Divorces That Destroyed Hollywood Careers

Divorce is never an easy thing to go through and sadly celebrities are known for entering into relationships that are short-lived. International Business Insider (via HuffPost) shared in 2012 that "celebrity marriages have a 35 percent success rate." Yikes. And, when a match made in Hollywood goes sour, the aftermath isn't always pretty. To make matters even worse, the ugly demise of a high-profile romance often precedes one member of the failed duo's career going belly-up. 

Divorce can be an especially painful process when you're rich and famous and constantly scrutinized in the tabloids. That's why it's no surprise that the overwhelming attention these divorces bring can lead to squandered job opportunities, depleted fortunes, and — as in the case of former Jon & Kate Plus 8 star Jon Gosselin — fractured relationships between parents and their children.

Here are the celebs who are still struggling to pick up the pieces after divorce destroyed their Hollywood careers.

Hollywood was shocked when Tom Cruise and actress Nicole Kidman, his wife of almost 10 years, announced in February 2001 that they were getting divorced. A statement made through their publicist (via E! News) blamed the split on "divergent careers which constantly kept them apart." And while Cruise has managed to stay in the spotlight in the movie biz, landing one moderately successful — if underwhelming — blockbuster after another, his personal reputation was tarnished before the ink was dry on the divorce decree.

He and Kidman had paid for a super-posh, two-week vacation in Fiji prior to their uncoupling, and they weren't going to let the vacay go to waste. A little more than five months after their divorce announcement, she and their two children, Isabella and Connor Cruise, jetted off to the island for the first week of the pre-paid trip. She was later joined by her friend, actor Russell Crowe, and his "tall blonde companion," according to People. Kidman reportedly later left the resort with the kiddos — just in time for Cruise to enjoy the second-leg of the vacation with his sister, a few friends, and his Vanilla Sky co-star Penélope Cruz, whom he went on to date for three years, as reported by People. Savage.

The negative stories about Cruise have persisted since then, including his failed marriage with Katie Holmes, his rumored strained relationship with daughter Suri, and his ties to the controversial Church of Scientology.

Odds are, if you enter into the Kardashian family in even the smallest of capacities, your reputation is at risk. Just ask Jordyn Woods. The proof is in the long list of ex-friends, ex-stylists, ex-boyfriends, and ex-husbands. Such was the case for NBA star Kris Humphries, who became the laughing stock of both Hollywood and the basketball scene after his highly publicized marriage to Kim Kardashian ended after just 72 days, according to Us Weekly. 

ESPN reported in December 2011 that Humphries was subsequently booed during basketball games and bounced from team to team, before landing with the Philadelphia 76ers. He didn't last long there, either, and he got waived from their roster in October 2017, according to NBA.com. That was the last time Humphries would dribble a basketball on the hardwood — well, professionally, at least. His Kardashian-related headaches were far from over after he was ousted from the the family's krew. In 2017, Kardashian visited Watch What Happens Live and bluntly admitted she knew while she and Humphries were on their honeymoon that "it wasn't going to work out." Ouch. 

But all isn't lost. Humphries has found a new passion in life, and it has nothing to do with living in the limelight. According to Biz Journals, he "co-owns several Five Guys burger shops" and is a franchisee of a salad eatery. Do you think the Kardashian's are eligible for a friends and family discount? Probably not.

After dominating the charts for the entire summer of 2013, with his hit single, "Blurred Lines," Robin Thicke's career essentially died overnight after his wife, Paula Patton, filed for divorce in October 2014, citing "irreconcilable differences" as the cause for the split, according to TMZ. Thicke tried to win back Patton by releasing the sappy, critically maligned album Paula in 2014, but it was apparently a flop with its namesake and his fans. The album sold just 530 copies (yes, 530 copies) in its debut week in the U.K., as reported by The Guardian. From there, things only got worse for Thicke. 

Months after filing to end their marriage, Patton not only accused Thicke of cheating on her with several different women (is that what he meant by "Sex Therapy"?), but she also accused him of "physical and emotional abuse, infidelity and drug and alcohol addiction," according to People magazine. Amid the bitter custody battle for their son, Julian Thicke, Patton asked the court to grant her a temporary restraining order against the R&B singer. The request was approved in 2017, according to AP News (via Los Angeles Times), and the dueling exes were eventually ordered to share joint custody of their son, via Entertainment Tonight. 

Thicke eventually found love again with April Love Geary. As of this writing, they have two children together, but his music career still remains in dire need of resuscitation. 

Country singer LeAnn Rimes has sold millions of albums and has even won two Grammy awards. But sadly, her solid reputation was essentially destroyed in 2009 after Us Weekly shared surveillance footage of her cheating on her then-husband, Dean Sheremet, with her Northern Lights co-star, Eddie Cibrian. Rimes quickly went from being a well-respected singer to the subject of every tabloid article. To make matters worse, Cibrian was married at the time, too — to reality star Brandi Glanville.

Despite her image being tarnished for being a cheater and for breaking up Cibrian's marriage, Rimes appeared to have no shame in her game. Both Rimes and Cibrian left their respective spouses, and, since marrying Cibrian in April 2011, Rimes has frequently posted pictures on social media of the two kids Cibrian shares with Glanville. Glanville hasn't always been too pleased by this and has even felt antagonized. "And if my ex-husband — their dad — isn't posting pictures, why is she?" Glanville asked rhetorically on the Nik Richie Podcast (via Entertainment Tonight). However, Glanville has since claimed to have largely put their past behind them.

Rimes' music took a hit as well. Case in point: her All-Time Greatest Hits CD, released in February 2015, only peaked at No. 30 on the Billboard country albums chart. Even more embarrassing, her 2016 release, Remnants, didn't make the top country charts at all, peaking instead at No. 88 on the Billboard 200.

There was a time in American history when countless viewers tuned in to watch Jon and Kate Gosselin and their eight children on the TLC reality TV series, Jon & Kate Plus 8. Even their special to announce their separation was seen by millions. After splitting, Kate landed a spot on Dancing With the Stars and managed to salvage at least part of her reality TV career, due in great part to her spin-off series, Kate Plus 8.

Jon, on the other hand, hasn't had as much luck. In 2013, Entertainment Tonight (via the New York Daily News) reported he was living in a cabin without the internet, while waiting tables at a restaurant. He was later reportedly fired from said restaurant for "blowing off shifts," an insider told Radar Online. Oh, and he also tried his hand at DJing.

Jon was later awarded "temporary sole custody" of their son Collin, according to People, and their daughter Hannah chose to live with him "full time." But what about his other children that lived with Kate? He told People "the other four" of the remaining sextuplets weren't speaking to him, and neither were twins Mady and Cara.

Marla Maples was an aspiring actress and model from Georgia when she allegedly got in the middle of Donald Trump's marriage to his first wife, Ivana Trump, at the end of the '80s. Even her agent-publicist-manager Chuck Jones admitted to People in 1990, "She's not Meryl Streep," adding, "We don't expect a career leap to happen in the next two weeks." Certainly, her whirlwind romance with and subsequent marriage to "The Donald" opened many doors for her, including stints on Broadway and minor parts on television. However, a "career leap" never materialized. In fact, Maples' fledgling career fizzled after their 1999 divorce was finalized, likely due to the baggage that came from their relationship's intense tabloid coverage. 

Maples did enjoy a mini-comeback of sorts when she appeared on Dancing With the Stars in 2016, but, let's be honest, that was probably fueled less by a desire to see Maples dance the cha-cha and more by her ex-husband's controversial bid for the White House that year.

Maples is still sought out for interviews, including in December 2018, when she chatted with Journeys of Faith with Paula Faris (via Newsweek), though the conversation seemed more focused on her famous ex-husband than on her own life. 

Jesse James became a household name thanks to his chop shop reality show Monster Garage, which aired from 2002 to 2007. However, his rough-around-the-edges public profile skyrocketed when he married sweet-as-pie actress Sandra Bullock. America fell in love with the unlikely pair, especially when she thanked him in speech after speech on her way to an Oscar win for the 2009 film The Blind Side.

But instead of celebrating her Academy Award win, Bullock had to deal with rumors James cheated on her with tattoo model Michelle "Bombshell" McGee. He insisted the "majority" of the allegations against him were "untrue and unfounded," in a statement released by People, while also expressing how "truly very sorry" he was for the pain he had caused. Smells like guilt to us, and we'd guess it did to Bullock, too, as she filed for divorce from James in April 2010, according to CNN.

A month before the divorce announcement, Us Weekly had published a picture of James — which was taken during the time he was dating Bullock — wearing Nazi memorabilia and recreating Adolph Hitler's infamous salute. Between that and his alleged infidelity to Bullock, his career was pretty much over, but that hasn't stopped the tabloids from covering his every move. Remember the time his now-ex-fiancée Kat Von D posted a lengthy November 2011 Facebook post, accusing him of cheating on her with 19 women? Wowzer.

Meg Ryan lost her title as America's sweetheart after she and her husband of nine years, actor Dennis Quaid, announced their split in July 2000, according to People. Their shattered relationship took a turn when it was reported Ryan had been having an affair with her Proof of Life co-star Russell Crowe. She later admitted to InStyle (via Access), Crowe "was definitely there at the end [of her marriage], but [the divorce] wasn't his fault." She then shifted blame and accused Quaid of cheating on her "for a long time," telling InStyle that his alleged infidelity "was very painful." Quaid clapped back by telling the New York Daily News, "I find it unbelievable that Meg continues publicly to rehash and rewrite the story of our relationship."

Following their divorce, the actress has spent much of her time out of the spotlight, appearing only in a handful of movies, many of which were, uh, not that great. Still, she appears to be focused on the future. In November 2018, she announced that she had gotten engaged to rocker John Mellencamp after dating him "on-and-off since 2010," as reported by to NBC News. On top of that, she had signed on to "produce — and potentially star — in a single-camera comedy series" called The Obsolescents that same year, according to Variety. 

Could a small-screen comeback lead to bigger and better things? Honestly, at this point, anything would be better than her box office bomb, The Women.

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner announced they were splitting in June 2015, though their divorce wouldn't be finalized until October 2018, according to People. What went wrong? It didn't take long for an insider to tell People that Affleck's struggles with alcohol addiction — coupled with a "last-ditch" rehab effort — were "just too little too late." By August 2018, E! News said Garner had "staged an intervention and drove him to a rehab center." It was reportedly the actor's "third stint in 17 years" — not counting a visit to outpatient treatment in 2017.

With all of his tea spilled in gossip rags, it reportedly put Affleck's career in jeopardy. He had already starred as Batman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League, and he was expected to reprise his role as the superhero in the yet-to-be filmed The Batman. But a source told TheWrap that, because of his addiction, "more than likely the studio will replace him because the insurance costs are going to go through the roof."

Before he could get nixed, however, he told Jimmy Kimmel Live he was passing the torch. "I tried to direct a version of it and worked with a really good screenwriter, but just couldn't come up with a version, I couldn't crack it," he said. 

We wish Affleck the best with his sobriety, and we have no doubt he'll eventually bounce back and take the movie industry by storm!