Divorce is hard, but legal and custody battles can be even harder. Throughout their time in the spotlight, some A-listers — including Brad Pitt, Britney Spears, Madonna and Tom Cruise, among others — have found themselves involved in pretty messy divorces.
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, for example, finalized their divorce in 2017, but the drama between them is still ongoing. The exes are wrapped up in a nasty court battle after they’ve both accused each other of verbal and physical abuse.
“I was afraid he was going to kill me, either intentionally or just by losing control and going too far,” Heard alleged during a July 2020 court appearance. “He explicitly threatened to kill me many times, especially later in our relationship.”
Depp, for his part, has repeatedly denied her accusations. He spoke publicly about the abuse claims during an interview in the November 2018 issue of GQ, saying, “Ultimately, the truth will come out in all of this and I will be standing on the right side of the roaring rapids. I hope other people will be too.”
“I worry about the people that bought it and I worry about her. It’s just not right,” the Pirates of the Caribbean actor added at the time. “I will never stop fighting. I’ll never stop. They’d have to f—king shoot me. An episode like this takes time to get over. It’s a mourning for someone you thought was …. well, something I did marry her.”
While Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Erika Jayne and estranged husband Tom Girardi have yet to finalize their divorce, their split may be one of the messiest in Bravo history. The reality star and now-disgraced lawyer called it quits in November 2020.
“After much consideration, I have decided to end my marriage to Tom Girardi,” she said in a statement to Us Weekly. “This is not a step taken lightly or easily. I have great love and respect for Tom and for our years and the lives we built together. It is my absolute wish to proceed through this process with respect and with the privacy that both Tom and I deserve. I request others give us that privacy as well.”
Things started to fall apart further as more details of their split and subsequent legal woes were publicly released and shown via RHOBH season 11. During episodes of the Bravo series, the “XXPEN$IVE” singer disclosed that she knew Girardi had been cheating on her throughout their 21-year marriage. She also denied knowing anything about his finances after the high-profile lawyer was hit with multiple fraud and embezzlement lawsuits.
“Erika was completely unaware of the very serious allegations that were being made against Tom in court,” a source told Us in December 2020 when news of the lawsuit went public. “Tom always handled all of the finances and that was how they handled things. Erika feels betrayed by Tom because she completely trusted him. She is just reeling from all of this, but make no mistake. Erika is a tough cookie and she isn’t stupid. She will get through this.”
Keep scrolling to see more of Hollywood’s messiest divorces.
