Celebrity relationships fill the magazines we read, the websites we scroll through, the TV we watch. We’re interested in these partnerships and the dynamics of these relationships. In some cases, we’re rooting for them to succeed. We hear about a favorite celeb couple tying the knot and hope that they’re in it for the long haul. However, in a society where the divorce rate is 50/50, it’s even faster – and more frequent – for the rich and famous. A few years in Hollywood is like a lifetime for the rest of us, thanks to their hectic schedules, demanding jobs, and the temptation that lies around every corner.
Some stars choose to forego marriage altogether, and instead have a long-standing partnership that lasts decades, without the need for a binding legal ceremony and paperwork. Others seem to rush into marriage too fast, too soon, and find themselves experiencing heartbreak not long afterwards.
While we could write a list about the longest marriages in Hollywood, we think it’s just as interesting to document the shortest celeb marriages – all of these unions lasted for less than a year! “Tying the knot” is a phrase that’s meant to symbolize commitment, but for these 20 couples, that commitment was short-lived – less than 365 days to be exact.
20 Audrina Patridge & Corey Bohan: 319 Days
If The Hills are to be believed, Audrina Patridge’s love life has always been messy, and her marriage to ex-husband Corey Bohan is no different.
These two tied the knot in Hawaii in November 2016 after welcoming their daughter Kirra the previous June. By September 2017, however, Patridge had filed for divorce, citing “irreconcilable differences,” due to the BMX biker’s frequent outbursts. The split was a messy one, with the reality star filing a restraining order against her ex and earning full custody of their daughter.
While the marriage lasted less than a year at 319 days, it took almost a full year for the split to be legally finalized.
19 Elisabeth Moss & Fred Armisen: 312 Days
Unlike some other couples, there’s no love lost between The Handmaid’s Tale’s Elisabeth Moss and Portlandia’s Fred Armisen. The couple wed in October 2009 and broke up a mere eight months later, with Moss officially filing for divorce in September 2010.
Since the split, both stars have been less-than-nice when talking about their failed marriage. Speaking to New York Magazine, Moss said, “It was extremely traumatic and ...horrible…I’m glad that it didn’t happen when I was 50. I’m glad I didn’t have kids.” Armisen admitted his own part in the failure of their union, telling Howard Stern, “I think I was a terrible husband.”
18 Jim Carrey & Lauren Holly: 309 Days
A lot of women say that a sense of humor is one of the most desirable qualities in a potential partner. Unfortunately for Lauren Holly and Jim Carrey, humor didn’t keep the two of them married past 309 days!
After first meeting on the set of Dumb and Dumber, the couple tied the knot on September 23, 1996. Less than a year later, Holly filed for divorce citing “irreconcilable differences.”
While the marriage didn’t last long, their relationship had been going on for quite some time, according to Holly, who revealed in a TV interview that they had been dating quietly for years before getting married, and that the paparazzi following their every move played a role in the split.
17 Jennifer Lopez & Cris Judd: 218 Days
Jennifer Lopez has walked down the aisle three times (and is set to do so again once more), but the shortest marriage she ever had was with her former backup dancer, Cris Judd, who she wed after meeting on the set of her “Love Don’t Cost A Thing” music video in 2001.
Unlike Lauren Holly and Jim Carrey, the backup dancer doesn’t blame the limelight for the downfall of his marriage to J.Lo (which collapsed after 218 days together). In an interview with Us Weekly in 2014, he said, “You know it’s very tough. Your privacy is breached. You’re no longer a normal person. [Our wedding] was a circus.”
16 Elizabeth Taylor & Conrad ‘Nicky’ Hilton: 205 Days
She ended up marrying eight times throughout her life, but the first – and shortest – marriage of them all happened when she was only 18 years old. Elizabeth Taylor hadn’t quite earned her “maneater” reputation when she walked down the aisle with Conrad “Nicky” Hilton in an extravagant MGM-organized event. However, in the weeks that followed, Taylor realized that she had made a mistake, and said as much in her memoir, written in 1965.
“The honeymoon in Europe lasted two weeks,” she wrote. “I should say the marriage lasted for two weeks.” Hilton was revealed to be a heavy drinker and volatile, and Taylor was granted a divorce eight months after the wedding.
15 Drew Barrymore & Tom Green: 163 Days
Another celebrity bride who has walked down the aisle numerous times, Drew Barrymore has been wed and divorced three times. The second marriage – and second shortest – was the seemingly random pairing of the Hollywood actress with comedian Tom Green.
The couple eloped in 2001 after a stalled stunt to wed on Saturday Night Live, but Green ended up filing for divorce only five months later, citing “irreconcilable differences.” In their statements to the press, both wished each other well. As of 2014, Green revealed to Oprah that he hadn’t actually been in contact with his famous ex for many years, but that he was “glad she’s doing great.”
14 Chad Michael Murray & Sophia Bush: 163 Days
It’s gotta be awkward having to work with an ex, but having to work with an ex-spouse for years when your marriage lasted for only five months is a new level of cruelty!
One Tree Hill costars Chad Michael Murray and Sophia Bush tied the knot in April 2005, but five months later Bush filed for an annulment, citing “fraud” as the reason! (A friend later told People that the “fraud” filing was because Sophia believed “in the sanctity of marriage, and Chad simply did not share that vision.”)
Speaking in 2014 on Watch What Happens Live, Bush explained, “We were two stupid kids who had no business getting into a relationship in the first place.”
13 Renee Zellweger & Kenny Chesney: 128 Days
How’s this for a random pairing? Back in 2005, Renee Zellweger surprised everyone by getting married in a beachside ceremony to country singer Kenny Chesney – and surprised us all even more so when she filed for divorce only four months later!
There was much gossip around the filing since Zellweger, like Sophia Bush, listed “fraud” as the reason for filing, with many questioning Chesney’s orientation as the reason. The marriage was over and done with so quickly that the actress herself even forgot about it! In a 2016 interview with The Advocate, Zellweger said, “I forgot about that. It’s a pretty big thing to forget, isn’t it?”
12 Pamela Anderson & Kid Rock: 122 Days
Did you really expect a long-lasting marriage when the bride in question wore a bikini during the ceremony? Pamela Anderson and Kid Rock married on a yacht in the summer of 2006 and by the time fall rolled around, they had filed for divorce.
Amid rumors that the marriage was pregnancy-related, and the love triangle between the couple and Anderson’s ex Tommy Lee had been a problem, things were over before Thanksgiving of that year and, unsurprisingly, the two no longer speak.
In an interview with Ellen DeGeneres, Kid said, “If I saw her somewhere, I’d say hi, but I try not to go in the same circles. I touched stove, stove was hot, I think I not touch stove anymore.”
11 Bradley Cooper & Jennifer Esposito: 122 Days
You may not recall Bradley Cooper’s marriage to actress Jennifer Esposito, but she made us all remember her when she threw shade at Cooper and Lady Gaga following their Oscar performance of “Shallow,” the song from their hit film A Star Is Born!
Back in December 2006, these two pretty people decided to tie the knot, but not too long afterwards they filed for divorce – a decision, according to Cooper, that was mutual. Speaking on Howard Stern’s radio show, Cooper said, “It was just something that happened. The good thing is we both realized it…Sometimes you just realize it.” Cooper has since been involved with model Irina Shayk, with whom he shares a daughter.
10 Colin Farrell & Amelia Warner: 121 Days
Technically, if both Colin Farrell and Amelia Warner are to be believed, the wedding that happened between them in Tahiti in 2001 wasn’t legal! Sure, there may have been a ceremony and an exchange of vows (and Farrell even got Warner’s name tattooed around his ring finger), but both have said that it was “just for [them]” and not legally binding!
Warner – who is doing just fine and married to Fifty Shades of Grey’s Jamie Dornan, BTW – told The Sun, “We didn’t actually get married – it’s not actually true. I think we’ve been too polite to deny it. We had a ceremony on a beach in Tahiti that was by no means legal and we knew it wasn’t.”
9 Nicolas Cage & Lisa Marie Presley: 107 Days
Nicolas Cage’s romantic life has paralleled his career – plenty of highs but, more frequently and more recently, huge lows. One such low was his marriage to Lisa Marie Presley, which lasted for a mere 107 days.
The couple wed in 2002 on the 25th anniversary of Presley’s father Elvis’s death and it was over three months later. Cage, who is an avid collector of Elvis memorabilia, wasn’t able to hold onto the crown jewel! Through a publicist, Cage said simply, “I did not talk about the marriage and I’m not going to talk about the divorce.” Presley, via CNN, said, “I’m sad, but we shouldn’t have been married in the first place.”
8 Nicky Hilton & Todd Andrew Meister: 85 Days
The second Hilton on this list is Nicky Hilton, sister of Paris, and her 85-day marriage to businessman Todd Andrew Meister. Taking things the traditional route when it comes to a quickie wedding, the couple got hitched in Vegas in August 2004 at around 2:30 in the morning, with Paris as the maid of honor.
Rather than get a divorce, Hilton and Meister were granted an annulment, and a few reasons were given for the split. One was that Meister was more of a friend than a husband; another was that the two were living on separate coasts and barely saw each other; and the third reason stays in Vegas!
7 Kim Kardashian West & Kris Humphries: 72 Days
Kim Kardashian West’s 72-day long marriage to NBA star Kris Humphries became an endless source of jokes and a punchline on Keeping Up With the Kardashians. Part of the reason for this was that the relationship – its beginning, its wedding, and its long, drawn-out end – were all televised!
The elaborate TV ceremony and quick filing for divorce had many wondering if the whole thing was a publicity stunt – a rumor that Kardashian West was quick to shoot down, writing in a blog post, “First and foremost, I married for love.” The divorce took a while, and wasn’t even finalized until Kardashian West was pregnant with her first child.
6 Drew Barrymore & Jeremy Thomas: 39 Days
Drew Barrymore makes our list again, this time with a marriage that lasted barely longer than a month!
Somewhere in the middle of her wild child days, Barrymore, at the age of 19, decided to marry Jeremy Thomas, a Los Angeles bar owner, in 1994. He was 32 at the time and they had known one another for only six weeks. At the time, Barrymore remarked, as Zimbio reports, “Usually people live together first and then get married. I guess we’re doing it the old-fashioned way. Kind of.”
39 days later, the divorce was finalized, and the actress moved on to other high profile romances (and two more divorces).
5 Ali Landry & Mario Lopez: 18 Days
Rather than do the right thing and let fiancé Ali Landry know that he had stepped out on her just days before they exchanged vows, TV host Mario Lopez decided to go through with the whole thing when they tied the knot in 2004.
Landry ended up finding out the truth and the couple split for good when she filed for an annulment just 18 days later – and they had been together for six years prior!
Speaking to Howard Stern in 2011, Lopez admitted, “At that point I was not ready to settle down. I wasn’t man enough to know how to go about handling it.” Both have since remarried and had children.
4 Eddie Murphy & Tracey Edmonds: 14 Days
When it comes to relationships, Eddie Murphy has been around! Four high-profile romances and 10 children later, Murphy has quite the checkered past. One of those squares is ex Tracey Edmonds, whom he married in 2008 in Bora Bora. However, the marriage was not legally binding! In a statement following their split, the couple referred to it as a “symbolic union.” Plans to have a legal ceremony later in the US were dashed.
All of this sounds like a good thing, considering that on the night of the wedding, a guest informed People that “Eddie started yelling at Tracey in front of people. He did it on a few occasions and it was very embarrassing.”
3 Carmen Electra & Dennis Rodman: 9 Days
What do you get when you combine a former Baywatch actress and one of the most eccentric basketball players in history? A marriage that lasts only nine days, of course!
While the marriage wasn't officially over until a year had passed, it was just over a week when Rodman requested an annulment, saying that he was intoxicated after an “all-night bender” in Vegas when the two wed in 1998. Later, Electra said in a 2014 interview with Oprah, “Our relationship was very passionate. When it was good, it was amazing. When it was bad, it was the worst. It happened so fast. It was so spontaneous, and I remember right after, [thinking,] ‘Oh god, what did we do?’”
2 Nicolas Cage & Erika Koike: 4 Days
Beating Electra and Rodman’s marriage by a whole five days, we have Nicolas Cage’s second entry on this list as his shortest marriage ever: his recent union with makeup artist Erika Koike, which lasted a mere four days.
The couple wed, unsurprisingly, in Las Vegas, on March 23 of this year. On March 27, Cage filed the papers to end their marriage, requesting an annulment, or a divorce if the annulment wasn’t possible. The two had only been dating a year and Koike can count herself as the fourth of Cage’s wives. According to People, the marriage was destined to fail, since both were seen arguing when applying for a marriage license!
1 Britney Spears & Jason Alexander: 55 Hours
The shortest marriage in the history of Hollywood (at least so far) is the random quickie union between Britney Spears and childhood friend Jason Alexander which, naturally, took place in Las Vegas.
A few days after the pair rang in the New Year in 2004, they decided to get hitched – something Spears later explained, via InStyle, as her being “silly, being rebellious, and not really taking the responsibility of what I was doing.” A judge dissolved the “joke” marriage just 55 hours later, and the petition for the annulment read that Spears “lacked understanding of her actions to the extent that she was incapable of agreeing to the marriage,” as Irish Examiner reports.
Sources: Pop Sugar, Insider, Us Weekly, CBS News, People