Stars don't always make the best relationship choices.
It's hard to imagine how people with the world at their fingertips, and their choice of suitors
and beauties, would fall in love with criminals or creeps.
But these celebs all shacked up with characters who were allegedly really sketchy.
Some stars were warned, but apparently still blinded by love.
Others got out of their doomed relationships relatively unharmed.
But tragically, some didn't make it out at all.
From Oscar darling Sandra Bullock to musician Trace Cyrus and reality star Courtney Stodden,
men and women from across the entertainment industry have allegedly been victimized, bamboozled,
or simply mistreated by the folks they loved.
Let's take a closer look at some stars with really sketchy significant others.
Brittany Murphy's tragic marriage
Actress Brittany Murphy met screenwriter Simon Monjack when she was 13, according to People.
Their paths reportedly crossed again at her 28th birthday party, and a year later, they
got married.
The Hollywood Reporter noted that when they met, Monjack was broke and embroiled in several
lawsuits.
Director George Hickenlooper told the New York Daily News that he tried to warn Murphy
about Monjack.
And sources also told THR that Monjack allegedly,
"[…] created a web of paranoia around Brittany and used it to separate her from anyone who
might have challenged his dominance."
"I always have believed if you can't change your surroundings, change your hair color"
When a 32-year-old Murphy fell ill and died suddenly in December 2009, THR reported Monjack
was convinced,
"[…] she had literally died of a broken heart, caused by the shoddy way she had been
treated in Hollywood."
Monjack died five months later, at age 40, in an eerily similar fashion.
After his death, TMZ revealed he had two secret love-children, whose mothers were demanding
child support, and he had wired huge sums of money to various entities.
Trace Cyrus' lying girlfriend
Before dating Home Alone star Macaulay Culkin, former Disney starlet Brenda Song had a roller
coaster relationship with a different star.
Years of relationship drama between Song and Metro Station frontman Trace Cyrus, who's
also the brother of Miley Cyrus, came to a head in 2015 on social media.
Song wrote in a since-deleted Instagram:
"[…] A few years ago there were rumors that I was pregnant and/or had a miscarriage.
I just want to say that those rumors were not true.
[…] I apologize for not clearing this up sooner and for the continual damage that these
lies have caused Trace Cyrus."
But it gets worse.
Trace reportedly commented on her apologetic post, writing,
"Yes they were lies THAT U MADE UP and told me, my entire family and all our friends."
Yikes.
Courtney Stodden's "arranged" marriage
"What was your big break?"
"My big break...my 52-year-old husband!"
At a time when most parents are still signing field trip permission slips for their kids,
Courtney Stodden's mom, Krista, gave her 16-year-old daughter written permission to marry 51-year-old
actor Doug Hutchison, in 2011.
"There was nothing illegal or immoral about it.
It was just that we found ourselves falling for eachother"
"and flying on the wings of love together"
In fact, the actor said mama Stodden was the one that suggested the arrangement, telling
ABC News,
"It was Krista who said, 'You know, you guys could get married if you want.
There are ways to do that.
There are certain states.'"
But Krista later second-guessed her blessing.
She told Radar Online in 2015,
"I do take full responsibility, however because I am the one that did sign the paper for her
to marry this man.
If I had to do it all over again I cannot tell you if I would be signing that paper."
Courtney apparently had mixed feelings about the shocking age gap too.
She told the Sun in 2016,
"It's mind-boggling to me that we were able to do it, that my mom would sign a bit of
paper to let me marry a 50 year old."
Courtney blamed her mother's own attraction to Doug, for the pairing, revealing on Lifetime
in 2016,
"I feel like these boundaries have been crossed so much"
"Doug isn't the only guy you've been emotionally attached to"
In March 2018, after seven years of marriage, People reported that a 23-year-old Courtney
filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences and requesting Hutchison not receive spousal
support.
Lea Michele's male gigolo?
When her former flame, Cory Monteith died of a fatal mix of heroin and alcohol in 2013,
Lea Michele mended her heart with the hunky Matthew Paetz in 2014.
But his alter ego may have gotten in the way.
TMZ reported that Paetz was a former male companion for Cowboys4Angels, a site that
was featured on the Showtime series Gigolos.
Paetz, who operated under the name "Christian," described himself as a "massage therapist"
and "life and dating coach," charging upwards of $17,000 for a week of togetherness.
An insider told E! News,
"Lea wanted to believe in love and wanted to believe the good in him.
She didn't think he should be punished for his past."
It seems Michele believed a little too hard, because she was allegedly "blindsided" when
Paetz took off in 2016, according to Us Weekly.
A source told E! News that Michele "got no reason or explanation for the split", and
that Paetz wouldn't even talk to her.
Ronda Rousey's professional fighter
Although she generally keeps her relationship with husband and UFC fighter Travis Browne
under wraps, Ronda Rousey's marriage is not without controversy.
Browne's estranged wife, fitness model Jenna Lee Webb, accused him of spousal abuse, even
posting photos of her alleged injuries on Instagram and Twitter with warnings for Rousey.
Browne was suspended by the UFC while a law firm investigated the claims, but the organization
reported the evidence was inconclusive.
"It was hard to listen to see what people were saying about me.
But at the same time I know what I did and what I didn't do"
Rousey tearfully addressed the abuse claims, telling ESPN in 2015,
"It's hard, it's really hard.
I'm very anti-domestic violence, but I know that he didn't do anything.
Now I'm put in a situation where I'm finally happy with somebody that respects me and cares
about me, and I'm like, 'What do I do?'"
The pair tied the knot in August 2017, so whatever Browne's issues may have been, they
weren't enough to change Rousey's mind.
"You're about to celebrate a year anniversary of marriage."
"Congrats.
Best year of my life"
Phaedra Parks' racketeering husband
When The Real Housewives of Atlanta star Phaedra Parks married Apollo Nida, he had just finished
a five-year prison sentence for racketeering.
When his wife joined the Bravo franchise, the AP reported that Nida claimed Parks,
"[…] was making far more money than he was and that he felt pressure to keep up."
According to the AP, Nida reportedly reverted to his criminal ways to make a buck.
He later pleaded guilty to mail, wire, and bank fraud and was sentenced to eight years
in prison and ordered to pay $1.9 million in restitution, according to Page Six.
"I filed for divorce last year and it has been a long drawn out process because Apollo
has not wanted to get the divorce"
But when Nida and Parks finally divorced in 2017, she made it abundantly clear that she
was ready to move on, telling Us Weekly,
"Apollo and I started dating in high school and now I'm in my early 40s, so it was time
to go.
That's almost a lifetime.
Thank God it's over, but thank God it happened because we have two beautiful kids."
"At the end of the day, it's my fault, I made a decision to do what I did.
I gotta lay in the bed that I made"
Sandra Bullock's super bad-boy
While Oscar winner Sandra Bullock and Jesse James were dating in 2004, the American Chopper
star posed as Hitler in Nazi regalia.
Sources told Us Weekly that the reality star was not actually a Neo-Nazi, just a, quote,
"history buff."
But more controversy followed in 2007, when James was accused of selling motorcycles that
violated California's clean air laws.
People reported he was fined over $271,000 by the California Air Resources Board.
However, it was the revelation in 2010 that James cheated on Bullock with a slew of women,
that prompted Bullock to file for divorce, according to Us Weekly.
James rebounded with renowned tattoo artist Kat Von D, but his old habits died really,
really hard, The two were on-again off-again until calling it quits for good in 2011.
According to People, James allegedly cheated on Von D with a whopping 19 women.
Mariah Carey's former slimeballs
Superstar songstress, Mariah Carey, was just 18 years old when she got together with her
much older manager and Sony Music boss, Tommy Mottola.
According to Entertainment Weekly, she later described their 1993 marriage as "oppressive"
and referred to the prison-like home they shared as "Sing Sing."
And according to Mottola's 2013 memoir, Hitmaker: The Man and his Music, he didn't necessarily
disagree.
He wrote,
"If it seemed like I was controlling, let me apologize again.
Was I obsessive?
Yes.
But that was also part of the reason for her success."
Mottola claims he made Carey a star, and after their divorce, he thought he could take it
all away too.
According to XXL, Mottola allegedly instructed record executive Irv Gotti,
"[…] to make a record for Jennifer Lopez that sounded exactly like one Gotti's company
had made with Carey for her movie, Glitter, even though Glitter was not finished and Lopez
would beat Carey to the punch […]"
Sources claimed Mottola was quietly looking at "footage of Glitter while his ex-wife was
shooting it."
Then in 2016, Carey became engaged to billionaire James Packer, who may be doing some shady
dealings of his own.
After their breakup, The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Packer was being investigated
for possibly giving gifts to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
When asked about the controversy, Carey quipped,
"I don't know where the motherf—-er is!"