Even underneath the very best of circumstances, elevating youngsters has moments of problem and frustration that may spill over into the connection between dad and mom. It’s a course of that requires a lot sacrifice and vitality from dad and mom, and it is commonplace for there to be battle about every little thing from weight loss program, to bedtimes, to parenting types. And when the dad and mom in query are co-parenting after divorce, the state of affairs is very difficult.
Celebrities aren’t proof against the complicated realities that include attempting to be a very good 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 dad and mom 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 they usually 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 stated throughout a 2017 interview about co-parenting with Garner. “In case 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. As an illustration, Affleck admits that he is extra permissive relating to letting the youngsters play video video games.
Nonetheless, what bonds the previous couple collectively stays the identical: “We’re the one two individuals on the 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 discuss 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 along with his stunning new spouse Allie [Michler], our fantastic step-mother, we’re in a day by 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 all the time a journey. It by no means ends. You simply study as you go and get higher at sure issues,” Dewan stated throughout an interview with Romper. “For me, Evie will all the time be my prime precedence. I simply regularly put her first. That’s how I can handle all [the] arduous issues,” she added.
Kristin Cavallari and Jay Cutler
Kristin Cavallari and ex-husband Jay Cutler are dad and mom 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, “Fashionable household? Co-parenting? No matter you need 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 12 months later, in an interview with Mr. Warburton journal, Cavallari added that co-parenting, “has its challenges for certain,” occurring to share recommendation she gleaned from her dad and mom.
“By no means put the youngsters in the midst of it, irrespective of how mad you might be at your ex-spouse,” continued Cavallari. “One factor that my mother did was she by no means stated something unhealthy about my dad,” Cavallari added. “Now that I am older, I actually respect that. I all the time need my youngsters to see Jay and me as a united entrance. He is their father. That is necessary 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 they usually’ve been open about co-parenting within the wake of divorce.
“It is work. I do not need individuals to suppose 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 prior to now.”
Jewel added that she works arduous to proceed that constructive dynamic together with her ex-husband, doing so for the sake of her son. That effort has included “realizing you are in a relationship ceaselessly, so studying to deal with each other with respect and dignity.”
Murray has additionally weighed in on the state of affairs, stating in 2020 that, “It’s going good with me and [Kase]’s mother. She and I all the time consider Kase first. It’s been nice, it actually 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 stated, “Britney is an superior mother. That’s one factor I by no means actually have to fret about,” Federline stated. “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 end up co-parenting, you need to be prepared to surrender a few of the belongings you would love to do,” he stated. “My boys can 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 “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 arduous and we have gone by way of actually tough occasions with it, however we have all the time stated these youngsters are our precedence,” she stated 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 it will likely be ceaselessly,” she stated. “Some days it is not so good as it appears. We even have good days and unhealthy days, however I believe it is driving in direction of the identical function 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. Dad and mom to 2 youngsters, Alexander Pete and Samuel Kai, Watts has stated she may be very happy with how the ex-spouses are managing co-parenting.
“We’re doing issues very in a different way,” Watts stated throughout an interview with Web-A-Porter. “I’m fairly happy with us, corny as that will sound. We’ve made it our absolute precedence to be good and sort 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 obtained married in 2003, and have become dad and mom to a son named Walker Nathaniel. By 2013 the wedding had dissolved.
Throughout a 2020 interview with Folks, Menzel stated the duo had discovered a sure concord in elevating their son. “[Our son] comes first and you need to get previous your individual egos and also you by no means discuss unhealthy about one another,” she stated.
“He’s what’s most necessary for us, so we’re nonetheless there as a household,” Diggs stated in a separate interview with Folks. “We had been associates to start out out with, however particularly when you’ve a child within the combine, there’s no time for any negativity.’
Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon
After courting for only a few 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 arduous emotions and sick will…In the end, it is about placing the youngsters first and ensuring they’ve the very best childhood they may presumably have,” Cannon stated.
As for Carey, she advised Folks in 2019 that wanting again on it, she thinks “Nick and I’ve achieved fairly nicely in co-parenting, staying associates with one another in order that we will discuss.”
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, nonetheless, 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.), they usually had a rocky co-parenting relationship. Finally, the duo issued a joint assertion on their co-parenting after mediation and reaching a short lived custody settlement in October 2023.
“After a productive and profitable mediation, now we have agreed that the kids will spend time equally in loving properties in each the U.S. and the U.Ok. We look ahead to being nice co-parents,” the assertion learn.
Extra just lately, in an interview with Harper’s Bazaar, Turner stated that one side 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.