"It is with hearts full of sadness that we have decided to separate," Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin wrote on Paltrow's site Goop in a post titled "Conscious Uncoupling." Here are other famous duos who've gone their separate ways: 
The "Big World" of TLC stars Matt and Amy Roloff has been split in half. The couple, who've been together for 26 years and came to fame on the reality series "Little People, Big World," have announced they're embarking on a trial separation. "Matt remains living on the farm in our guesthouse and we work together everyday on the farm, on our business endeavors and most importantly, raising our amazing children," the couple said in a statement. 
One of Hollywood's enduring love stories has been put on ice. Actress Paula Patton and her husband Robin Thicke, who've been together since they were teens, have decided to separate. The couple welcomed their only child, Julian Fuego, in April 2010. 
According to TMZ, Khloe Kardashian filed for divorce from Lamar Odom in December. The couple met, got engaged and married within a month in 2009, and they were the subject of the E! reality series "Khloe & Lamar." 
Actors Idina Menzel and Taye Diggs jointly decided to separate after 10 years of marriage, a rep for the couple confirmed to People magazine in December. The couple's son, Walker, was born in 2009. 
After a six-year relationship, Miranda Kerr and Orlando Bloom announced in October that they had decided to formally separate. The couple, who share a son, said in a statement that they remain amicable. 
After 22 years of marriage -- and several months of swirling rumors -- Kris and Bruce Jenner officially separated in October. "We will always have much love and respect for each other. Even though we are separated, we will always remain best friends and, as always, our family will remain our No. 1 priority," they told E! , the network that airs "Keeping Up With the Kardashians." 
Chelsea Handler confirmed on her show, "Chelsea Lately," that she was once again single after dating André Balazs on and off for two years. "Maybe I'll start dating a (woman)," Handler said during her October interview with friend Mary McCormack. 
After nearly 13 years of marriage, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas decided to take a break last year. A rep for Zeta-Jones said in August that the actress and her husband "are taking some time apart to evaluate and work on their marriage." According to People, they haven't filed for a legal separation or a divorce -- and Douglas said in September that he thinks they'll be able to pull through. 
After months of speculation, Liam Hemsworth's rep confirmed in September that he and Miley Cyrus had ended their engagement. The couple first met on the set of 2010's "The Last Song" and have been off-and-on since then. 
Movie veteran Clint Eastwood and his wife of 17 years, Dina, separated over the summer of 2013, according to People. They have one daughter together. 
George Clooney and Stacy Keibler were going strong -- and looking hot on the red carpet -- for two years, but in early July their photogenic romance came to an end. 
"Vampire Diaries" stars Nina Dobrev and Ian Somerhalder had a relationship that sizzled on and off the small screen. But the two shocked fans when anonymous sources confirmed to People in May that the co-stars are no longer a couple. Somerhalder and Dobrev had dated for "several years," and their reported breakup came without warning. 
Jane Seymour and James Keach announced the end of their 20-year union in April. The couple are the parents of teen twin sons. 
Julianne Hough and Ryan Seacrest decided to take a break in March after more than two years together, People reported. The duo's busy schedules are to blame, but they plan to stay friends, sources told the magazine. 
In September 2012, Will Arnett and Amy Poehler separated after nine years of marriage. They have two sons. 
Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes "amicably settled" their divorce in July 2012, just two weeks after Holmes filed for it, an attorney said. Holmes and Cruise, who were married for five years, have one daughter. 
Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver separated in May 2011 after 25 years of marriage. The public has since learned of Schwarzenegger's affair with the family's housekeeper that resulted in the birth of his fifth child. 
After almost seven years together, Kate Winslet and director Sam Mendes went their separate ways in March 2010. The couple said that the split was mutual and that they would continue raising their children together. 
Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman collaborated on four films together, including the controversial "Eyes Wide Shut," during their 11-year marriage. The couple split in 2001. 
Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins split in 2009 after 23 years together. The pair, who met on the set of "Bull Durham," have two sons but never married. 
Mia Farrow appeared in several of Woody Allen's films before the couple went their separate ways in 1992. The pair reportedly split after Farrow found out about Allen's sexual relationship with one of her adopted daughters, whom Allen married in 1997. 
MTV's "Newlyweds" Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey split in 2005 after their three-year marriage. 
Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe were married for seven years before calling it quits in 2006. The pair, who have two children, finalized their divorce in 2008. 
Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston's seven-year romance came to an end in 2005. Speculation over whether Angelina Jolie had anything to do with the breakup added a juicy angle to the split. 
Perhaps Hollywood's happiest divorced couple, Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, split in 1998 after a 10-year relationship. They have three daughters.
- Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin say they're "consciously uncoupling"
- S.E. Cupp says the split has given rise to a lot of commentary
- She says she's not a fan of Paltrow but believes there's a message in the story
- Cupp: Contrary to much of Hollywood, this couple sees divorce as a negative
Editor's note: S.E. Cupp is co-host of which airs at 6:30 p.m. ET weekdays on CNN. She is also the author of "Losing Our Religion: The Liberal Media's Attack on Christianity," co-author of "Why You're Wrong About the Right," a columnist at the New York Daily News and a political commentator for Glenn Beck's The Blaze.
(CNN) -- Breaking news: Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin have separated. So, who cares?
Well, for many reasons, people seem to have strong reactions. I imagine some of that stems from the fact that Paltrow has at times perpetuated an ideal that seems impossible to replicate. Her lifestyle website, Goop, offers otherworldly solutions to problems only the uber-wealthy can afford to have. Goop proclaims, "Gwyneth started goop in the fall of 2008 to share all of life's positives."
Among the things it has shared: "For those of us who will be in or passing through any one of the Hamptons this summer, we've compiled a best of. And for those of you who aren't/don't/don't care, check out our Turkish towel collaboration (I'm obsessed with these towels)."
She's also worked very hard to keep up appearances, even going so far as to persuade her Hollywood friends to boycott Vanity Fair to ward off a potential expose of the couple's marital woes.
And for another, many seem to be confused and riled up by the idea that the couple has said they haven't separated but have instead "consciously uncoupled."
Gwyneth Paltrow, Chris Martin 'uncouple' On that final particular point, the opinions were clear:
Janice Min, editor of the Hollywood Reporter, said, "I've never heard it, but it sounds like a phrase used by marriage therapists in Malibu."
"What deluded tosh" was the headline in a column in The Guardian.
And my friend Tony Katz, a contributor for the conservative site Rare, translated the phrase as "divorce for elitists."
Apparently, though, it's also a psychological term. According to New York Presbyterian Hospital Weill-Cornell School of Medicine psychiatrist Gail Saltz, "it's a nicer way of saying, 'We're getting a divorce,' because it sounds prettier."
Maybe it does, or maybe it sounds pretentious and overly precious.
Either way, I tend to think this is a goop -- I mean good -- thing.
A Hollywood divorce these days may yield plenty of tabloid fodder but not a whole lot of cultural or professional scorn. Hollywood, in fact, celebrates divorce -- literally; celebrities often have "divorce parties" to celebrate their emancipation. And I doubt very much that anyone would stop seeing Paltrow's movies (if they still do) or listen to Martin's music (if they still do) simply because they'd split. Some of the top-grossing film actors in the country -- Tom Cruise, Morgan Freeman and Harrison Ford -- have all been divorced, more than once, and with much press coverage.
What I find refreshing in this story is the fact that this Hollywood couple spent, by their own account, a tremendous amount of time working on their marriage, and they were both incredibly reluctant to admit to its defeat.
Take into account Paltrow's ire at Graydon Carter of Vanity Fair, in trying to quash the rumors of their split. Take into account the fact that rather than call their separation a divorce, they decided on the softer term "conscious uncoupling."
What all of this suggests is that this was a Hollywood couple that took tremendous pride in being married and having a nuclear family. It suggests that rather than admit their marriage was a failure, they preferred to retain the illusion that it was a success.
Maybe they did this for their two children. Maybe they did this for the press. Maybe they did this to maintain their image as two perfect people.
Regardless of the reasons, it's an acknowledgment that they were proud of being married and ashamed of separating.
I'm no fan of Paltrow's high-and-mighty persona. But in contrast to the Hollywood couples who show no shame in divorce, or multiple divorces, or marriages that last 72 days and are filmed for reality television, or in having children out of wedlock, this actually seems a reassuring adherence to traditional values and a refreshing show of humility.
In 2013, Paltrow said of their marriage, which was by all accounts flailing, "I mean, we've gone through terrible times where it's been really, really hard, but I've sort of come through those times with a much deeper understanding of myself. And we're still married. We worked through it. I think it's easier to get divorced. But I think the more you can keep at it, the more you end up seeing the value in it. But sometimes, it is not easy."
We should all applaud this Hollywood couple (for each, this is their only marriage) for having such devotion to their sacred union and their family, and for working -- at all costs -- to find another, less celebratory way of saying, "yes, we've called it quits."
Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion.
Join us on Facebook/CNNOpinion.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of S.E. Cupp.
No comments:
Post a Comment