Say it isn't so, Sue Sylvester! Glee star Jane Lynch and her wife of three years, Lara Embry, have called it quits. Lynch and Embry met at a 2009 fundraiser and married a year later in Massachusetts, at which point Lynch became a stepmother to Embry’s two daughters. But it wasn’t meant to be. "Lara and I have decided to end our marriage,” Lynch said in a statement to People, but declined to get more specific. “This has been a difficult decision for us, as we care very deeply about one another.”
In one of the most acrimonious celebrity divorces of the last decade, singer Melissa Etheridge split from her longtime love Tammy Lynn Etheridge. The pair met in 2001 and married two years later. But by 2012 the fairy tale turned to a nightmare when the pair began fighting over custody and set about splitting their assets. Tammy wanted more money from Melissa. Melissa accused Tammy of accidentally burning one of their children with a cigarette.
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Rosie O'Donnell's 2009 divorce from wife Kelli Carpenter came as a bit a of shock—it turns out that the pair, who wed in 2004 in San Francisco, had been quietly living apart of years. "The joy we did find was with our children, but not necessarily with each other," Rosie said of the marriage. "I think, in some ways, we both came back to our authentic selves. And who we were authentically wasn't as great of a match as who we were when we met in the midst of my show and fame and in the midst of her big career at Nickelodeon."
Matt Lucas, an English actor, and Kevin McGee, a television producer, may be the most famous gay celebrities to have divorced in the United Kingdom. Lucas and McGee married in a lavish ceremony in December 2006 dressed as Aladdin and Prince Charming, respectively, but divorced just 18 months later. Lucas, who is known for his work on the television show Little Britain, and McGee released a statement saying their separation was amicable.
How ironic is it that David Tutera, host of My Fair Wedding, wound up divorcing his husband? Tutera and Ryan Jurica wed in Vermont in 2003 and filed for domestic partnership in their home state of California. After 10 years of marriage, they called it quits, citing irreconcilable differences. At the time, the couple was expecting twins through a surrogate. Tutera sued for sole custody and wanted Jurica to foot the bill for all the legal costs associated with their separation.
The names Julie and Hillary Goodridge are synonymous with gay rights in Massachusetts. The couple was one of seven to sue the state to allow same-sex couples to marry. Their case, Goodridge v. the Department of Public Health, went all the way to the state's Supreme Judicial Court, which found in November 2003 that gay couples had the right to marry under the Massachusetts constitution. The Goodridges wed on May 17, 2004, the first day same-sex unions became legal. Two years later, they announced their separation, and then they filed for divorce in 2009. The reason for their split remains unclear.
Robin Tyler and Diane Olson were the poster couple for gay people wanting to marry in California. They were one of 14 couples that challenged the state's gay-marriage ban in 2008. Tyler and Olson had known each other for 40 years, had been a couple for 18, and had tried to obtain a marriage license seven times before they were finally able to marry in June of that year. So what happened to these longtime loves? “We’re human, and we went through difficult times,” Tyler told a local television station. They filed for divorce in January 2012.
It might have been a marketing ploy, but Mike and Ike decided in April 2012 that they no longer wanted to be together after 72 years of partnership. Mike was moving on to work on his music. Ike wanted to concentrate on his art. Boxes of candy began appearing on shelves with either Mike or Ike scribbled out. It was a sad split, but Ike probably put it best when he posted on Tumblr, "It is what it is. We just couldn’t agree on stuff anymore. Some call it creative differences? Whatever. The guy is awesome, if you don’t count that he’s color blind. Lime is green dude!" Fortunately, a reconciliation may be in the works.
Just Born/Mike and Ike
