Content warning: This post mentions abuse, infidelity, addiction, and abortion.
Celebrities often keep their relationships very private, but gossip still gets out — especially after famous couples have broken up (sometimes LONG after). Here are some huge secrets we learned after these celeb splits…1. First up, a whole relationship that was a secret until after they broke up: Hunter Schafer and Rosalía dated for five months in 2019, but Hunter didn’t confirm it until 2024.
Dave Benett / Getty Images
“I have really beautiful friendships with people that I was once romantically involved with,” Hunter said. “She’s family no matter what.”
Related: 17 Celebs Who Low-Key Look Nothing Like They Did A Few Years Ago
2. Another relationship no one knew about until long after they split was Cher and Tom Cruise, who had a brief but intense romance in the 1980s after connecting at a White House event for people with dyslexia, according to Cher.
Michael Caulfield Archive / Getty Images, Pictorial Parade / Getty Images
Cher has said she even lived with Tom for a while, and that he was in the “top 5” lovers she’d ever had.
3. Perhaps the wildest secret relationship of all was Jack and Meg White of the White Stripes, who told the world they were siblings but were actually a (not-related) married couple. The news broke a year after they’d divorced.
Gie Knaeps / Getty Images
While Jack initially denied it, years later he told Rolling Stone that they had thought pretending to be brother and sister would make people focus on their music more than their relationship.
4. While there were rumors Nicole Kidman and Lenny Kravitz were together in the 2000s, it didn’t come out until much later that they had actually been engaged.
Kevin Mazur / Getty Images, New York Daily News Archive / Getty Images
Nicole revealed it in a roundabout way in 2017 when discussing working with Zoe Kravitz on Big Little Lies, saying, “Well, I knew Zoe because I was engaged to her father. It’s all in the family!”
Previously, Nicole had discussed a failed engagement that happened after her divorce from Tom Cruise, but she never mentioned who it was with, only saying it “just wasn’t right. I wasn’t ready. We weren’t ready.”
5. When they were together, Calvin Harris said he and Taylor Swift hadn’t ever spoken about collaborating and he couldn’t “see it happening” — but after they broke up, it was revealed she had actually written his hit “This Is What You Came For.”
Larry Busacca / Getty Images
She used the pseudonym Nils Sjöberg for the song, and even reportedly did backing vocals on the track.
Related: From Florence Pugh To Zoë Kravitz, Here’s All The Celebrities Who Rocked Sheer Or Naked Dresses
6. After Lily Allen and David Harbour separated, Lily released an album called West End Girl that was “inspired” by the end of their relationship, which suggested David had pressured Lily into an open marriage.
Sean Zanni / Getty Images
Lily said she wrote the album in “10 days in December” in 2025 as she was “really trying to process things.”
7. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver announced they were separating in May 2011 after 25 years of marriage, and rumors soon spread that the breakup was due to the fact that he had secretly had an affair and fathered a child with a member of their household staff.
Jean Baptiste Lacroix / Getty Images
Arnold confirmed the story was true with a statement that said, “After leaving the governor’s office I told my wife about this event, which occurred over a decade ago. I understand and deserve the feelings of anger and disappointment among my friends and family. There are no excuses and I take full responsibility for the hurt I have caused. I have apologized to Maria, my children and my family. I am truly sorry.”
8. When he was married to Emma Thompson, Kenneth Branagh cheated on her with Helena Bonham Carter.
Ron Galella / Getty Images
Kenneth and Emma had been married for five years when he directed and starred in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein alongside Helena, and reportedly began an affair with her. Emma left Kenneth when she discovered the affair the following year.
9. Britney Spears got pregnant to Justin Timberlake when they were both 19, and she claims he pressured her into getting an abortion.
Frank Trapper / Getty Images
In her memoir The Woman In Me, she wrote, “It was a surprise, but for me, it wasn’t a tragedy. … But Justin definitely wasn’t happy about the pregnancy. He said we weren’t ready to have a baby in our lives, that we were way too young.”
On getting an abortion, she said, “If it had been left up to me alone, I never would have done it. And yet Justin was so sure that he didn’t want to be a father.”
Britney said that she had an abortion at home and described it as “agonizing,” detailing how she lay on the floor of her bathroom, sobbing and in pain, while Justin played his guitar in an attempt to comfort her.
Related: There’s Been A Rise In Super-Skinny Celebs With Visible Chest Bones On The Red Carpet, So Let’s Talk About It
10. Demi Moore said that when they were married, she agreed to Ashton Kutcher’s request to have threesomes because she put him first and wanted to show him how “fun” she could be.
Carlo Allegri / Getty Images
In her memoir Inside Out, Demi blames the threesomes for blurring lines in their marriage and leading Ashton to cheat on her, calling them a “mistake.”
11. After Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie separated, Angelina claimed Brad had physically abused her and their children on a private jet in 2016.
Anadolu / Getty Images
A court filing from Angelina and her team alleged that Brad poured beer on Angelina and “grabbed” her by the head and “shook her,” and that he poured beer and wine on their kids and “choked one of the children and struck another in the face.”
During an interview with GQ in 2017, Brad said, “People on their deathbeds don’t talk about what they obtained or were awarded. They talk about their loved ones or their regrets — that seems to be the menu. I say that as someone who’s let the work take me away. Kids are so delicate. They absorb everything. They need to have their hand held and things explained. They need to be listened to. When I get in that busy work mode, I’m not hearing. I want to be better at that.”
12. John Stamos shared in his 2023 memoir that in the 1980s he discovered his then-girlfriend Teri Copley in bed with Tony Danza.
Ron Galella / Getty Images
Teri denied cheating on John, saying they had already broken up when the incident occurred, but John countered that if they had broken up, he wasn’t aware of it.
13. In her 2025 memoir, Ione Skye spilled a lot of tea on her relationship with Anthony Kiedis — which happened in the ’80s when she was just 16 and he was 24 — including that she got pregnant and had an abortion at age 17.
Jeff Kravitz / Getty Images
She also detailed how Anthony cheated on her and constantly did drugs during their relationship, leading to her feeling like she had to “save” him.
14. Although she didn’t name Kanye West explicitly in her memoir, Julia Fox outlined details of her relationship with “The Artist,” who many believe is Ye — including that he controlled what she wore, even calling one of her stylists in the middle of a date to bring new options because he didn’t like what she had on.
Victor Boyko / Getty Images
Kanye also allegedly offered to get Julia a boob job once when she commented that an outfit wasn’t “quite right” on her. Julia also shared how “The Artist” would only show affection to her when cameras were on them.
Related: 17 Famous Faces From 2025 That Are So “Aesthetically Enhanced” I Had To Do A Triple Take Just To Figure Out Who They Were
15. While Kate Mara was with Max Minghella, she had a secret relationship with Elliot Page, according to Elliot in their memoir Pageboy.
Cindy Ord / Getty Images, David Krieger / Getty Images
Elliot said that Max was supportive of Kate exploring her feelings with Elliot, and claimed Kate told him, “I never thought I could be in love with two people, and now I know I can.”
16. Elizabeth Taylor “stealing” Eddie Fisher from his wife — and her best friend — Debbie Reynolds is an infamous old Hollywood scandal, but Elizabeth admitted years later she never even loved Eddie.
Bettmann / Getty Images
Eddie had comforted Elizabeth after her husband, Mike Todd, died, and soon they began an affair, with Eddie divorcing Debbie and marrying Elizabeth. “I was keeping Mike alive by talking about him because Eddie, he was a great friend of Mike’s,” Elizabeth said. “That was the only thing we had in common, was Mike. I never loved Eddie. I liked him. I felt sorry for him. And I liked talking [to him]. But he was not Mike.”
Which celeb breakups spilled the hottest tea? Share your thoughts in the comments or in the anonymous form below!
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, you can call SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357) and find more resources here.
You Might Like: 37 Effective Products That Should Be On Your Radar If You’ve Got Annoying Body Problems
You Might Like: 36 Products From Amazon’s “Most Wished For” Section That’ll Make You Go “Ooooooh!”
Also in Celebrity: Answer These 11 Questions To Find Out Which KATSEYE Member You Are
Read it on BuzzFeed.com