitted that he was attracted to the actress and that the two kissed at one point while he was still with Paradis, as reported previously by The Daily Wire.
In 2014, reports surfaced that Depp and Heard were getting married. At the time, the “Aquaman” star had last broken up with Hawaiian artist/photographer Tasya van Ree. The Hollywood stars made things official in February 2015. However, 15 months later, the “Zombieland” star filed for divorce and obtained a restraining order against the “Edward Scissorhands” star. Heard alleged that during their marriage she was reportedly abused while the actor was using drugs. Depp denied the charges. Her claims led to filing a case against him that was settled out of court for $7 million in 2016.
In 2019, the “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” star sued Heard for $50 million and claimed that her accusations ruined his career in Hollywood – most notably, his removal from the Disney “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise. In retort, Heard claimed that Depp’s legal team made false claims about her and is countersuing the actor for $100 million in damages.
During recent testimony, Depp’s talent manager, Jack Whigham, testified about the “catastrophic” loss of work the star suffered following Heard’s accusations.
During the trial, fans have heard accusations about Depp’s alleged physical and sexual abuse of his ex-wife and even claims that the actress allegedly left human feces in the couple’s marital bed as a “practical joke” after a fight.
“He [Depp] was the love of my life,” Heard shared on the stand recently. “But he was also this other thing. And that other thing was awful.”
At the time of this publication, the trial continues, and their once-storied Hollywood romance becomes another in the tragic tales associated with Hollywood relationships.
The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.