The wise Pitbull once sang, "One's company, two's a crowd, and three's a party," but IMO, things can get a little bit complicated when a third party is involved. Just like every young adult novel ever, Hollywood is filled with messy celebrity love triangles, from the tangled web of Scott Disick, Kourtney Kardashian, and Sofia Richie to the confusing entanglement of Dixie D'Amelio, Griffin Johnson, and Noah Beck. Over the years, celeb love triangles have led to shady breakup ballads, sus IG posts, and public feuds, and while there are plenty of A-listers who share exes, not all of them are totally amicable.
Love triangles aren't like polyamorous relationships, which involve the consent of all people involved. In love triangles, one person finds themselves torn between two different love interests, and usually, that person ends up choosing one suitor over the other. Sometimes infidelity is involved, and more often than not, hurt feelings result. And even though it's rarely easy to watch your ex move on to someone new, it's particularly painful when you're still in love with that person (especially if you think reconciliation is still possible). Unlike Pitbull, I think these celebs would all consider three to be a crowd, not a party.
Though it's unclear when (or TBH, if) Joshua Bassett and Olivia Rodrigo actually dated, the High School Musical: The Musical: The Series co-stars sparked dating rumors while playing on-again, off-again love interests Nini and Ricky. However, by May 2020, fans reportedly noticed the two had stopped liking each other's IG posts, and in August, Rodrigo raised eyebrows when he was reportedly spotted with Sabrina Carpenter in L.A., per Just Jared.
Dating rumors hit a fever pitch when Rodrigo released her debut single, "Driver's License," in January 2021, in which she sings about losing her partner to a "blonde girl" who's "so much older." (For the record: Carpenter is currently 21 and Rodrigo is 17.) However, she has yet to confirm whether "Driver's License" is actually about her rumored ex and his reported new girl.
In November 2020, fans were devastated to learn about Olivia Wilde's split from her ex-fiancé, Jason Sudeikis, after nearly a decade together. Just a few months later, Wilde sparked dating rumors with Harry Styles after they attended a wedding together. The two reportedly became close over the fall while filming Don't Worry Darling — an upcoming movie directed by Wilde and starring Styles — and a source for Us Weekly reportedly claimed the One Direction alum may be part of the reason why Wilde and Sudeikis split.
"Olivia called off the engagement in early November but only after she already had gotten close to Harry," the source reportedly claimed. "Whether Harry knows it or not, he was a reason for the split and it blindsided Jason — he totally adores Olivia and is devastated." Of course, a second Us Weekly source reportedly claimed Styles "was in no way the reason for their split," so who knows what the deal is.
After filing for divorce from his wife of two years, Chrishell Stause, in November 2019, Justin Hartley began romancing fellow soap star, Sofia Pernas. A source for Us Weekly reportedly claimed the actor "didn't even start talking to Sofia until March 2020," but Stause seemingly implied infidelity was involved when she liked tweets accusing Hartley of cheating.
Later, in September 2020, Stause opened up about her ex's new romance and how "painful" it had been to see him move on. "I feel like anybody would be heartbroken to see how quickly or easily you are replaced; of course that's going to sting," she told People. Luckily, Stause has since moved on with Keo Motsepe, a Dancing With the Stars pro.
In September 2017, just about two years after splitting from his long-time partner Kourtney Kardashian, Scott Disick posted some PDA-packed pics on his IG Story, making it clear he and Sofia Richie were officially an item. The pair went on to date for three years before they ended their relationship in May 2020 — though the whole time they were together, Disick continued vacationing and spending time with Kardashian, with whom he shares three kids.
Things got even more complicated after he and Richie split, as soon after, Disick and Kardashian reportedly took back-to-back vacations together and began flirting on IG. He and Richie may have even reconciled at some point during the summer of 2020, but it seems the two are officially done for good (though Disick's relationship status with Kardashian is still a mystery).
Not long after she separated from Brian Austin Green, her husband of 10 years, in May 2020, Megan Fox sparked dating rumors with Machine Gun Kelly, her Midnight in the Switchgrass co-star. Though Green initially said Kelly seemed like "a really just nice, genuine guy" on his podcast, things soon got shady.
After Fox posted a mirror selfie with Kelly on IG with the caption, "Achingly Beautiful Boy … My heart is yours," Green seemingly shaded his ex when he posted a series of pics showing their three children with the same caption. Not long after, Green opened up about the possibility of reconciling with Fox during an IG Live. "I never say never," he said. However, after Fox called him out on IG for sharing pics of their kids on Halloween, it doesn't seem likely she and Green will get back together anytime soon.
When TikTok stars Dixie D'Amelio and Griffin Johnson broke up in July 2020 after about four months of dating, fans didn't expect her to move on so soon to Johnson's friend (and fellow Sway House member) Noah Beck. Dating rumors began after Beck appeared in D'Amelio's music video for "Be Happy," and by October, the two went public with their relationship.
Though Johnson hasn't said much about his ex moving on, his song "Convenient" seemingly called out Beck and his relationship with D'Amelio. In the song Johnson sings, "She took it out of context / Now my heart's in the comments / Now you can say I'm heartless / But you don't know what a heart is / You don't think I No-ah / But I know a little bit," so do with that what you will.
Before marrying Kim Kardashian, Kanye West dated model Amber Rose for two years, and even more than 10 years later, Rose has made it clear she's not happy about their July 2010 breakup. During an October 2020 appearance on the No Jumper podcast, Rose reflected on the split, saying, "You share two years with someone, you take them around the world, you buy them all the jewelry, you shout out to the world how much you love them and how much fun you have with this person, and then the person decides that this isn’t what they want their life to be."
After Kardashian and West got together in early 2012, Rose claimed Kardashian was to blame for her and West's relationship ending. Per Radar Online, Rose told Star in January 2012, "Kim is one of the main reasons why me and Kanye are not together," and she even accused West of cheating on her with Kardashian while Rose and West were still dating. Kardashian and West later denied those claims.
To say the love triangle between Selena Gomez, Justin Bieber, and Hailey Baldwin is complicated would be an understatement. Gomez and Bieber first sparked dating rumors in December 2009 and — after at least two other reported breakups in between — took a third break in November 2014, which is right around the time Bieber posted his first IG with Baldwin.
Bieber and Baldwin went on to maybe-date for a few years (and in February 2016, Bieber even hinted at the possibility of marrying Baldwin), but by late 2017, he and Gomez were reportedly back on. Then, less than a year later, Bieber was spotted with Baldwin in Miami, and the saga of Jelena came to a close. By September 2018, Bieber and Baldwin were married, and Gomez has since made it clear she and Bieber are not on good terms.
Pete Davidson and Cazzie David first met on the set of Saturday Night Live in February 2016, when David's dad, Larry David, served as host. The two went on to date for more than two years before they ended their relationship in May 2018... and less than a month later, Davidson proposed to Ariana Grande, his girlfriend of three weeks.
In her November 2020 essay collection, No One Asked for This, David opened up about the breakup and the devastation of seeing her ex move on so quickly. According to David, she was so shocked by the situation that she spent the plane ride to her sister's graduation being held by her dad as she "shook uncontrollably in his arms for the entire flight." But it seems the two are cool now, as David thanked Davidson in the acknowledgments of her book, writing, "Pete. I love you ... Your bravery inspires me and your friendship means the world to me." (Also, ICYMI, Davidson and Grande didn't last.)
Fans were pretty shook by Jenna Dewan and Channing Tatum's divorce in April 2018, but it was even more surprising when Tatum began dating Jessie J six months later. Dewan kept quiet about her feeling at the time, but she got candid about Tatum and Jessie J's relationship in her October 2019 book, Gracefully You: Finding Beauty and Balance in the Everyday.
In her book, Dewan recalled learning about Tatum's relationship from the internet, instead of getting a personal warning about it. "I was learning things about my ex most people wouldn't have to face — and over the internet, as it was happening," she wrote. "There I was, on a plane, alone, finding out about his new relationship. I was blindsided." Luckily, Dewan has since found love with Steve Kazee, though Tatum and Jessie J eventually called it quits.
Before getting together with her current BF Joe Alwyn, Taylor Swift found herself in a complicated love triangle with Calvin Harris and Tom Hiddleston. Swift and Harris' romance began in March 2015, but not long after they celebrated their one-year anniversary, Swift was spotted dancing with Hiddleston at the 2016 Met Gala. Soon enough, People broke the news of Swift and Harris' breakup in May 2016.
That's when things got messy. Swift and Hiddleston embarked on a whirlwind four-month romance, and in July 2016, Harris released a song called "Olé" that seemed to suggest Swift had cheated. Soon after, Swift's team reportedly slammed Harris for not giving her credit for co-writing Rihanna's "This Is What You Came For," and in a since-deleted tweet, Harris reportedly wrote, "I figure if you're happy in your new relationship you should focus on that instead of trying to tear your ex bf down for something to do."
YouTuber Tana Mongeau began her romance with Bella Thorne in September 2017, but the relationship became complicated a year later when Thorne confirmed she was in a polyamorous relationship with both Mongeau and rapper Mod Sun. Though all three parties seemed happy with the arrangement, Mongeau later revealed it was more complicated than it seemed.
In January 2019, Mongeau took to her YouTube channel to explain the complexity of the relationship. "It's funny because meeting Bella and going into it, in the beginning, I felt like there was this tension between Mod and I," she said. "Here I am just coming in and Bella wants me here, but she has a boyfriend and he wasn't my boyfriend, and I didn't want him to be my boyfriend. He didn't want me to be his girlfriend. It was this weird thing of him and I sharing her." However, Mongeau and Thorne ended up splitting a month later, and two month after that, Thorne and Mod Sun broke up.
Perhaps the most seemingly amicable celeb love triangle of all time: the dynamic between Kiernan Shipka, Charlie Oldman, and Christian Coppola. When dating rumors began swirling between Shipka and Oldman in March 2019, it seemed as though both were already friends with Coppola, and in April 2019 (while reportedly still dating Oldman), Shipka posted a pic of herself hanging out with both guys. The three even attended Zoe Report's 5th Annual ZOEasis event as a group.
However, at some point, things turned romantic between Shipka and Coppola. In July 2019, the two took a trip to Rome, and Shipka posted a pic with Coppola from the trip on Instagram, which she captioned, "MY LOVE." Fortunately, it doesn't seem like there are any hard feelings. At Shipka's 20th birthday party in November 2019, Oldman took a photo booth pic with Shipka and her new boo, which he posted on IG and jokingly captioned, "Choose your fighter. Happy birthday kiki 💕."
Thanks for always keeping things interesting, celebrities.
