Elon and Grimes latest stars to claim a loved-up break-up
ELON MUSK AND SINGER GRIMES were undoubtedly the most chaotic celebrity couple of recent years. The Tesla and Spacex CEO thoroughly enjoys working a 100-hour week and has twice suggested we should ‘nuke Mars’, while Grimes claimed their son, named X AE A-xii, enjoyed ‘radical art’ by the time he was five months old. After three years together, though, Elon has confirmed the pair’s split. He gave a statement to the New York Post, explaining that he and Grimes were ‘semi-separated’, adding, ‘We still love each other, see each other frequently and are on great terms.’ The term ‘semi-separated’ was likened to Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin’s ‘conscious uncoupling’ of 2014 – perhaps because both are a bit of a cop out. Either you’ve split up or you haven’t.
Yet Elon’s is just the latest in a stream of impenetrable A-list split statements that have dominated 2021. Celebrities can’t seem to break up in a swirl of bad feeling and resentment – instead, they must still be ‘full of love’ and ‘mutual appreciation’.
In August, after almost eight years, actor Kate Bosworth revealed that her marriage to Michael Polish had come to an end. Yet their statement felt never-ending: ‘The beginning is often the best part of love. Fireworks, magnets, rebellion – the attraction. The onset signals a wide open expanse of possibility. Our hearts are full, as we have never been so enamoured and deeply grateful for one another as we do in this decision to separate. Together, over the last 10 years, Michael and I have chosen love, every time. We hold hands as tightly today as we entangled fingers on our wedding day. Our eyes look more deeply into one another, with more courage now. In the process of letting go, we have come to acknowledge that our love will never end.’
Last month, actor Kaley Cuoco and her husband Karl Cook announced their split after three years of marriage, explaining, ‘Despite a deep love and respect for one another, we have realised that our current paths have taken us in opposite directions. There is no anger or animosity, quite the contrary. We have made this decision together through an immense amount of respect and consideration for one another.’ Meanwhile, actor Jason Segel’s long-term partner Alexis Mixter announced following their split in April that she would ‘never stop cheering [him] on with every cell of my body’, adding, ‘I will never stop loving you unconditionally.’
Yet, of course these people aren’t still as crazy about each other as they would like us to believe – that’s why they’re splitting up. A Hollywood PR insider says it’s all about ‘damage control’. The source adds, ‘Often these couples have business interests or children and those aspects of their lives need protecting, but for the most part it’s their image. Even if they hate each other’s guts, it’s far more beneficial for both parties to pretend it’s all “love and respect”.’
There are still some stars keeping it (semi) real. Kim Kardashian and Kanye West ended their marriage by silently filing for divorce in February. And perhaps Matthew Perry put it best when he explained his split from fiancée Molly Hurwitz, in June: ‘Sometimes things just don’t work out and this is one of them.’