What Really Happened Between Renée Zellweger And Bradley Cooper?

Bradley Cooper has quite the dating history. As fans know, the handsome actor has been married once and has been involved in several high-profile relationships over the course of his stellar career. (One might say he's a ladies' man.) In 2006, Cooper married fellow actor Jennifer Esposito, although the two ended up separating after only four months of marriage. He went on to date the likes of Jennifer Lopez, Zoe Saldana, and Suki Waterhouse, before finally entering a more serious relationship with Russian supermodel Irina Shayk. Per PopSugar, Cooper and Shayk started dating in early 2015 and welcomed a child, daughter Lea De Seine, two years later. However, they split after four years together and are now sharing custody of their daughter. (Notably, during his relationship with Shayk, Cooper was also romantically linked to his "A Star Is Born" co-star Lady Gaga, although the two repeatedly belied the affair rumors.)

In between his marriage to Esposito and his partnership with Shayk, Cooper also famously dated award-winning star Renée Zellweger, whom he met while working on the 2009 psychological horror "Case 39." The two immediately hit things off and were often seen together in public, although they never went on record to confirm being in a relationship. Regardless, fans were heartbroken after it was reported that Cooper and Zellweger parted ways in 2011 after two years of dating (via InStyle). Here's the reason this gorgeous pair couldn't work things out. 

Things moved rather quickly between Renée Zellweger and Bradley Cooper once they started dating. In December 2009, Zellweger reportedly spent the holidays with Cooper and his family in Los Angeles, California, according to People. "Renée seems to get along really well with Bradley's parents," a source told the outlet. "They were laughing and seemed to have a great time strolling around Venice." Then, in 2010, sources claimed Zellweger moved in with Cooper in his $4.7 million home in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of L.A., per People. Notably, when Cooper's father died from cancer in January 2011, shortly before the 68th Golden Globes Awards, Zellweger chose to skip out on the awards show to be there for Cooper and his family in Pennsylvania, as reported by InStyle.

While things seemed pretty rock-solid for Zellweger and Cooper, the two sadly ended up calling it quits that same year, just a few months after Cooper's father's death. Despite rumors that a third party was a factor in their breakup, a source for Us Weekly claimed Cooper's career ambitions were to blame. "If I had to pick any possible mistress, it would be Brad's career," the insider said. "He worked really hard to get into leading man status. Renée had to take a backseat." They continued: "She's accomplished a lot of her professional goals, so Renée took some time out to be a great girlfriend and see if this is what it took to make a relationship work. [But] she stopped fighting. It was just not working out." 

As a couple, Renée Zellweger and Bradley Cooper were clearly infatuated with one another. Despite never confirming their relationship, the two gushed about each other in interviews, with Cooper telling Entertainment Tonight that he loved working with Zellweger. "I can't say enough about her. I just love her," he said, adding that he loved being on-set with Zellweger. "I love acting with her. I can learn so much from her." Meanwhile, Zellweger said she couldn't believe that she got to work with Cooper on "Case 39." "He's a great, great actor," she said. "I just got so excited."

That mutual respect and adoration was still evident years after the pair broke up and decided to be just friends. In 2020, Zellweger and Cooper made headlines after they reunited at the Oscars and were photographed chatting closely during the ceremony (above). Notably, it was the year Zellweger won for her starring role as Judy Garland in the 2019 biopic "Judy," per Reuters. Cooper himself was also nominated for his work on the hit thriller film "Joker" as one of its producers. Both were single at the time, but would go on to date other people: Zellweger would meet her current boyfriend, television personality Ant Anstead, a year later, while Cooper would be romantically linked to "Glee" star Dianna Agron. He, however, has since moved on with Huma Abedin, Hillary Clinton's longtime aide and former wife of disgraced politician Anthony Weiner.