Cole & Lili's Social Media Interactions Got So Confusing Through The Years
Celebrity relationships and friendships are a rare breed. These famous faces have their lives played out in front of the masses, whether it’s the good, the bad, or the straight-up shady. In Elite Daily’s It’s Complicated series, we’re highlighting the biggest celebrity "feuds" that took over Hollywood and dominated our Sunday brunches for weeks on end. We’ll take a deep dive into the lives and social media feeds of our favorite stars and dissect what happened in front of the camera, what went down behind the scenes, and everything you might have missed in between.
Nothing is more exciting for fans than an on-screen romance that becomes reality. When Riverdale stars Cole Sprouse and Lili Reinhart went public with their romance, fans were thrilled. The two dated for three years, serving looks on red carpets together and endlessly gushing about each other on the 'Gram. But, somewhere along the line, things got murky, and the pair called it quits in March 2020. Now, it's bittersweet to take a look back at Cole Sprouse and Lili Reinhart's social media exchanges.
Sprouse shared an emotional message about their breakup to Instagram on Aug. 19, saying he will always wish Reinhart happiness. And while his Instagram about their breakup was pretty straightforward, not all of the couple's other social media exchanges through the years were. Buckle up for this roller coaster ride.
June 4, 2016: Fun In The Sun
In one of their first public outings together, Sprouse and Reinhart embarked on a boating trip with Sprouse's famous twin brother, Dylan, proving Reinhart had become close enough to Cole to be introduced to his closest kin.
"This picture was taken before I got the worst sunburn of my life. Thanks for looking out, boys," Reinhart cheekily said when sharing a memory on Instagram from the day.
Aug. 4, 2016: Friends... But Maybe More?
Even before they were officially dating, Reinhart and Sprouse's friendship seemed flirtatious. Despite calling him her "pal" on his birthday in 2016, the two leaned in close for a photo, looking very coupley.
Dec. 27, 2016: The Flirt Fest Continues
Their relationship seemed to really heat up that December when Lili retweeted a photo of Sprouse's face. "Hey what highlighter do you use?" she jokingly asked Sprouse, to which he responded, "yours."
April 22, 2017: Reinhart Becomes Sprouse's Muse
By 2017, Sprouse and Reinhart did little to hide the amount of time they spent together. Sprouse boldly posted a gorgeous black and white photo of Reinhart frolicking through an endless field of flowers to Instagram.
Reinhart posted a pic from their day together to her page, too. She captoned the post, "Thank you for indulging me," and tagged Sprouse. This would be one of many times Reinhart modeled for Sprouse's lens throughout their relationship.
June 2, 2017: Reinhart (Jokingly) Shades Sprouse
Before making an appearance together at Wizard World Comic-Con on June 2, Reinhart made a public remark about the seating arrangement and her proximity to Sprouse. "Sh*t I have to sit near that daddy-wannabe?" she tweeted. But Sprouse didn't miss a beat and poked fun at her right back. "Coming from someone who scrambled to get on my flight earlier," he replied.
June 16, 2017: Still Trolling
Later that month, the pair continued poking fun at each other. When Reinhart wished Riverdale co-star KJ Apa a happy birthday on the wrong day, Sprouse didn't let her live it down.
"You know his birthday is tomorrow right... even google got it wrong... I'm the only ~real~ friend here," he tweeted on June 16.
May 13, 2018: Does The Trolling Ever Stop?
The comedy between Sprouse and Reinhart continued into 2018, when he jokingly tweeted, "I cant wait to be a mommy someday." Reinhart soon replied by saying, "You've admitted defeat," and her beau got crafty with his response.
"Sorry I didn’t reply quicker, your notification got a little lost down the feed," he said alongside a screenshot of both their follower counts.
July 21, 2019: Reinhart Confuses Fans
Reinhart and Sprouse raised eyebrows after attending San Diego Comic-Con. Following the convention, Reinhart took to Instagram with a photo from the event, but her caption led fans to wonder whether there was bad blood brewing. "Please don’t put me between these two ever again," she captioned the pic. A few days later, fans would find out new details surrounding Sprouse and Reinhart that would confirm their theories.
July 25, 2019: Reinhart & Sprouse Are Cover Stars
In a major twist, Reinhart and Sprouse graced the cover of W Magazine's August 2019 issue as a couple. While they looked booed up in the photos, they reportedly asked to be interviewed separately, and the magazine reported the couple had broken up after two years of dating.
This didn't sit well with Sprousehart, and they contested those claims. "BREAKING: A reliable source has confirmed that none of you know sh*t," Reinhart captioned a pic of the cover, which she shared to Instagram (and has since deleted).
Sprouse shared a similar sentiment, cracking a joke about the matter. "UNPRECEDENTED: Cole Sprouse and Lili Reinhart consume the flesh of 'reliable sources' to fuel their bacchanalian sex cult," he said on Instagram.
Finally, Reinhart took to Twitter with a message about false reports in general. "Don’t believe everything you read on the internet, kids," she wrote. "And news sources should try a little harder to be less vile. 'Reliable sources' can kiss my ass."
Aug. 4, 2019: Reinhart Pens A Poem For Sprouse
Reinhart shared one of her most expressive and romantic posts about Sprouse to date in honor of his birthday in the form of a lengthy poem.
Aug. 6, 2020: Laughing The Rumors Off
Days later, Sprousehart cracked a joke about the breakup rumors surrounding their relationship. After Variety posted a video of Sprouse on Instagram to promote their Power of Young Hollywood issue, Reinhart took to the comments section saying, "Sources say he's single now- is he available?"
February 2020: Reinhart Unfollows Sprouse
Fans noticed in February 2020 that Reinhart hit the unfollow button on her beau, but she quickly clarified what really happened. "There was a glitch on Instagram everyone, don't freak out," she wrote, though fans weren't buying it.
August 2020: Sprouse Confirms Their Split
In an Aug. 19 post shared to Instagram, Sprouse revealed he and Reinhart had gone their separate ways.
"Lili and I initially separated in January of this year, deciding to more permanently split in March," he explained. "What an incredible experience I had, I’ll always feel lucky and cherish that I had the chance to fall in love. I wish her nothing but the utmost love and happiness moving forward. All I’ll say about it, anything else you hear doesn’t matter."
Reinhart and Sprouse's social media exchanges have always kept fans guessing, and, chances are, that will never change.
