Celebrity couples provide great examples for us to better understand the red flags of toxic relationships. While we would never encourage anyone to leave a relationship unless it was purely their decision and in their best interest to do so, there are certain celebrities that the public believes are in a toxic relationship. Here are the five celebrities who might benefit from reevaluating their relationship based on the red flags they’ve exhibited, according to popular opinion.
Before the media was aflame with news about Simone Biles’ husband (who shall now forever be known as Simone Biles’ husband because people, including me, keep forgetting his name) some of us just knew there was something “off” about him. He had told us long ago when they first met that he had not known who Simone was when they first connected which raised a red flag. Simone Biles was inexperienced in love when she met her husband, so perhaps she doesn’t realize or want to admit how problematic his minimization of her is. After they were married, they did a controversial interview together where he claimed he was the true “catch” and asked contemptuously, “How did she pull me?” when interviewers asked how he had gotten Simone Biles to take interest in him. He also emphasized the fact that he didn’t even know who Simone was when they first met on the dating app Raya, and said he did not follow gymnastics although his claims were embarrassingly debunked by old tweets that showed he was closely following Olympic gymnastics. He also kept telling the interviewers that he would not have pursued Simone had she not engaged with him. Yikes! Sounds like this dude is way too used to princess treatment and needs to take a second look at the fact that he’s married to the greatest Olympic gymnast of all time and be more appreciative. It’s easy to fall into the trap of a toxic relationship with someone who is envious of you and be conditioned to shrink. Many fans believe Simone is settling for less. This is a great opportunity and example to remind people that your soulmate won’t try to “humble” you.
If gorgeous celebrities like Beyoncé, Britney Spears, Eva Longoria, Robert Pattinson and Jennifer Lopez can get cheated on, it is more clear than ever cheating has very little to do with the person being betrayed and everything to do with the morality and actions of the cheater. Beyoncé’s husband Jay-Z has been accused of cheating on her multiple times and Jay-Z has confirmed that he has cheated on his wife. Not only is his infidelity an issue, it should be noted that Beyoncé met Jay-Z when she was just eighteen years old and he was 30 years old. That is a huge age gap and discrepancy in life experience that is very alarming, and could’ve contributed to Beyoncé emotionally depending on Jay-Z at a young and vulnerable age. This process of grooming is not uncommon in large age gap relationships.
While it’s not clear whether Megan Fox is “married” to MGK who refers to her as his “wife,” (they seem more like they’re perpetually engaged), Megan Fox and MGK’s relationship seems unstable at best and toxic and destructive if we’re being real. They have called each other “twin flames” and drunk each other’s blood and seem overly dependent on each other. MGK has even been reported to have threatened to harm himself with a gun on a phone call with Megan. They have spoken about their dramatic ups and downs and they are the couple that often breaks up, only to get back together. This seems to be a chaotic cycle, one that fans think is unhealthy for Megan.
This one is a bit of a reversal. Fans think director Sam Taylor-Johnson should leave her celebrity actor husband Aaron Taylor-Johnson – not because there’s anything wrong with Aaron, but because he was way too young when she first met him and theorize she may be the problematic one in this scenario. Similar to Beyoncé and Jay-Z, the age gap was enormous. The young actor was only eighteen when he met the 42-year-old director who was also simultaneously his boss, pointing to possible grooming and an unsettling power imbalance.
In this case, Ariana may be better off leaving someone else’s husband alone! While pop star Ariana Grande is not yet married to Broadway’s SpongeBob star Ethan Slater, this couple raises some serious eyebrows because of the way they first got together. Ariana and Ethan were rumored by sources to have been having an affair while filming Wicked while Ethan’s wife had just given birth. Within a very short period of time, Ethan ran off with Ariana (and Ariana divorced her husband Dalton) and abandoned his wife and newborn baby while his wife Lilly Jay told Page Six that Ariana was not a “girl’s girl” and felt completely abandoned and bamboozled by her family being “collateral damage.” Although Lilly Jay has since clarified her statement, that may have to do with the fact that she is now forced to co-parent with Ethan and doesn’t want to ruffle further feathers. While Ethan was still married to Lilly, Ariana also allegedly held Ethan’s baby and spoke of how she couldn’t wait to start her own family according to the Daily Mail – likely, Ethan’s wife did not realize she meant with her own husband. Many fans find Ariana’s history of getting together with partnered men problematic and are not at all on board with the relationship.
An honorary mention also goes to Hailey Bieber and her pop superstar husband Justin Bieber, who has been criticized by the media for behaving indifferently and callously toward her in public. From appearing to almost slam a car door in her face to showing up at an event honoring her underdressed, fans believe Justin shows some unempathic behaviors that may have also contributed to the breakdown of his relationship with Selena Gomez, who has called her relationship with Bieber emotionally abusive. Both stars have admitted to Vogue that their marriage has had many turbulent times and takes a lot of effort to even make work, and Justin admits to having a temper. As Hailey told Vogue, “marriage is very hard.” But fans believe that when it’s a truly safe, healthy, and compatible relationship, it shouldn’t be that difficult.
