Even below the very best of circumstances, elevating youngsters has moments of problem and frustration that may spill over into the connection between mother and father. It’s a course of that requires a lot sacrifice and power from mother and father, and it is common for there to be battle about every thing from weight loss plan, to bedtimes, to parenting types. And when the mother and father in query are co-parenting after divorce, the scenario is particularly difficult.
Celebrities aren’t resistant to the complicated realities that include attempting to be a great co-parent, even after a tumultuous separation. Many celebrities have spoken overtly about their expertise, sharing each frustrations and even pleasure at their new relationship dynamic. Listed here are 11 celeb mother and father who’ve publicly shared their ideas concerning the ups and downs of co-parenting.
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner
Earlier than Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez tied the knot, Ben Affleck had a seemingly steady marriage with Jennifer Garner, with whom he shares three youngsters—Violet, Seraphina, and Samuel.
Affleck and Garner had been married in 2005 and so they remained collectively for a decade, till their break up in 2015. However the duo have remained devoted and amicable co-parents regardless of divorcing.
“It’s important to be on the identical web page. It’s important to cooperate,” Affleck mentioned throughout a 2017 interview about co-parenting with Garner. “In the event you acknowledge that you just each have the very best curiosity of the youngsters at coronary heart, it’s fairly a particular connection.”
However he additionally added that there are nonetheless disagreements between the 2 of them. For example, Affleck admits that he is extra permissive in terms of letting the youngsters play video video games.
Nonetheless, what bonds the previous couple collectively stays the identical: “We’re the one two folks on this planet who care this a lot about these three youngsters,” Affleck added.
Drew Barrymore and Will Kopelman
After 4 years of marriage, Drew Barrymore and Will Kopelman referred to as it quits in 2016, primarily amid disagreements over the place to stay. The duo now co-parent their two youngsters, Olive Barrymore Kopelman and Frankie Barrymore Kopelman.
Throughout a dialogue with visitor Kate Hudson on an episode of her speak present, the actress opened up about her co-parenting expertise with Kopelman.
“I’m co-parenting with somebody,” Barrymore defined. “And though we’d not be married anymore, and he’s even married together with his stunning new spouse Allie [Michler], our fantastic step-mother, we’re in a every day engagement and our relationship has by no means been higher.”
Jenna Dewan and Channing Tatum
After assembly on the set of a film in 2006, Jenna Dewan and Channing Tatum went on to get married in 2009. They had been married for 9 years, and welcomed a daughter named Everly, earlier than splitting in 2018. Since finalizing their divorce in 2019, Dewan has spoken about navigating co-parenting with Tatum.
“It’s at all times a journey. It by no means ends. You simply be taught as you go and get higher at sure issues,” Dewan mentioned throughout an interview with Romper. “For me, Evie will at all times be my prime precedence. I simply frequently put her first. That’s how I can handle all [the] exhausting issues,” she added.
Kristin Cavallari and Jay Cutler
Kristin Cavallari and ex-husband Jay Cutler are mother and father to 3 youngsters: Camden Jack, Jaxon Wyatt, and Saylor James. Cutler, former skilled soccer participant, and The Hills alum had been married for seven years, tying the knot in 2013 and divorcing in 2020.
After the mud settled, Cavallari talked about her expertise co-parenting with Cutler. On her Instagram feed, the truth star wrote, “Trendy household? Co-parenting? No matter you wish to name it, we’re navigating it the easiest way we all know how. And what I do know is, our 3 youngsters are fortunate to have him as their daddy. Hopefully all 3 get a smidge of that coronary heart of gold.”
A yr later, in an interview with Mr. Warburton journal, Cavallari added that co-parenting, “has its challenges for certain,” happening to share recommendation she gleaned from her mother and father.
“By no means put the youngsters in the course of it, regardless of how mad you’re at your ex-spouse,” continued Cavallari. “One factor that my mother did was she by no means mentioned something unhealthy about my dad,” Cavallari added. “Now that I am older, I actually respect that. I at all times need my youngsters to see Jay and me as a united entrance. He is their father. That is vital and they should see that from me.”
Jewel and Ty Murray
Grammy-winning singer and songwriter Jewel and rodeo star Ty Murray had been married from 2008 till 2014. The duo welcomed a son previous to splitting up and so they’ve been open about co-parenting within the wake of divorce.
“It is work. I do not need folks to assume it is easy. It is work to do that since you clearly do not break up as a result of issues are going nicely,” the singer advised Folks in 2016. “Nevertheless it’s letting these issues stay previously.”
Jewel added that she works exhausting to proceed that constructive dynamic along with her ex-husband, doing so for the sake of her son. That effort has included “realizing you are in a relationship perpetually, so studying to deal with each other with respect and dignity.”
Murray has additionally weighed in on the scenario, stating in 2020 that, “It’s going good with me and [Kase]’s mother. She and I at all times consider Kase first. It’s been nice, it really has. I really feel actually lucky and fortunate for that.”
Britney Spears and Kevin Federline
A relationship that dominated headlines through the early 2000s, pop star Britney Spears wed Federline, a Justin Timberlake backup dancer, in 2004. The union lasted three years, and the pair welcomed two youngsters, Sean Preston and Jayden James.
Tabloids reported that Spears and Federline co-parented peacefully for a few years after the wedding ended. Actually, Federline even publicly commented on his relationship with Spears after the divorce.
In 2008, he mentioned, “Britney is an superior mother. That’s one factor I by no means actually have to fret about,” Federline mentioned. “It’s good for the youngsters to see that Daddy does care about Mommy, and Mommy does care about Daddy.”
Years later, in 2017, Federline spoke about a few of his frustrations associated to co-parenting. “If you find yourself co-parenting, it’s important to be keen to surrender among the belongings you would love to do,” he mentioned. “My boys will probably be gone [for Father’s Day]; their mother’s off in Asia on tour. I gained’t have the boys for Father’s Day.”
Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin
The trailblazing couple who popularized the time period “acutely aware uncoupling,” Gwyneth Paltrow and Coldplay singer Chris Martin divorced in 2016. Since then, Paltrow has spoken frankly on a number of events concerning the challenges of co-parenting two youngsters.
“It has been exhausting and we have gone by actually troublesome occasions with it, however we have at all times mentioned these youngsters are our precedence,” she mentioned in 2015. Then in 2020, Paltrow referred to as into The Drew Barrymore Present to share some extra ideas on navigating the post-divorce parenting dynamic.
“It is such as you’re ending a wedding however you are still in a household. That is how will probably be perpetually,” she mentioned. “Some days it is not so good as it appears to be like. We even have good days and unhealthy days, however I feel it is driving in the direction of the identical objective of unity and love and what’s finest for [our kids].”
Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber
Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber introduced their break up in 2016. Mother and father to 2 youngsters, Alexander Pete and Samuel Kai, Watts has mentioned she could be very happy with how the ex-spouses are managing co-parenting.
“We’re doing issues very in another way,” Watts mentioned throughout an interview with Internet-A-Porter. “I’m fairly happy with us, corny as which will sound. We’ve made it our absolute precedence to be good and type to one another and we’re completely dedicated to that.”
Idina Menzel and Taye Diggs
Idina Menzel and Taye Diggs first linked as co-stars through the Broadway manufacturing of the musical Hire within the Nineties. The pair acquired married in 2003, and have become mother and father to a son named Walker Nathaniel. By 2013 the wedding had dissolved.
Throughout a 2020 interview with Folks, Menzel mentioned the duo had discovered a sure concord in elevating their son. “[Our son] comes first and it’s important to get previous your individual egos and also you by no means speak unhealthy about one another,” she mentioned.
“He’s what’s most vital for us, so we’re nonetheless there as a household,” Diggs mentioned in a separate interview with Folks. “We had been mates to begin out with, however particularly when you’ve gotten a child within the combine, there’s no time for any negativity.’
Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon
After courting for just some months, Grammy winner Mariah Carey and rapper Nick Cannon married in 2008 and remained collectively till 2014. Throughout their marriage, the couple welcomed twins Monroe and Moroccan.
In 2017, Cannon advised Folks the couple moved ahead amicably post-divorce as they navigate elevating their son and daughter collectively. ““There’s no exhausting emotions and unwell will…In the end, it is about placing the youngsters first and ensuring they’ve the very best childhood they may probably have,” Cannon mentioned.
As for Carey, she advised Folks in 2019 that trying again on it, she thinks “Nick and I’ve executed fairly nicely in co-parenting, staying mates with one another in order that we will speak.”
Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas
Recreation of Thrones actress Sophie Turner and Jonas Brothers member Joe Jonas married in 2019 and had been collectively for 4 years. The couple break up, nevertheless, in 2023 when Jonas wrote in courtroom paperwork that the connection was “irretrievably damaged.”
The high-profile pair appeared to disagree on the place to lift Willa and Delphine (both within the U.S. or the U.Ok.), and so they had a rocky co-parenting relationship. Finally, the duo issued a joint assertion on their co-parenting after mediation and reaching a brief custody settlement in October 2023.
“After a productive and profitable mediation, we have now agreed that the youngsters will spend time equally in loving houses in each the U.S. and the U.Ok. We stay up for being nice co-parents,” the assertion learn.
Extra not too long ago, in an interview with Harper’s Bazaar, Turner mentioned that one facet of co-parenting has been particularly difficult for her, telling the publication: “It’s absolute agony” to be separated from her youngsters whereas they spend time with their dad.