The Shortest Celebrity Marriages!

A whirlwind romance is all well and good, but what happens when the dust settles and you’ve already said “I do”?

Well, the outcome isn’t always pretty — just ask Meghan King. She married Cuffe Owens in front of his uncle, President Joe Biden, and a number of other high profile guests (plus her three children), only for the relationship to dissolve in a matter of months. During an appearance on the Two T’s In A Pod podcast, she admitted:

“I was married, but it was such a whirlwind, and from start to finish with him was only three months, which was just stupid of me to marry him, but I did.”

Yikes, that’s rough. But hey, we all make mistakes, right? And Meghan is certainly in good company in Hollywood, where shotgun weddings and short-lived marriages are all the rage. Scroll on for the all-time shortest celebrity unions:

Britney Spears & Jason Alexander

The shortest and most infamous quickie marriage of all goes to Britney Spears and Jason Alexander. It’s a tale as old as time… two longtime, hometown pals have a crazy night in Vegas and decide to cap it off with some vows. The spur of the moment decision reportedly sent the Spears PR machine into a tizzy, and the marriage was annulled 55 hours later on the basis that the pop star “lacked understanding of her actions to the extent that she was incapable of agreeing to the marriage.” Her record label, Jive, claimed in a statement that she “took a joke too far.”

In an interview with E!, the singer said:

“It was me being silly, being rebellious, and not really taking the responsibility of what I was doing, you know? And after partying, you know, you really don’t think about what you’re doing. So it was one of those things that were really silly.”

Lots has been said about the whirlwind marriage and annulment in retrospect, but for his part, Jason claimed he genuinely loved his soon-to-be-ex wife when he said “I do.” Of course, this is the same guy who would go on to crash her wedding to Sam Asghari in June 2022, so… would we call that love or obsession?

Nicolas Cage & Erika Koike (& Lisa Marie Presley)

Here’s a phrase that will sound familiar if you follow these lightning quick marriages: In 2019, Nicolas Cage also claimed he “lacked understanding of his actions in marrying [Erika Koike] to the extent that he was incapable of agreeing to the marriage.”

The pair had been dating for around a year when they, too, had a drunken Vegas wedding, but the National Treasure star lasted four days before filing for an annulment. He alleged infidelity on his new wife’s part, stating in the filing that she “disclose to [Cage] the full nature and extent of her relationship with another person.”

As it happens, the actor (who has been married four times) is doing double duty on this list for his 107-day marriage to Lisa Marie Presley. The couple first met in 2000, tied the knot in August 2002, and filed for divorce three months later.

Speaking with Barbara Walters on the subject in 2003, Nic revealed:

“We got into this unfortunate pattern of breaking up and getting back together again.”

He added:

“Where I came out on it is, yeah it’s sad, I miss her every day. Sometimes I wish we couldn’t have rushed the marriage and sometimes I regret rushing the divorce. But it just seemed like it wasn’t going to change.”

Kim Kardashian & Kris Humphries

The runner-up for most infamous short marriage has to go to Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries, if only because their relationship — including the wedding — played out in front of the Keeping Up with the Kardashians cameras. After saying “I do” in front of the world, they broke up after just 72 days. When that series finally wrapped, the reality star said she felt “pressured” to go through with the wedding because of the show. She ignored her gut feeling because she didn’t want “to be known as the runaway bride forever” and chalked it up to “cold feet.”

On the final KUWTK reunion, Kim admitted she owed the athlete an apology for breaking up with him in “the worst way.” Recalling the breaking point of their marriage, she revealed:

“He had a size like, 17 shoes lined up around my whole room and I just freaked the f**k out. I literally got claustrophobic. We were living in a hotel.”

Eddie Murphy & Tracey Edmonds

Eddie Murphy and Tracey Edmonds began dating in the fall of 2006 and said their vows in 2008, during a destination wedding in Bora Bora. Apparently, things were already on the rocks within days of the ceremony, but they lasted two weeks before officially calling it off. Although technically, they hadn’t yet made their marriage legal, which probably made things easier.

A source for Page Six at the time claimed that the comedian bringing his mother on their honeymoon “was kind of the last straw.” They said:

“She was happy to sign a prenup – she has her own money. She was very accommodating. But then it was like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Eddie became very controlling and they got into a huge fight. He started screaming at her and grabbed her. She was scared. … She was even willing to change her name to Tracey Murphy, and all the wedding invites and place cards had her labeled as such.”

Mario Lopez & Ali Landry

Mario Lopez and Ali Landry had been together a respectable six years before their 2004 wedding, but the marriage lasted a paltry 18 days. The Saved By the Bell alum can admit that the abrupt breakup was his fault: he cheated on his future spouse with another woman during his bachelor party.

In February 2011, Mario broke his silence on the unfortunate incident, admitting to Howard Stern he had “no business of being in that position” right before his wedding. As rumors of his infidelity came to light, he recalled:

“I dealt with all this drama, and then at that point just realize… I finally got the balls to say ‘Hey, listen I’m not ready for this, I’m sorry.'”

He added:

“At that point, I was not ready to settle down. I wasn’t man enough to know how to go about handling it. “

Drew Barrymore & Jeremy Thomas (& Tom Green)

Drew Barrymore was only 19 years old when she said “I do” to the 31-year-old bar owner Jeremy Thomas. In an interview with Radar Online in 2018, Thomas conceded that the actress “was probably a little bit underage when she first started coming to the bar,” calling her a “fun young girl.” They hadn’t been seeing each other very long when they reportedly made the drunken decision to get married on the spot.

After summoning an officiant and saying their vows, Drew immediately left to film Boys on the Side the very next day. Thomas told the Radar that they spoke every day while she was filming, but 39 days later — after she was finished with the movie — she broke things off. He remembered:

“I got a phone call from her — in Hawaii! She’d gone off on our honeymoon without me.”

Drew is another two-timer on this list for her 163-day union with Tom Green back in 2001. She later reflected in a 2020 Howard Stern interview that they were both “young and kind of idiots.” She explained the split:

“I didn’t know how to manage myself. I’ve always said I was a woman in the boardroom and a child in the bedroom. I could go into a studio and pitch … but I didn’t know how to handle things in my personal life.”

Colin Farrell & Amelia Warner

Amelia Warner was also only 19 when she exchanged vows with 24-year-old Colin Farrell, who reportedly had her name tattooed on his ring finger. However, the Tahitian beach ceremony also wasn’t legally binding, so the relationship was easy enough to dissolve a little less than four months later. (Presumably, it was harder to remove the tattoo than end the sham marriage!)

In 2011, Amelia told The Sun:

“We had a ceremony on a beach in Tahiti that was by no means legal and we knew it wasn’t… It was just a thing we did on holiday. We went shark feeding and then we did that. We booked them both on the activities desk at the hotel.”

Related: Reality Star Golnesa ‘GG’ Gharachedaghi Ended Her Marriage After ONE MONTH?

Pamela Anderson

Pamela Anderson is perhaps the queen of the short-lived union. She infamously wed her first husband Tommy Lee four days after meeting him — but theirs turned out to be her longest marriage, lasting three years.

Her next most high-profile, short-lived nuptials was to Kid Rock, but their relationship was a longer road than the four-month marriage would suggest. They first met in 2001, and were engaged a year later. However, they broke off that engagement in 2003, and didn’t reconnect again until 2006. In a 2007 interview with Rolling Stone, the musician shared that they happened to meet up on a yacht in the South of France, and decided to get hitched a week later.

Rumor had it that Pamela’s appearance in Borat caused serious relationship issues for the couple. But in Rolling Stone, he claimed the end happened while she was filming in Vancouver:

“She finally comes up with this: ‘I just had a miscar­riage and you don’t even give a f**k,’ and hangs the phone up. Being the dumb f**k I am, I char­ter a $6o,ooo plane and fly to Vancouver. When I get there, she’s partying at this restaurant, drinking champagne, jump­ing on the tables. I’m thinking, ‘That’s a quick recovery from a miscarriage.'”

For her part, the Baywatch alum released a statement to the outlet saying:

“I hope his album does well. I hope he’s happy in life. We were married for four months. If he has nothing nice to say about me, then please tell him to stop talking about me.”

She later had two separate short marriages with poker player Rick Saloman (the infamous co-star in Paris Hilton‘s sex tape). They first got hitched in October 2007, but after some on-and-off divorce filing and reconciling, their marriage was annulled in March 2008. They reportedly reunited and married again in January 2014, but the actress filed for divorce that July. The couple reconciled, but she filed for divorce again in February 2015. Sadly, the relationship sounded quite volatile behind the scenes; Pamela alleged that she was the victim of physical and emotional abuse and was granted a restraining order due to her ex’s “repeated acts of harassment and abuse.”

In January 2020, she reportedly tied the knot with an old flame, producer Jon Peters. Only twelve days later, she released a statement to The Hollywood Reporter saying:

“I have been moved by the warm reception to Jon and my union. We would be very grateful for your support as we take some time apart to reevaluate what we want from life and from one another. Life is a journey and love is a process. With that universal truth in mind, we have mutually decided to put off the formalization of our marriage certificate and put our faith in the process. Thank you for respecting our privacy.”

Oddly, though, she later denied there was ever any wedding at all, telling the New York Times it was “A moment that came and went, but there was no wedding, there was no marriage, there was no anything.” Even more hilariously, a statement released on Twitter called the whole situation “a bizarre theatrical lunch”:

“Pamela Anderson was never legally married to Jon Peters (life long family friend) no hard feelings – no Marriage, no Divorce… just a bizarre theatrical lunch – Pamela has a good sense of humor about it.”

Bradley Cooper & Jennifer Esposito

Bradley Cooper was still an up-and-comer when he first started dating Jennifer Esposito in 2006. They were engaged by October of that year and married in December. Four months later, the actress filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. Bradley’s representative released a statement saying the split was “mutual” and claimed they had already been “separated for quite a while.”

In a 2011 appearance on The Howard Stern Show, where celebs seem to go to hash out long ago divorces, the Star is Born actor reflected:

“It was just something that happened. … The good thing is, we both realized it…Sometimes you just realize it.”

Keeping it vague, he added:

“It just wasn’t right. It’s interesting… things happen!”

Well, that pairing may not have been “right,” but hopefully things work out better for his new relationship with Huma Abedin.

Kenny Chesney & Renee Zellweger

Another of Bradley’s exes, Reneé Zellweger, had a super-short marriage of her own. She tied the knot with country singer Kenny Chesney less than 4 months after meeting, and filed for annulment about four months after that, citing “fraud.”

Unfortunately, this kicked off a lot of speculation that the “fraud” in question was that the musician was actually gay. The actress was forced to release a statement to “clarify that the term ‘fraud’ as listed in the documentation is simply legal language and not a reflection of Kenny’s character” and asked fans to refrain “from drawing derogatory, hurtful, sensationalized or untrue conclusions.”

Years later, Kenny took the blame for the split, telling Today that “she’s a sweet soul, no doubt about it, but I just wasn’t ready.”

Carmen Electra & Dennis Rodman

An unusual couple from the start, Carmen Electra and Dennis Rodman hasn’t been dating long when they went on what People described as “an all-night bender” and got married in, you guessed it, Vegas. They tied the knot in November of 1998; the basketball player actually filed for an annulment just nine days later.

However, they did reconcile, and lasted about four months before calling it quits. Reflecting on the relationship in The Last Dance documentary, Carmen shared:

“Yes, we had a blast, and this wild love, but we had a lot of hard times, too. A lot of struggles. No matter what, I’ll always wish him the best.”

Sophia Bush & Chad Michael Murray

After meeting on the set of their show One Tree Hill in 2003, young lovebirds Sophia Bush and Chad Michael Murray became engaged in 2004 and tied the knot in April 2005. Sadly, they announced their breakup just five months later.

During an appearance on Watch What Happens Live in 2018, the actress admitted:

“It was not a thing I actually really wanted to do, but you know, it’s cool. Ladies have to learn how to take up space in the way that men are taught they are entitled to.”

So why did she go through with it? Pressure from the OTH bosses, apparently:

“Because how do you let everybody down, and how do you — what’s the fight? And when you have bosses telling you that you’re the only person who gets a person to work on time, and 200 people either get to see their kids at night or they don’t because our days start on time.”

For the record, her ex-husband and ex-co-star quickly hit back, with a rep releasing a statement:

“Chad conducts himself in a completely professional manner and would never marry for any reason but love. Thirteen years since his divorce from Sophia, he has a very happy family life with his wife and children. He has completely moved on and doesn’t feel the need to engage in this type of behavior.”

Sophia is now married to Grant Hughes.

Colton Haynes & Jeff Leatham:

Teen Wolf alum Colton Haynes and celebrity florist Jeff Leatham were married in a star-studded, Kris Jenner-officiated wedding in October 2017 — and filed for divorce just six months later. Speaking with Attitude in 2019, the actor revealed that his breakup was part of a “downward spiral” that included a serious battle with addiction. Of the relationship, he said:

“I will always love Jeff [Leatham]. He’s an incredible person. The most talented person I’ve ever met. So loving. You know, people grow apart. There would never be a bad thing I could say about him.”

He continued:

“We rushed into a lot of things, and it was extremely public which was a massive, massive problem with our relationship. But that’s not anyone else’s fault, that’s our fault. We put it out there, we became that Instagram couple, and we weren’t able to keep it going. … The divorce is not final yet, but it’s in process. We’re always going to be friends and in each other’s life. What that’s going to look like in the future, I don’t know. We’re not putting too much pressure on it. I have so much love for our relationship. The good thing that came from me being in a relationship, even though it very publicly didn’t end the way we wanted, was that I was able to find myself. He was always supportive and made me feel special.”

Tom D’agostino & Luann de Lesseps

Luann De Lesseps‘ Housewives costars tried to warn her about Tom D’Agostino, but she didn’t see the truth until it was too late. The pair ended up parting ways just seven months after they got married. Speaking with Andy Cohen, the reality star explained what went down:

“It was the weekend before the [season nine] reunion. Tom went out and he called up an old girlfriend, and they met up with a group of people — and I didn’t know about it. I found out about it the next day in the press. So that, for me, was like the final straw. I was like, ‘I can’t do this anymore.'”

She admitted she “had these blinders and all of a sudden they came off.” However, she generously stated that her ex wasn’t fully to blame for the breakup. She claimed:

“I don’t think he can leave his bachelor life. I think he really loved me, he still loves me. He was not going to change his lifestyle, it was a problem for me. He’s a flirty guy, he’s a social guy. People take it the wrong way sometimes, it’s not a good look.”

Speaking of not a good look… in 2022, Tom went on to propose to his new fiancée on the same day as his anniversary with Luann. Ouch!

Cris Judd & Jennifer Lopez

Cris Judd, a backup dancer who appeared in several of Jennifer Lopez‘s music videos (including Love Don’t Cost a Thing), was her second husband and shortest marriage. They tied the knot in September 2001 and had broken up by June 2002. (Their nine-month marriage only narrowly beat her 11-month union to Ojani Noa). In 2003, she talked to Vibe about their relationship, which came after her high-profile romance with Diddy:

 “Coming out of a torrid relationship, I meet this sweet person who’s so refreshing. But marriage is not just about love. I thought I had learned that in my first marriage … I loved Cris, still love him, he’s one of the best people. This wasn’t an easy thing to walk away from, but we didn’t have what it takes to make a marriage work … Cris knows the last thing I ever wanted in this f**king world was to hurt him.”

She later reflected on her early marriages in a behind-the-scenes tour video in 2019, sharing:

“I’ve been married three times. And once was nine months, and once was 11 months. So I don’t really count those.”

She added:

“I was very young the first two times I tried to get married. I would say try to get married. It seems like in this life, you’re always surrounded by people, you’re never lonely, but it’s very lonely. So you always want somebody with you. Somebody. And so, I felt like if I got married I felt like I would always have somebody, but that’s not how life works. That’s not how it goes. It’s a bad reason to get married, not the right reason, it’s the wrong one. The right one is when you find somebody who really makes you better.”

But as we know, J.Lo finally met her match with Ben Affleck (again) — and the two JUST got married in Vegas! Guess the saying is true, true love does conquer all… even if it takes a couple decades to get it right!

[Image via Pop/PNP/WENN]