8 Celebrities Who Called Off Their Weddings Months or Hours Before the Ceremony

Bailey BujnosekSat, October 3, 2026 at 1:20 PM UTC

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Brad Pitt and Gwyneth Paltrow seen in NYC in 1996.Credit: Lawrence Schwartzwald/Getty ImagesThe Gist -

Celebrity breakups sometimes come as a shock—especially when the split happens months or even days before the couple was set to marry.

Stars who cancelled their weddings include Julia Roberts, Jennifer Lopez, Usher, and Brad Pitt.

For some couples, like Orlando Bloom and Katy Perry, their engagement lasted for years before they broke things off.

Not every celebrity engagement ends in a marriage.

For some star couples, the time between a proposal and their highly anticipated “I do’s” forces them to take stock of what they really want. They might realize things are happening too fast, or that they’re—plot twist—in love with someone else. Whatever the reason, they’re bound to make headlines when they call off their wedding, sometimes within days of the planned ceremony.

Julia Roberts is perhaps the most famous example. The Runaway Bride star was supposed to marry fellow actor Kiefer Sutherland in 1991, but she split with her fiancé days before their wedding, according to a profile of Sutherland in The Guardian.

Years later, he made it clear there was no bad blood between the exes. “This wedding that was supposed to be something between the two of us became something so big,” Sutherland explained on The Jess Cagle Interview in 2016. “In the middle of that, I think (Roberts) had the courage [to admit] it wasn’t what she wanted to do in the end.

“I think it took a lot of courage, amongst all of that other stuff, to be able to say, ‘I can’t do this,’” he added.

Roberts isn’t the only one who’s called off a wedding. Here are more star couples who ended their relationship before the big day.

01 of 08

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck at the December 2002 premiere of ‘Maid in Manhattan.’Credit: Tom Kingston/WireImage

Yes, Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck (aka “Bennifer”) did eventually have a wedding, but not before they called one off. It all started back in 2002, when they first crossed paths on the set of the movie Gigli. Lopez announced her engagement to Affleck that November.

They planned their wedding for September 14, 2003, in Santa Barbara, California. Yet a media circus around the affair pushed them to cancel just days before the nuptials would have taken place. Per People, they released a joint statement announcing that they would be postponing their marriage “[d]ue to the excessive media attention surrounding our wedding.”

“When we found ourselves seriously contemplating hiring three separate ‘decoy brides’ at three different locations, we realized that something was awry. We felt what should have been a joyful and sacred day could be spoiled for us, our families and our friends,” they said.

They officially broke up in 2004. Years later, in 2021, they rekindled their relationship. They got engaged for a second time in April 2022, marrying that July in Las Vegas. “Once we called off that wedding 20 years ago, it was the biggest heartbreak of my life,” she told Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1.

In August 2024, Lopez filed for divorce. They finalized their split in January 2025, and haven’t publicly been romantically linked to anyone else since then.

02 of 08

Rosamund Pike and Joe Wright

Joe Wright and Rosamund Pike at the UK Premiere of ‘Atonement’ on September 4, 2007.Credit: Dave M. Benett/Getty Images

2005’s Pride & Prejudice spawned a real-life relationship—but not between co-stars. Rather, star Rosamund Pike fell for the man behind the camera, director Joe Wright. Two years later, the filmmaker proposed in 2007. He told The Guardian he even had to turn down a dinner invite from George Clooney so he could pop the question.

“(Clooney) was a bit surprised – I couldn’t tell him why, but I was just about to propose and was getting a bit nervous,” Wright explained.

Less than a year after the proposal, their relationship ended. The news broke in June 2008. In 2009, Pike told The Guardianvia email, “I still have no idea why Joe called off the wedding. He was never clear about it. Part of what makes it so confusing. Our Save the Date cards had been sent out…My mother had to write to everyone to say that the wedding was no longer going to take place.”

She added, “I also think that the stories about Joe being seen in lapdancing clubs are false. It really doesn’t sound like him.”

The Gone Girl star has been in a relationship with businessman Robie Uniacke since 2009. Wright is in a relationship with actor Haley Bennett, whom he began dating in 2017.

03 of 08

Usher and Tameka Foster

Usher and Tameka Foster at the 15th Trumpet Awards at the Bellagio on January 22, 2007.Credit: Ethan Miller/Getty Images

On the day of their scheduled wedding, eight-time Grammy winner Usher and celebrity stylist Tameka Foster cancelled their ceremony.

“It was announced today that the wedding ceremony for Usher Raymond, IV and Tameka Foster was cancelled. No additional information will be given regarding the circumstances of the cancellation, but we hope the privacy of this matter will be respected,” his publicist, Patti Webster, told the media in a statement in July 2007.

They’d become engaged earlier that year, and announced one month before the big day that they were expecting their first child together, making the abrupt split all the more surprising to their fans.

Ultimately, the couple did walk down the aisle that August, Today reported. They welcomed two sons before Usher filed for divorce in June 2009, according to People.

Usher married record executive Jennifer “Jenn” Goicoechea in 2024. Foster keeps her dating life private. She told People in February 2024 that she and her ex-husband are “friends” and amicably co-parent their sons.

04 of 08

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Demi Moore and Emilio Estevez

Demi Moore and Emilio Estevez at an L.A. screening of ‘Heaven Help Us’ on February 1, 1985.Credit: Getty Images

Following a whirlwind romance of just six months in 1985, Demi Moore got engaged to St. Elmo’s Fire co-star Emilio Estevez. Fans were unsure how far they’d gotten into wedding planning when they announced their breakup in 1986, following reports that Estevez had been unfaithful.

Moore unpacked what she alleges happened in her 2019 memoir, Inside Out, writing (via Harper’s Bazaar), “Emilio and I had in fact just mailed out the invitations for our wedding when a friend told me she had seen him out with someone else in L.A. He denied it, of course, but I was having a hard time trusting him. During a two-week breakup a few months before, he’d slept with an ‘ex’ girlfriend, lied about it, and then been forced to tell me the truth when he found out she was pregnant.”

The Oscar-nominated The Substance star has not been in a public relationship since 2022. Estevez is also publicly single. He was previously married to singer Paula Abdul from 1992 to 1994.

05 of 08

Lady Gaga and Taylor Kinney

Taylor Kinney and Lady Gaga at the 88th Annual Academy Awards on February 28, 2016.Credit: Getty Images

Although they didn’t make it down the aisle, don’t call Lady Gaga and Taylor Kinney’s five-year fling a bad romance. The exes have been supportive of one another since they called off their wedding in July 2016.

Their relationship began on the set of Gaga’s “You and I” music video in 2011. The Chicago Fire actor proposed on Valentine’s Day in 2015, with the “Shallow” singer sharing the news on her Instagram alongside a black-and-white photo of her massive heart-shaped engagement ring.

Asked about wedding planning, Kinney told ET in October 2015, “I told her I don’t mind doing the little white chapel thing. She wants what she wants. I want to make sure that it’s right [for] what she wants.”

In July 2016, however, the chapel doors closed on their would-be wedding. Peoplereported that they had split, with Gaga taking to Instagram to share a statement soon after the news broke. “Taylor and I have always believed we are soulmates. Just like all couples we have ups and downs, and we have been taking a break,” she wrote.

Gaga is now engaged to entrepreneur and philanthropist Michael Polansky. The couple welcomed their first child in 2026. Kinney, meanwhile, has been married to model Ashley Cruger since 2024.

06 of 08

Mariah Carey and James Packer

Mariah Carey and James Packer at the GLAAD Media Awards in NYC on May 14, 2016.Credit: Getty Images

Mariah Carey seemed poised to sail off into the sunset with Australian billionaire businessman James Packer. The former couple met at the 2014 premiere of Hercules. “We were talking and laughing and people were getting mad at us and stuff like that. So we hit it off,” Carey later shared on The Steve Harvey Show, per ET.

A little under two years later, they got engaged—and Packer spared no expense when picking out his girlfriend’s rock. Carey debuted her 35-carat engagement ring, worth an estimated $7.5 million according to People, in January 2016. A wedding was reportedly in the works, with Carey telling E! News a few weeks after the engagement, “I am very excited about the [wedding] dress, but I don’t want to talk about it yet, as I have to have my first fitting.”

Then came a fateful trip to Greece. The couple was photographed vacationing in Mykonos in September 2016. After the trip, a representative for Carey told People that the trip ended in a fight. Packer’s representative talked to Entertainment Tonight about their split and ensuing tabloid rumors, saying in a statement, “Mariah and James had a fight in Greece, and have not seen each other since. The fight was not because of any cheating allegations or excessive spending by Mariah.”

As of 2026, Carey is not in a confirmed public relationship. Australian newspapers have reported that Packer married model Kylie Lim in August 2026.

07 of 08

Brad Pitt and Gwyneth Paltrow

Gwyneth Paltrow and Brad Pitt at the Oscars in March 1996.Credit: Barry King/WireImage

They were a ‘90s power couple famous for their matching moments on and off the red carpet, but Brad Pitt and Gwyneth Paltrow weren’t in sync when it came to tying the knot.

Their relationship began in 1994, when they met while playing husband and wife in the horror-thriller film Se7en. Pitt proposed to his former co-star in December 1996 in Argentina. He later told Entertainment Tonightthat popping the question was “one of the greatest moments” of his life; in a Rolling Stone profile, the actor said he couldn’t wait to “[w]alk down the aisle, wear the ring, kiss the bride.”

But by June 1997, the seemingly smitten pair had ended their engagement, shocking fans. Pitt’s publicist released a statement confirming the news, per The New York Times. Paltrow, for her part, elaborated on their breakup being “the right thing at that time” in a 2023 appearance on Call Her Daddy.

“There were a number of things that had happened,” Paltrow said. “(Pitt) was nine years older than me so he was far more … he knew what he wanted, he was ready to do it and I was kind of all over the place, so it was really one of those difficult things, where I felt like, ‘Oh my God, not only am I not ready, I’m not living up to the standards again.’”

Paltrow has been married to television writer Brad Falchuk since 2018, while Pitt is dating jewelry designer and executive Ines de Ramon.

08 of 08

Uma Thurman and Arpad Busson

Uma Thurman and Arpad Busson before the Nobel Committe’s Banquet in Oslo, 10 December 2007.Credit: Sara Johannessen/AFP via Getty Images

Uma Thurman was engaged twice to on-and-off partner Arpad Busson, whom she dated from 2007 to 2014.

The financier proposed for the first time in 2008. “I’m happily engaged, but we haven’t set a wedding up. I’m not in a rush to do anything. One day we’ll do it, when we’re ready,” she told W in the October 2009 issue. Later that year, the Kill Bill star reportedly ended the engagement, a source told People.

Their relationship eventually rekindled, and in July 2012, Thurman welcomed their daughter, Luna. Sometime before 2014, the couple again got engaged. But in April 2014, Us Weekly reported that they had called off their nuptials (via CBS News).

Thurman has not confirmed a relationship since her split from multimillionaire Busson, nor has he publicly dated post-breakup.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”