Serial cheating and blackout binges. These celebrity couples made it back from the brink… together.
At the time of Kobe Bryant's tragic death in 2020, he and wife Vanessa were happily
married with four beautiful children.
The couple's near 20-year marriage was not always smooth sailing, however, and the pair
nearly divorced in 2011.
Bryant met 18-year-old Vanessa Laine while she was still in high school and he was starting
his NBA career. At the time, Bryant was an aspiring rapper, and it was on the set of
one of his music videos that he met Laine. It was love at first sight. The former NBA
player recalled their introduction in the 2015 documentary Kobe Bryant's Muse, saying,
"It was a two-day video shoot, and I was always looking for her. Like, I wanted to know where
she was.”
Of their first encounter, Bryant went on to say,
“She wrote her phone number down at the time when you still had to write phone numbers
down. And I called her the very next day, and we talked for hours."
Bryant and Laine married in April 2001, and went on to have four daughters: Natalia, Gianna,
Bianka, and Capri.
The couple's relationship survived Bryant's 2003 sexual assault case, but in 2011, Vanessa
filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. By 2013, the pair were back together and remained
so until the tragic deaths of Kobe and daughter Gianna in 2020.
Rappers Cardi B and Offset met at Super Bowl 51 in 2017 and started dating right away.
They secretly wed later that year, but a a sex tape of Offset with another woman quickly
surfaced. Despite Offset's cheating, the couple remained together through the birth of their
daughter Kulture in June 2018. They separated shortly after.
By January 2019, the pair appeared to be mending their relationship. A source told E! News
at the time,
"[Cardi] has been focusing more on how they are going to work this out. The negativity
of their relationship has blown over and she's staying positive that it will work."
However, Cardi B filed for divorce in September 2020, after Offset cheated once again. Cardi
insisted her marriage was broken beyond repair and there was no chance of getting back together.
They did get back together, however.
"What's your favorite quality about him?" "Everything. I love that man."
By November, the divorce petition was dismissed and the two welcomed their second child, Wave,
in September 2021.
Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor's separation after 17 years of marriage left many shocked.
The actors initially met in 1999 on the set of Heat Vision and Jack, a sci-fi comedy pilot
which never made it to air. Stiller told Entertainment Tonight in 2007,
"When I met her, I pretty much thought, 'That's the person.'"
The couple wed in May 2000.
Stiller and Taylor have appeared together in many iconic movie comedies, including Zoolander,
Dodgeball, and Tropic Thunder. They have two children: Ella and Quinlin.
On the outside, Stiller and Taylor seemed to be the perfect couple, but their private
differences came to a head in 2017. In May of that year, they announced they'd split.
But the pandemic changed things, and the couple reconciled while quarantining together in
2020. In an interview with Esquire, Stiller revealed,
"We were separated and got back together and we're happy about that. Unexpected, and one
of the things that came out of the pandemic."
Rapper Snoop Dogg started dating Shante Broadus in high school in the 1990s. In an interview
with VladTV, Snoop Dogg detailed the early days of their romance, saying,
"I had to go over there and meet her mother and date her for, like, four months before
I was able to kiss her. I had to call her on the phone. I had to write love letters."
The pair married on June 14, 1997 and have three children together: Corde, Cordell, and
Cori. Broadus supported her husband at the start of his rap career. By the early 2000s,
they'd hit a rough patch, and Snoop Dogg filed for divorce in 2004. The separation was short-lived,
and they reconciled shortly after. In an interview with MTV, Snoop Doog said,
"I was trying to get a divorce, but I went back home and I fell back in love with my
wife and kids. I understand that I need my wife and my kids in my life, so I threw the
papers away. I don't want to get a divorce."
The couple renewed their vows in 2008, proving that true love is unbreakable.
Grey's Anatomy heartthrob Patrick Dempsey first met Jillian Fink in 1994 when he went
to her salon for a haircut. On meeting for the first time, Fink recalled to People,
"I was shocked. But at the same time, I was happy because he was so cute."
Both were in other relationships at the time, however. They didn't start dating until 1997
and married two years later. Together, they have three children: daughter Talula and twin
boys Darby and Sullivan.
By 2015, their marriage had collapsed and Fink filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable
differences. In a joint statement the couple announced,
"It is with careful consideration and mutual respect that we have decided to end our marriage."
However, in 2016, they called off the divorce. Dempsey explained to People,
"Jill and I decided it was time to work on our issues and improve. Our union has to be
the priority. I wasn't prepared to give up on her and she wasn't either. We both wanted
to fight for it."
R&B singer Ne-Yo met model Crystal Renay in 2015 and they started dating soon after. Ne-Yo told People,
"From that first encounter, I knew there was something different about her, something special."
The pair tied the knot in February 2016 and have three children together: Shaffer, Roman,
and Isabella.
Before Ne-Yo and Renay welcomed their third child, however, they separated and filed for
divorce. In an interview with podcast Private Talk with Alexis Texas, Ne-Yo discussed the separation:
"We realize that our demons don't mesh and until the both of us get a hold of our personal
demons, it's gonna be just difficult for us to stay married."
Months later, however, Ne-Yo and Renay reunited. In an appearance on The Talk, the singer attributed
their healing to the circumstances of the coronavirus pandemic.
"The quarantine forced us to sit still, block out the noise from the world. You know the
world can get very, very loud, and we tend to let the world's opinion mean more in certain
situations than it should."
"We love each other. We love each other beyond a shadow of any doubt. Um, and nothing is
stronger than that."
The couple married for a second time in April 2022.
Pop-rock icon Pink met motocross racer Carey Hart in 2001. The couple dated for two years
before temporarily splitting up in 2003, but married just three years later. They have
two children together: Willow and Jameson. While Pink and Hart have a strong marriage
now, the pair filed for divorce two years after saying "I do." The "What About Us''
singer shared details of their split on her website at the time, writing:
"This breakup is not about cheating, anger, or fighting. I know it sounds like cliché
bulls--t, but we are best friends, and we will continue to be."
Pink and Hart were separated for 11 months before reconciling in 2009. Pink opened up
about their split in an interview with Redbook, explaining that their schedules made marriage difficult.
"Carey would see me for five days and be gone for six weeks. We'd try to fix everything
in those five days; you just can't do that."
The couple reunited after Pink gave Hart a photo album that included sentimental items
like cards and photos of the couple over the years. They never signed the divorce papers,
and the rest is history.
Jean-Claude Van Damme's marriage to former pro bodybuilder Gladys Portugues has had plenty
of ups and downs. The couple married for the first time in 1987, just as Van Damme's acting
career began to take off. The pair had two children together: Kristopher and Bianca.
Five years after tying the knot, however, the couple divorced and went their separate
ways. Van Damme married Darcy LaPier and had a child with her before divorcing three years later.
By 1999, the Muscles from Brussels and Gladys Portugues reconciled and remarried. They remained
together for 15 years before Portugues filed for divorce again, citing irreconcilable differences.
Two months later, the divorce was apparently off, as Van Damme told TMZ,
"The JCVD family, still strong. The kids are strong, the wife is strong. Couples have to
work [through] their stuff together no matter what, they have to grow."
They say the third time's the charm, but for Van Damme and Portugues, the second seems
to be the winner.
Legendary rock star Ozzy Osbourne first met Sharon Arden in the 1970s through her father,
Don Arden, the manager for Black Sabbath. When Ozzy went solo, Sharon became his manager
and the two started a relationship. They married in 1982 and have three children together:
Aimee, Kelly, and Jack.
Over the years, their marriage was strained by Ozzy's alcoholism. Sharon remained by her
husband's side through his struggles, but the worry took an incredible toll on her.
She confessed to Variety that she spent years worrying he would die.
"I would always make sure that there was somebody there, checking on him through the night when
he was on the road without me. But it was always in the front of my mind."
The rocker got sober in 2013, but divorce rumors were rampant. Nonetheless, the couple
remained together for three more years before announcing their separation in May 2016.
"I'm 63 years of age, and I can't keep living like this."
Ozzy moved out of their home, but the two were soon back together, with Ozzy telling
Good Morning America that they had just, quote, "hit a bump in the road."