Top 20 Times Celebs Shaded Their Ex
#20: JoJo Siwa v. Katie Mills & Avery Cyrus
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In 2023, the “Dance Moms” star posted a TikTok pointing out some red flags she’d come across in the dating department. Her public dating record was limited at this point, so putting the pieces together wasn’t too hard. Our speculations were further fueled by Katie Mills’ response. As one of the star’s ex-girlfriends, she fired back Siwa’s jabs and condemned her for her actions knowing that she and Siwa’s other ex, Avery Cyrus, did not have the same following to back up their own claims. Cyrus also seemingly called out Siwa in another TikTok post, although she pointedly avoided naming names. Still, followers were pretty sure they knew who was talking about who.
#19: Jennifer Lopez v. a Bunch of Exes
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During a chat with Andy Cohen on “Watch What Happens Live,” Jennifer Lopez opened up about her preferences in romantic partners. In this spiel, she mentioned that she doesn’t care too much about looks. Alright, pretty subtle, J.Lo. However, she then quickly tacked on a comment calling back to her dating record to prove her point. Cohen clearly disagreed with the star’s criteria for what is considered traditionally good looking, and noted that he was probably not the only one. While JLo tried to save face, we ended on a note that made many of us wince and go, “Yikes!” Well, if you date J.Lo, at least you can be consoled by the fact that she probably thinks you’re “manly” and she’s really into your great personality.
#18: Lady Gaga v. Taylor Kinney
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In 2016, the “Born This Way” singer and actor Taylor Kinney called off their engagement, parting ways after five years together. While Gaga was totally amiable online, posting an endearing photo and writing a heartfelt caption announcing that they were taking a break, she later dropped a relatively telling hint during an interview with “CBS Sunday Morning.” She seemed to imply (in a rather poetic fashion) that she felt that she’d given more than she had been getting back. She sure kept it classy, but that didn’t stop viewers from reading between the lines.
#17: Jennifer Garner v. Ben Affleck
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When news of the Hollywood power couple’s split broke, it appeared to be one of showbiz’s more amicable separations. In fact, the pair still seem to be on good terms and continue to peacefully co-parent their three children. Despite this, Garner hinted that their marriage wasn’t always sunshine and rainbows. She told Vanity Fair, “When his sun shines on you, you feel it. But when the sun is shining elsewhere, it’s cold. He can cast quite a shadow.” Some noticed the sentence was quite reminiscent of this quote from “The Talented Mr. Ripley.” And who stars in that movie? Yep, Affleck’s long-time bestie, Matt Damon.
#16: Katy Perry v. Diplo
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As a promo for her album “Witness” in 2017, Katy Perry streamed live on YouTube for a staggering four days straight. When the singer invited James Corden into the house, he drew her into a game of “Spill Your Guts or Fill Your Guts”, in which each had to either answer personal questions or eat something incredibly unappetizing. Somehow, this quickly devolved into publicly ranking exes in bed. With an insistent Corden prompting her, Perry played along, putting Diplo as third, below John Mayer and Orlando Bloom. It wasn’t long before Diplo fired back with a reply on Twitter, now X. Ouch.
#15: Shakira v. Gerard Piqué In 2017, Shakira told “60 Minutes” why she initially hesitated to marry footballer Gerard Piqué. Little could she have anticipated just a few years later, he would allegedly find that “forbidden fruit” with another woman. They called it quits in 2022, and Shakira capped off the year by dropping “Monotonía,” a song that seemed to quite literally lay bare her heartache. By January 2023, she’d entered her villain era with “BZRP Music Session
#53,” a track that doesn’t hold back, taking shots at her ex and his new flame. She also appeared to allude to the breakup while accepting the Woman of the Year award at the first-ever Latin Women in Music ceremony.
#14: Blake Shelton v. Miranda Lambert
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Their relationship was often in the media spotlight, with rumors hinting that all was not well in paradise. Despite staying relatively quiet, whispers of infidelity and personal struggles followed their 2015 divorce. In 2018, Lambert’s love life rekindled the rumor mill when the media caught wind of her apparent relationship with singer Evan Felker, who was still married at the time. Guess who else had some thoughts on the matter? Yep, her ex-husband Blake Shelton. He took to Twitter, now X, to send out a very conveniently timed post about “karma.” Don’t worry, Lambert got her own shot in, too, switching up the lyrics to “Little Red Wagon” at the 2019 ACM Awards.
#13: Sophia Bush v. Chad Michael Murray
Ever heard the expression, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all?” Even though that’s the approach the “One Tree Hill” actress chose, she was sipping wine like it was the kind of tea we love to spill. Her brief five-month marriage to co-star Chad Michael Murray ended amid rumors of infidelity between him and his “House of Wax” castmate, Paris Hilton. Anyway, Bush dismissed her relationship with Murray as nothing more than “two stupid kids who had no business being in a relationship in the first place.” In short, we’re guessing as soon as the final “cut” was called on the “OTH” set, these two severed ties too.
#12: Kelly Clarkson v. Brandon Blackstock
In 2004, Clarkson gave us the ultimate breakup tune that we have no doubt helped many through tough times. However, following her divorce from Brandon Blackstock after seven years of marriage, she turned to another artist’s music to vent her frustrations. During her much-loved “Kellyoke” segment on her talk show, Clarkson sang a version of Gayle’s “ABCDEFU” with lyrics tailored to her situation. Clarkson was clearly hurting and had decided to turn that sh-—well, it—into art as she worked through her heartache. She continued to perform a, let’s call it, less family-friendly version of the song during live performances, too. It’s savage, but we’re here for it.
#11: John Mayer v. Jennifer Aniston
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With his dating track record, you might’ve forgotten about his brief fling with “Friends” star Jennifer Aniston. If so, you’ve also likely forgotten the not-so-nice things he said about her after they split. In an interview for Playboy, Mayer insisted on making sure everyone knew that he was the dumper and also took a few jabs at their eight-year age gap. He painted Aniston as someone clinging to her past glory days, among some other poor-taste comments. Jen responded graciously, but if we had been in her shoes, he’d have been on the receiving end of one of these.
#10: Gregg Sulkin v. Bella Thorne
When Gregg Sulkin and Bella Thorne ended their relationship in 2016, it seemed on the surface to be the kind of breakup rare in Hollywood: mutual, and even civil. In a joint statement, they blamed their busy schedules, and said they’d always share a deep love and respect. However, when Thornes’s relationship with Sulkin’s friend Tyler Posey became public a month later, Gregg’s tweets suggested he was, understandably, sulkin’ in life as well as name. “Who doesn’t enjoy watching entertainment at the circus?” he wrote. And: “Children want attention.” Burn!
#9: Miley Cyrus v. Liam Hemsworth
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January 2023 seemed to be the time for dropping shady revenge songs about exes. So, when on January 13th (Hemsworth’s birthday), Cyrus dropped her banger “Flowers,” we all took a trowel to the lyrics to dig up any seeds she might’ve sown. Indeed, they were plentiful: from referencing the home they lost to the Woolsey Fire, to subtly addressing some red carpet moments, and even down to her choice of outfit. However, her ultimate mic-drop moment was winning her first Grammy for the song, and performing it at the ceremony with a few ad-libbed one-liners and enough enthusiasm to rouse a stadium.
#8: Sam Smith v. Mystery Man
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Sam Smith became a household name with the success of their debut album “In the Lonely Hour” in 2014, its singles dominating radio stations worldwide. At the Grammys, it quickly became clear that there was a muse for the album. When Smith took the stage to accept their fourth award, they thanked the man who the record was about, someone they said they’d fallen in love with the year before. “Thank you so much for breaking my heart,” they concluded, “because you got me four Grammys!” Honestly, we think it was worth it too. The man is believed to be Smith’s manager Elvin Smith, so then again, maybe Sam was just being really sincere?
#7: Perrie Edwards v. Zayn Malik
With Perrie Edwards as one-quarter of the much-loved British girl group, Little Mix, and Zayn Malik still a part of the insanely popular One Direction, it was easy to see why the pair made a great match. Their three-and-a-half-year relationship was immortalized - or at least so fans thought - in a tattoo of Edwards on Malik’s arm. However, when the latter broke it all off via a text message, Edwards was devastated. A year later, in 2016, Little Mix put out the hit track “Shout Out to My Ex” in which Edwards made the sort of burn we’re not sure one can recover from.
#6: Rihanna v. All Her Exes at Once
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Since her rise to fame, Rihanna has had some wild relationships with some very famous figures, including her toxic relationship with Chris Brown, her brief time with Josh Hartnett, and more recently, her on-again/off-again with Drake. But in 2016, the songstress took aim at all of them on Instagram, when she laid all blame at their doors with one simple sentence: “None of my exs are married or in happy relationships so it’s safe to say that I wasn’t da problem lol." That is some serious shade, RiRi.
#5: Taylor Swift v. Joe Jonas
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Taylor has built much of her discography around reclaiming the narrative of her heartbreaks— case in point: “All to Well.” However, she’s also mastered the art of shade outside her music. Then there’s also the time she opened up to Ellen about a boy *ahem Joe Jonas* who “broke up with [her] over the phone in 25 seconds when [she] was 18”. Let’s not forget the time she was captured holding a “Camp Rock” doll of Jonas, mockingly remarking, “See, this one even comes with a phone…so he can break up with other dolls.” Last but not least, we’ll always remember that “SNL” monologue. Iconic.
#4: Ariana Grande v. Pete Davidson
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Their romance barely lasted the summer, but it seemed as passionate as it was fast - at least, judging by all the matching tattoos. However, Ariana Grande and Pete Davidson’s engagement was over almost as soon as it began, and all that sweetness on social media quickly turned sour. On a promo for Saturday Night Live, Pete Davidson worked the breakup into his characteristic self-deprecating humor, asking singer Maggie Rogers to marry him, and when she refused, joking “O for 3”. Grande wasn’t pleased, posting in since deleted tweets: “For somebody who claims to hate relevancy u sure love clinging onto it huh / Thank u, next.” Yikes!
#3: Selena Gomez v. Justin Bieber
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When did social media become a good place to feud with your ex? The pinnacle of shade between Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez came in 2016, when fans posted hostile comments on Bieber’s Instagram photos of his new girlfriend Sofia Richie. Bieber threatened an Instagram shut down, while Gomez told him that if he couldn’t “handle the hate”, he should stop posting pictures of Richie. He retorted that certain “people” had used him “for attention”, prompting Gomez to return fire that unnamed someones had “cheated multiple times”. Gosh, we wonder who all these someones could be . . . It was a painfully public spat until Gomez apologized and Bieber deleted his Instagram for a while.
#2: Justin Timberlake v. Britney Spears
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In 2002, this “it” couple broke up following rumors that Britney Spears had been unfaithful. Timberlake seemingly capitalized on the narrative, releasing “Cry Me a River” along with a music video featuring a Britney lookalike. Spears was reportedly frustrated by this move. In her 2023 memoir, she revealed that he’d conveniently neglected to mention all the times he’d cheated on her. Timberlake eventually apologized for contributing to systemic misogyny. However, in 2024, he seemingly dismissed accountability, saying he would like to apologize… to no one. Many saw it as a jab at Spears, who had recently apologized for any offense her memoir may have caused. So, no lessons learned here.
#1: Amber Rose v. Kanye West AKA Ye
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Amber Rose’s relationship with Ye, and subsequent feud with the Kardashians, catapulted her into the limelight. But when Ye brought up her past line of work in a social media tirade against Rose’s ex-husband Whiz Khalifa, Rose wasn’t having it. We can’t repeat exactly what she said here but, rest assured, she pulled absolutely no punches. Still, Kanye wasn’t done. He replied by denying her claims of some intimate personal preferences, though we’re not sure how much of a comeback it really was. Either way, it’s information we definitely didn’t need to know. If you were famous, would you put your ex on blast so publicly? Let us know in the comments.
