A divorce lawyer to the stars weighs on this summer’s messy marriage pattern.
What do Kevin Costner, Sofia Vergara, Britney Spears, Justin Trudeau, and Ariana Grande have in common — besides their charm? All of these stars have recently announced divorces. And scores more celebs — like Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner — are rumored to be in the midst of unannounced break ups, too. In fact, the trouble in paradise seems to be happening en masse: According to celeb news, 2023 saw the unofficial summer of high-profile splits.
But why are famous couples calling it quits in droves right now? And do these divorcees handle things differently than those of us who aren’t onstage or onscreen? (Not that your best karaoke performance on girls’ night doesn’t make you a star in your own right.) And what do these divorces say about marriage in America as a whole?
To get all the juicy details on celebrity breakups, we spoke to attorney Nancy Chemtob, who’s represented famous people like Mary-Kate Olsen, Tory Burch, Bobby Flay, and Annette Roque (Matt Lauer’s ex-wife). Chemtob filled us in on why this uptick may be happening, and what the rest of us can learn from it.
Why are so many celebrity couples divorcing this summer?
Before Chemtob dives into the wild world of splitting celebrities, she brings things back to reality for a moment: Stars aren’t the only ones who are breaking up.
“This summer, I feel like everyone’s getting divorced. We’ve had more divorce filings this August than I’ve ever had.”
In fact, Chemtob says that she always sees upticks in people (celebrity or not) filing for divorce at specific points each year: “Historically, there are two times of the year when people get divorced the most — January and August.”
Why, exactly? In January, Chemtob points out that most of us make New Year’s resolutions that may lead us to embark on important journeys…alone. And in August, a few things are guaranteed.
“It’s really hot,” Chemtob points out. “People are grouchy. People are wearing less clothing. People are going out more.” All of these things can impact a marriage, but most notably, she says, “Parents may have their kids away at summer camp and realize that they have nothing more to talk to their spouse about.”
Plus, she adds that a lot of families meet huge milestones in August: “A lot of children are going off to college. So parents might take the empty nest opportunity as a chance to say, ‘I’m done.’”
Specific to show business, Chemtob says the Writer’s Guild of America strike and SAG-AFTRA strike may play a role in some recent marital strife.
“All these incredibly smart, funny, dramatic, creative people aren’t working; all of a sudden they’re just at home, probably annoying their spouse.”
Chemtob adds that she’s noticed a trend that she can’t necessarily account for: Celebrities are specifically splitting up from their non-famous partners.
“If you go through the celebrity couples getting divorced right now, in a lot of them, one of them is more famous than the other, who might not be a public figure at all.” For example, Reese Witherspoon recently split from former talent agent, Jim Toth; similarly, Kevin Costner is currently in the throes of a messy divorce with designer Christine Baumgartner. “More of those couples are getting divorced right now. If it’s two actors, I’m not seeing that as much, but I’m seeing more of the celebrity/non-celebrity couples getting divorced.”
What goes on behind the scenes of a celebrity divorce?
First of all, Chemtob clarifies that plenty of celebrity divorces are actually very non-dramatic.
“Most celebrities have prenups,” she says. Like Spears and Sam Asghari, whose prenup has been running around the rumor mill since they announced their split. “When there’s a prenuptial agreement, it’s preordained as to who’s going to get what.” When a couple has a prenup and has no need to establish any sort of custody agreement, Chemtob says the breakup will be relatively easy. Think of 30-year-old Grande breaking up her child-free union with husband, Dalton Gomez, after a short two years.
“But if not,” she cautions, “it’s a regular divorce where people are fighting over assets.” For example, tabloid stalwarts Tori Spelling and Dean McDermott, who announced their split this June, reportedly didn’t sign a prenup. The jury’s still out on whether the rumor’s true, but if it is, the couple may be facing a court battle.
After all, what happens when people are fighting over a lot of assets? Things can get drawn out and very nit-picky.
“I represented Diandra Douglas [Michael Douglas’ ex-wife]. There was an issue about Wall Street and Wall Street 2. The question was whether or not Wall Street 2 was a spinoff or a sequel. And in that case, we went to court because the agreement said, ‘If it’s a spinoff, you get this. If it’s a sequel, you get that.’ One word changed everything.”
Chemtob also holds up a particularly famous divorce as an example of how drawn out these affairs can get: “Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s divorce has been going on for so long. Just when you think it’s over, it always seems to have more legs. Now there’s a dispute about their vineyard,” she says, referring to the recent lawsuit Pitt filed against Jolie for selling shares of a French winery the couple purchased together. “And I think we’ll see more and more from them.”
Chemtob clarifies that the Brangelina split may have been exacerbated by the whirlwind of tabloid chaos: “It started with the issue where there was an allegation of abuse on the plane years ago. Then the divorce, then the issue of and not letting Brad see his children.”
Chemtob points out, however, that in the chaos of post-quarantine life, a lot of strife boils down to a need for basic kindness.
“I think right now, everybody just wants to be treated better. Everyone wants to live their best life.”
