20 Celeb Couples Who Were Actually Better As Friends

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Some couples are meant to be together forever and some relationships crash and burn--and then there are some that end amicably and the two can still be friends. Not all relationships end amicably but it would be a lot easier if they did. Breakups can be messy, difficult, heartbreaking, and scary but when both parties respect and care about each other, there shouldn't be any cause for messiness.

The media loves messy celebrity breakups--the messier the better. Few things pique the public's interest more than a torrid affair breaking up a high profile marriage or accusations destroying a celebrity relationship. To many, there is something intriguing about rich, famous, beautiful people's personal lives crumbling around them and the general public eats it up--and then asks for seconds.

However, the media rarely covers stories in which these rich, famous, and beautiful people have quiet, amicable breakups that involve no cheating rumors or scandals. There are many celebrities who have had these kinds of breakups that you might not know about and they may bring you some semblance of relief that it is possible to move on without all of the messiness. Sometimes two people just aren't meant to be together romantically and they both can see that and they can still be friends even years later. These are the celebrities who have broken up and were always better off as friends.

Scarlet Johansson and Jack Antonoff: Prom Date

Since the two have had completely different career trajectories, it's hard to believe that Scarlett Johansson and Jack Antonoff were ever actually a couple but they actually dated each other once upon a time! According to Page Six, the two were together for about a year while they were attending the Professional Children’s School on the Upper West Side and he even took her to prom! What a talented young couple. A few years back when Antonoff was still in a relationship with Girls creator Lena Dunham, the actress stumbled across an old photo of Antonoff with Johansson on the internet and she said that she thought she was "hallucinating" when she saw them according to the Daily Mail.

At the time, Dunham said: "I'm not jealous. It's very sweet. I love looking at pictures of them."

Now that Dunham and Antonoff have officially broken up after five years of dating, she probably doesn't love looking at photos of them anymore which is understandable. Now that Johansson and her ex-husband are officially divorced and Antonoff and Dunham are no longer a couple, maybe the Bleachers frontman and Black Widow will get back together. Probably not.

Rihanna and Shia LaBeouf: They Didn't Find Love

Hollywood was a completely different place in 2007 than it is today. Ten years ago, Rihanna and Shia LaBeouf were both rising stars--her as a singer and him as an actor. Like Johansson and Antonoff, the two have had completely different career trajectories which makes this coupling seem so bizarre but they did actually date...or at least they went on one date. In 2007, the two were spotted grabbing a meal together and what happened next was all speculation until LaBeouf finally told everyone what really happened between them. According to an interview, LaBeouf had a big crush on Rihanna and they were set up on a date while he was filming Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull.

He revealed nothing more happened after the first date, saying, "The spark wasn't there. We weren't passionate about each other in that way, so we remain friends."

As weird as this couple sounds, it isn't that strange considering Rihanna first rose to prominence as a pop star with her first hit "Umbrella" and LaBeouf was fresh off his stint at the Disney Channel and becoming a movie star but we can see now that they're better off as friends.

Natalie Portman and Moby: Nerd Wrath

Natalie Portman first made a name for herself as a child actress in Hollywood with her role in Leon: The Professional as Mathilda but she became a big star when she landed the role of Padme in the Star Wars prequels. Before she became an even bigger Hollywood star, won an Academy Award, and dated some of the biggest stars in Hollywood, she was going steady with the musician, Moby who had just found success with his album Play in 1999. That's right. The beautiful, intelligent, Japanese-speaking, Harvard graduate dated Moby. The two dated very briefly back in 2001 and it was an amicable breakup according to Moby who spoke about his experiences in an interview in 2008.

Moby also went on to say that the fact that he dated Portman made him the "target of a lot of nerd wrath" and “you can’t date Luke Skywalker’s mom and not have them hate your guts.”

With this interview, Moby made it seem like this was a real difficulty but most people probably wouldn't have a problem with dealing with some nerd envy if it meant getting to date Natalie Portman. Seventeen years later, it's obvious that the two are better off as friends.

Busy Philipps and Colin Hanks: Friends Forever

Just because you break up with someone, it doesn't mean that you have to feel awkward around each other and these two prove it. While Philipps was co-hosting Live with Kelly in 2017, Hanks appeared on the show and they revealed their romantic past. According to Hanks, they both got their first roles in TV shows (her with Freaks and Geeks and him with Roswell) within the same week as each other and their first movie roles (her with The Smokers and him with Whatever It Takes) in the same week.

“We were able to go through all the really special moments in a young actor’s lives together," Hanks said. Philipps said that he was her college boyfriend and they met when she was 18 and he was 19.

"We are very very close friends now — his wife and I are tight, he and my husband hang out. We go on vacation together," Philipps said. The two couples' children even go to the same school together! It just goes to show that the end of a relationship doesn't have to be a bad thing. Some couples aren't meant to be together romantically but that doesn't mean that they can't be good friends!

Kim Kardashian and John Mayer: They Didn't Hit it Off

John Mayer is known for his famous hookups: Jessica Simpson, Jennifer Aniston, Taylor Swift, and Katy Perry are just a few women he's been romantically linked to. We all know about his explosive relationship with Jessica Simpson and his creepy relationship with Taylor Swift but you may not know that he once had a fling with one of the most famous women in the world. Before she met and got together and divorced Kris Humphries, and long before she married Kanye, Kim Kardashian and John Mayer were definitely a secret couple.

Kardashian was spotted around town with Mayer in 2010. According to Perez Hilton, sources said that when the two went out together they went out with other friends "but the idea was to see if they would hit it off."

All of the sudden, the couple were not seen together again but nobody knew what happened but it was clear that it was over. However, according to TMZ, Kardashian said that Mayer is a "really cool guy" and since Mayer has said nothing terrible about Kim, it's fair to say that they are still friends, mostly because he has said some nasty things about his other exes.

Winona Ryder and Jimmy Fallon: No Hard Feelings

Winona Ryder famously dated Johnny Depp at the beginning of her career but she's also had several other famous boyfriends that you may not remember such as Matt Damon, David Duchovny, Beck, and Val Kilmer. She also dated Jimmy Fallon back in 2000! Though they say they only dated briefly, there are multiple photos of them together looking very much like a couple which means that must have spent at least a little bit of time together.

There was obviously no bad blood between them because his show was the first late night talk show she went on when she returned to Hollywood after a six-year hiatus from the spotlight. Back when they first got together, Ryder was one of the biggest actresses in Hollywood and Fallon was already been on SNL for a few seasons and even 18 years later, the two seemed to be happy to see each other again when she was on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. There was absolutely no awkwardness between them and it was as if no time had passed at all. Wouldn't it be nice to have that kind of relationship with your ex? It takes a lot of maturity to reach that level!

Emma Stone and Kieran Culkin: Indie Darlings

Before she was a two-time Academy Award winner, Emma Stone was an up-and-coming actress who got her start playing bit parts in TV shows like Malcolm in the Middle and Medium. In 2007, she landed her first big role in Superbad and her career took off. In 2009, she starred in an indie movie called Paper Man alongside Jeff Daniels, Lisa Kudrow, Ryan Reynolds, and Kieran Culkin (Macaulay Culkin's brother). According to Popsugar, Stone and Culkin started dating in 2009 or 2010 after meeting on the set of Paper Man. Celebuzz reports that the two split up in April 2011. She soon hit it big with hit movies like Zombieland, Easy A, Crazy, Stupid, Love, and The Help while Culkin continued to work in indie movies.

There doesn't appear to be any hard feelings between the two actors because the pair reunited onscreen in Movie 43 in which they play a couple. Playing a couple with an ex would be really awkward and painful if there was any bad blood between them. There are some instances of celebrity exes being forced to work with each other on a show or movie series but most exes wouldn't reunite for a completely different project unless they were friendly.

B.J. Novak and Mindy Kaling: On Again, Off Again

On The Office, Mindy Kaling and B.J. Novak played characters who were always in an on-again, off-again relationship and that is pretty close to what happened in real life. According to Buzzfeed, Kaling, and Novak both admitted that the characters' relationship with each other was based on their own relationship. Mindy explained it like this:

“[We] dated on and off for a couple of years, and now we are just, like, best friends. Like, real best friends. It’s the kind of friendship you have when you are embedded with someone, that you can only get by putting in that insane amount of time with people.”

According to an AMA on Reddit, Novak was asked who he was the closest to while working on The Office and replied: "I was closest with Mindy Kaling, and also least close with Mindy Kaling, on a minute-by-minute basis. And I wouldn't trade it for the world." However, he also went on to say that he would actually trade their tumultuous relationship for a more peaceful one. The two may not have been right for each other romantically but they have still been able to become close friends who regularly tease and inspire each other.

Sofia Coppola and Keanu Reeves: Ultimate 90s Power Couple

The relationship between Sofia Coppola and Keanu Reeves is an often forgotten Hollywood romance but have you ever seen a more perfectly 90s It couple? Sofia and Keanu met on the set of Bram Stoker’s Dracula which was directed by Francis Ford Coppola (aka Sofia's dad) in the early 90s.

In 1993, W Magazine described Sofia as "the queen of Hollywood's cool pack" and in 1994, the Chicago Tribune described Keanu as being "grunge before grunge was cool".

The two were an effortlessly cool power couple that still somehow managed to fly under the radar in Hollywood. Even Sofia's father liked Keanu (despite his terrible attempt at a British accent in Dracula) and according to an interview in Entertainment Weekly, Mr. Coppola said this about Keanu: "I like him personally so much. To this day he's a prince in my eyes." Though Sofia and Keanu broke up after about a year of dating, there doesn't seem to be any bad blood between them. In Sofia's third film, Lost in Translation, which was released in 2003 (ten years after the couple broke up), Reeves' name was added in the credits which means that they probably parted on good terms. How sweet is that?

Jay Z and Rosario Dawson: Family Feud

It's hard to remember a time when Jay Z and Beyonce weren't the power couple that they are today but the "99 Problems" rapper actually dated multiple women before he started seeing Queen Bey. According to Oh No They Didn't, Jay Z and Rosario Dawson dated briefly in 2000 but Boxden reported that they actually dated from 1997 to 2000 but it was never confirmed. If this is true, Dawson was likely the last woman Jay Z dated before he started dating Beyonce in 2000.

When the "Who bit Beyonce" scandal happened earlier this year, some alleged that it was Dawson who bit Queen Bey according to Bustle but it was later confirmed to be Sanaa Lathan was the biter according to Page Six. The reason why Dawson was even considered to be the biter was because she was at the party where the biting actually happened. But she was only at the party because she is friends with both Beyonce and Jay-Z. In fact, she was even featured in the star-studded music video for Jay-Z's song Family Feud. Ever since Jay-Z's scandal, Beyonce has evey right to be jealous of women who are friendly with her husband but it doesn't seem like there is any bad blood between Dawson and Beyonce or Jay Z.

Justin Timberlake and Jenna Dewan: Before Channing

Before Jenna Dewan starred in Step Up and became romantically linked with Channing Tatum, she was a backup dancer for Justin Timberlake and the two of them had a fling. According to the Daily Mail, Dewan said in an interview that she and Timberlake dated after he had broken up with Britney Spears.

In the interview, Dewan said, "I was not a rebound. We're still friends. It's not as salacious as everyone thinks." The dancer went on to say that they were close friends and that they "were like friends that then dated."

According to The Stir, there are some who might say that it was Dewan who caused the breakup between Britney and Justin to happen, but Dewan said that was not the case and the rumor that she was the "other woman" (and the rumor that she was involved in a dance-off with Britney) was started by tabloids. She also said that she wished the dance-off rumor was true because how cool would that have been? It's been over 15 years since Dewan and Timberlake dated and it's ancient history. Their friendship, on the other hand, is still going strong.

Jeff Goldblum and Laura Dern: Finding Love Behind-the-Scenes

After Jeff Goldblum and Laura Dern starred in Jurassic Park in the early 90s, they started dating and they were a beautiful couple. Goldblum explained how it happened to the Chicago Tribune:

"I was struck-I'd been a big fan of hers. I think she's an amazing actress and a spectacular person. I was struck from the beginning. But after the movie, we realized we liked each other."

The relationship was first revealed in a national magazine and Dern explained that the magazine had made the relationship seem "more fabulous in print than it probably ever would be in person" and "once all these preconceived ideas about how glamorous it is go away, there's a man and a woman. And you have to figure out how to have a relationship. To me, that's very hard work." Maybe it was too much work to keep the relationship going because the two broke up about three years after they started dating. However, there doesn't appear to be any hard feelings. Recently, Goldblum has been hinting that Dern may actually make an appearance in the upcoming Jurassic World movie according to Vulture, but it hasn't been confirmed. That would be a reunion of Jurassic proportions!

Andy Cohen and Anderson Cooper: A Bad Start

They're both handsome television personalities who seem to enjoy spending time together...so why aren't they in a relationship? Well, it turns out that the two almost dated but they were never romantically involved. However, they did become friends. According to their joint interview with The New York Times, Cohen actually asked Cooper out on a date years ago, but because he brought up Cooper's mother Gloria Vanderbilt within the first minute of their conversation, Cooper changed his mind about him.

Over time, the two would see each other at various bars and a friendship ensued. At first, Cohen thought Cooper "standoffish" and Cooper said that he imagined that Cohen was the type of person who would be on a "Bluetooth headset, walking around, gesticulating a lot."

Now, Cooper says that he likes Cohen's outgoing personality and that "nice to have someone who pokes fun at you" and Cohen loves to poke fun at him. Somehow, the pair became close friends and it turns out that it was best that way. They also worked together on CNN's Times Square New Year's Eve broadcast in 2017 and, according to Deadline, it was the most-watched NYE special ever. You can't deny it--those two have chemistry!

Joshua Jackson and Katie Holmes: First Love

It's fair to say that Katie Holmes isn't friends with all of her exes (we're looking at you, Tom Cruise) but she is friends with the one ex, her Dawson Creek's co-star Joshua Jackson, who she called her "first love" according to a 1998 interview with Rolling Stone. In the interview, she said that she considered Jackson to be one of her best friends during and after their eight-month relationship. Of course, when Dawson's Creek ended, Holmes became a big movie star, she dated and became engaged to Chris Klein, and then had her high-profile relationship with Tom Cruise. So naturally, she lost touch with her former love. However, after Holmes and Cruise divorced, she and Jackson rekindled their friendship.

According to Us Weekly, Jackson said that he received a call from his ex-girlfriend which he described as "very nice." Jackson said that it wasn't awkward at all to speak with Holmes: "Like any old friend, it was like, 'Oh, hi how are ya? What's going on?' 'I had a kid.' 'Yeah, that's crazy, I heard!'" The two recently reunited again for the Dawson's Creek 20th reunion for a special edition of Entertainment Weekly and were said to be very "lovey-dovey" according to Mashable but they just seem like good friends.

Bella Hadid and The Weeknd: A Girl and a Starboy

In April 2015, The Weeknd (aka Abel Tesfaye) and Bella Hadid revealed that they were a couple and as two up-and-coming stars (him as a musician and her as a model) they seemed like the perfect match. However, in November 2016, the couple officially called it quits but there didn't seem to be any bad blood. A month after they split up, Hadid walked the runway at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show and The Weeknd performed. There was a lot of speculation about their breakup after the fashion show and it led some to assume that there were some hard feelings between them because of a curious side-eye--at least according to Vogue.

However, the young supermodel quickly told E! News that there was no tension between her and the "Can't Feel My Face" singer: “There is no awkwardness. He is my best friend, and I am excited because I am walking during his performance.” The two have recently been seen spending time together after his split with Selena Gomez but according to a source from People, it has been hard to coordinate their busy schedules but "They still have a great deal of love for one another and will remain friends."

Demi Lovato and Joe Jonas: She's Part of the Family

According to Seventeen, Demi Lovato wasn't acting in Camp Rock because she was really falling in love in real life with Joe Jonas who played her love interest in the Disney Channel original movie. However, in Lovato's new YouTube documentary: Demi Lovato: Simply Complicated, Nick Jonas talked a bit about his brother Joe's relationship with Demi:

"While we were on tour Demi and Joe’s relationship had become really complicated so I was playing the bridge." However, after the two broke up and the dust settled, Lovato and Jonas have become friends.

According to an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Lovato said that it was her ex-boyfriend Wilmer Valderrama who encouraged her to be friends with her ex. In an interview with Billboard, Joe Jonas said that he has known Lovato for a long time and that they have "seen each other go through tough times, good times, in and out of relationships. It's funny to think back on that now. It feels like we were children, although I guess we were. [Demi] is like a sister to both of us, and it's great to know we all have that support." It turns out that there are happy endings in real life and not just in Disney movies.

A$AP Rocky and Chanel Iman: She Deserved Better

Before A$AP Rocky was romantically linked with Kendall Jenner, the rapper was in a relationship with model Chanel Iman for eighteen months and it ended in 2015. When the pair broke up, Rocky said in an interview with MTV that he was "depressed" because he knew that she deserved better than what he could give her.

"That's my best friend, you've gotta be mature, to be in this type of predicament and have a relationship," Rocky said. "I never really talk about these kinda things, about her, and she never really talks about me so I'm not really gonna say much on the subject but she's happy and that's all I want -- I want her to be happy."

However, after the two broke up, they worked together in the Netflix movie Dope and Iman told The Rickey Smiley Morning Show that "It’s never an awkward moment" working alongside her ex-boyfriend. Also, according to Hollywood Life, the two were both at the same party and they reunited without any unpleasantness. Recently, Iman married New York Giants wide receiver, Sterling Shepard and she seems very happy--just like her ex always wanted her to be.

Kaley Cuoco and Johnny Galecki: With a Bang

Speaking of exes who work together, Kaley Cuoco and Johnny Galecki started dating after starring in Big Bang Theory together and continued to work together after they broke up. Luckily for them, there doesn't seem to be any awkwardness between them even though they play husband and wife on the show. Even after the couple split, Cuoco said in an interview on The Talk that Galecki "is one of my best friends and one of the closest people I've ever worked with." When she appeared on Watch What Happens Live she said

"Johnny is actually one of my best friends. It’s a situation that ended well. I understand sometimes it doesn’t. It could have gone horrible."

According to Us Weekly, Galecki also thinks very highly of his former flame as well, saying: "She's not an ex, she's a part of my life." Even Karl Cook, Cuoco's fiancé gets along with Galecki. Cook and Galecki proved that there isn't any bad blood by goofing off and cuddling up next to each other for an Instagram post. How many ex-boyfriends do you know who would be comfortable taking a photo with a new boyfriend? Not many. That takes a whole other level of maturity!

Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield: Biggest Fan

There are few Hollywood couples who are as adorable as Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield. Who didn't have their hearts broken when they split up? It's been years since they broke up but considering that neither has publicly dated anyone since dating each other, there is plenty of room for rumors. When Stone won a Golden Globe for her performance in La La Land last year, Garfield, who was in the audience, stood up to cheer for her. According to InStyle, the two reunited and were seen chatting and laughing together at a dinner hosted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

According to an interview in Vanity Fair, Garfield had nothing but good things to say about his ex: “There’s so much love between us and so much respect. I’m her biggest fan as an artist. So for me, it’s been bliss to be able to watch her success and watch her bloom into the actress that she is." Recently, Stone has been linked to SNL writer Dave McCary so whatever is going on between Stone and Garfield does not appear to be anything more than friendship but that is probably for the best.

Cameron Diaz and Justin Timberlake: Gone

Justin Timberlake is definitely not friends with all of his exes (he and Britney Spears will probably never be on good terms) but he is still very good friends with his ex Cameron Diaz who he dated from 2003 until 2006. The two reunited five years after their breakup on the set of their movie Bad Teacher in 2011 but, according to Diaz, the reunion was not awkward as awkward as you might imagine.

According to Us Weekly, Diaz said that she enjoyed working with her ex on the movie: “It's great. Justin and I have always had a good laugh together, and to make a movie where we get to have a laugh together, and there really was no one else who was more perfect for this part.”

She even went on to gush about Timberlake, saying that he was "a genius comedian. . . he's clearly talented. We went for the best person for the job, and it just so happened that it was him. And he delivers." It's been over a decade since the two broke up Timberlake married Jessica Biel and Diaz recently got married to Benji Madden so it just goes to show that everything works out in the end.

Sources: Page Six, Daily Mail, MTV, Spin, People, Perez Hilton, TMZ, Today, Popsugar, Celebuzz, Buzzfeed, Reddit, W Magazine, Chicago Tribune, Entertainment Weekly, Oh No They Didn't, Boxden, Bustle, Page Six, Chicago Tribune, Vulture, The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Mashable, Vogue, E! News, People, Seventeen, Entertainment Tonight, Billboard, MTV, The Talk, Watch What Happens Live, Us Weekly, Vanity Fair, Us Weekly