Travis Barker's Relationship With Shanna Moakler Explained
A love story between a former Miss USA contestant and a famous drummer seems like something straight out of a romantic drama. The vibes of opposites attracting, the air of uncertainties surrounding their romance, the Hollywood glitz and glam — what's not to swoon over? It worked for beauty queen Shanna Moakler and rock star Travis Barker for a while... until it didn't.
When Barker and Kourtney Kardashian's whirlwind courtship started making headlines in 2021, it was not the first time the Blink-182 rocker's love life made waves. "[Moakler and Barker's] relationship was always dysfunctional, they were always love and hate," a source once told People. "It was volatile. He's a rock star, and she likes to go out. They both love and fight hard." As anyone who kept tabs on celebrity gossip in the '00s knows, the dissolution of Barker and Moakler's union did not go smoothly.
So, how did they go from being head over heels to tearing one another apart in the press? We're here to walk you through Travis Barker's relationship with Shanna Moakler.
They met and started dating in 2002
According to Life & Style, Travis Barker met Shanna Moakler in 2002. The duo hit things off pretty quick, starting their relationship later that summer. Per PopSugar, the Blink-182 rocker, only 27 at the time, was fresh out of his divorce from first wife Melissa Kennedy whom he was married to for only a year. While much is not known about the musician's first marriage, he has since admitted to cheating on Kennedy. "Before Melissa and I got married," he wrote in his 2015 memoir (via Newsweek). "I was constantly looking for other girls, picking them up at strip clubs and wherever else I could find them." Once married however, he resolved to remain faithful to his wife but not even this could keep them together.
In 2003, Moakler and Travis welcomed son Landon Barker. That same year, the couple got engaged. Per E! News, the famed drummer went down on one knee in the Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland. Of course, she said yes.
Shanna Moakler and Travis Barker's spooky nuptials
On October 30, 2004, Travis Barker and Shanna Moakler had a goth glam wedding fit for a rocker and a beauty queen. As Life & Style noted, Barker's pinstripe wedding day tux was very Jack Skellington, and Moakler wore a Monique Lhuillier gown with a black sash, multiple crucifixes, and a black headpiece. Of the ceremony, Moakler told People, "Even though it was different and wild, it was really upscale and romantic."
Given Barker's wedding day duds and the overall aesthetic, one might assume "The Nightmare Before Christmas" was at the top of his and Moakler's minds when they were putting together the big day. However, Moakler has since revealed new information about her wedding to Barker and the movie that inspired their theme. After Barker and Kourtney Kardashian dressed up like the two main characters from "True Romance," the former Miss USA contestant shared that the 1993 flick was her thing with Barker. "The movie, 'True Romance,' that I feel like they've been bonding over was the theme of our wedding," she told People in May 2021. "Our daughter's named after the character [Alabama] in the movie ... I just think it's weird."
Travis Barker and Shanna Moakler had a reality show
If a pop punk rocker marrying a former beauty queen isn't reality TV gold, then what is? In 2005, the same year Shanna Moakler gave birth to daughter Alabama Barker, "Meet The Barkers" premiered on MTV. "We're hoping to show everyone that you can be a young couple, you can still go out and be crazy and stupid, but you can also come home, raise amazing children and just be amazing parents – balance the best of both worlds," Moakler said at the time, per the New York Post. But what was supposed to be sheer entertainment for viewers and a step further for Travis and Moakler soon turned into a nightmare. It ended after two seasons. After the series got axed, Barker told People being a reality star took a toll on his personal life.
Looking back on the show, Barker wrote in "Can I Say" (via Radar Online), "It was turning into a variety show instead of a reality show— and in my mind, she was behaving out of character on camera, which was carrying over to her not being genuine with me."
Way back when the Kardashians were toying with the idea of a reality show — long before he struck up a romance with Kris Jenner's eldest — Barker gave them a piece of advice. "I said, as long as you have nothing to hide with your family and you want to put it all out there, do it," the drummer told Vanity Fair.
Travis Barker filed for divorce
In August 2006, nearly two years after tying the knot, Travis Barker filed for divorce from Shanna Moakler. "I am very devastated and very much heartbroken over the demise of my marriage," Moakler wrote on MySpace (via MTV News). "I wanted nothing more [than] to overcome the challenges we faced, but failed. ... I still very much believe in the power of love." But what initially seemed like an amicable split soon turned into a battle of the exes.
Barker took to MySpace (via TMZ) to accuse Moakler of being unfaithful and suggest she was not a present parent. Moakler denied these claims, telling TMZ, "If that MySpace site was truly created by Travis then I'm seriously concerned for his mental well being." Following their split, Moakler reportedly got into altercations with other famous women who'd been linked to her estranged husband.
In October 2006, both Moakler and socialite Paris Hilton filed police reports against one another, accusing each other of battery. While Hilton alleged the former beauty queen punched her in the face and "used the most vile of language," Moakler insisted, per Today, that the socialite's boyfriend got physical with her. Prior to the fight, Barker was rumored to have been involved with Hilton. Moakler and Barker's divorce was finalized in February 2008.
A reconciliation that did not stick
After a tragic, near-death experience, Travis Barker decided to give his relationship with Shanna Moakler a second chance. In September 2008, Barker was in a plane crash that killed four out of the six people aboard, and left him with third-degree burns on over half of his body.
Following the crash, Barker found sobriety, became vegan, and then, as Us Weekly (via MTV News) confirmed at the time, got back together with Moakler. But in true Moakler/Barker style, drama wasted no time rearing its head. According to People, while Barker was still in the hospital, he and Moakler picked up where they left off... and promptly accused one another of cheating. In 2009, they ended things for good. Barker would later admit to being unfaithful in his relationship with Moakler.
In his 2015 memoir "Can I Say," the Blink-182 drummer recounted the fallout that happened when Moakler discovered his emails with other women. "We had been on and off in that time, but that didn't mean she wanted to know about it," he wrote (via Newsweek). "There were plenty of girls she had wondered about and some that she knew nothing about. And how it was all out in the open. I was f***ed."
They had a messy living situation
Following their divorce, Travis Barker and Shanna Moakler's custody battle took several bad turns. But eventually, they seemed to figure things out. "I bought a home that's very close to my children's school, so when she's with the kids, she's there; when I'm with the kids, I'm there," Barker told People in 2016. "There's no making them travel back and forth to different houses."
However, they did not always have such a clean arrangement. As per People, Barker and Moakler lived in the same house for years after their split, and this setup eventually hit its boiling point. According to TMZ, Moakler and the Blink-182 drummer got into a serious fight over a decision concerning the kids in December 2014. With the argument leading to threats of killing each other, the two ended up getting arrested. The constant back and forth between Barker and Moakler resulted in a reevaluation of their custody arrangement.
"The kids' best interest is what we all have in mind — there's nothing else," the rocker told People in 2016.
Shanna Moakler worried about 'a wedge' in her family
Over a dozen years after his divorce from Shanna Moakler, Travis Barker found love with Kourtney Kardashian — but his ex wife was not particularly pleased. "I'm very much over my ex. It's been a long time," she told People. "However, do I think some of the PDA that he's doing with her is weird? [Yes]." Though Moakler insisted she had no issue with Barker's new romance with Kourtney, she soon hinted that the "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" star was causing issues with her own family unit.
Chatting with Us Weekly in May 2021, Moakler said she sensed a new distance between her and the kids — a problem she believed had to do with Barker's new relationship. "The Kardashians are buying my kids Prada every other day," she told the outlet. "They're doing all these things, which is fine. I don't think it's great when they put a wedge in between their biological mother." She also claimed to the outlet that Barker had a thing with Kim Kardashian when they were still married. (Per E! News, Kim said she never had any sort of dalliance with Barker.) Days later, she doubled down, telling TMZ, "My family is broken because of this family and now my kids and I are alienated from each other because of another sister in the family, so yay for me."
They've figured out how to co-parent
Shanna Moakler and Travis Barker have not always had the best co-parenting relationship, but in recent years, the exes seem to have worked out a plan that works out well enough. In 2020, the model opened up to Hollywood Life about how she and Barker were getting on amid the COVID-19 pandemic. "It's going great! Travis has the kids," she told the outlet. "A lot of FaceTiming and the kids are taking turns going back and forth."
In February 2022, the model explained to ET that despite the previous drama between her and Barker, they recognize who is most important. "That's probably the only thing we agree on, but our children come first and their happiness," she added. "As long as the Kardashians are good to my kids, that's all that matters to me as a mom. As long as they're happy, and that's the key." Moakler would later confirm to Us Weekly that she and Barker were still getting along well and keeping it nice. She also shared that she was in a good place with her kids. "I'm happy for that," Moakler said.
Shanna Moakler gave Travis Barker her blessing
It took a lot of getting used to but Shanna Moakler has seemingly warmed up to Travis Barker's relationship with Kourtney Kardashian. After news of Barker and Kardashian's engagement broke in November 2021, Moakler told Page Six she was thrilled for her ex. And following their April 2022 wedding in Las Vegas, Moakler made it clear she was all for it. "Congratulations to the happy couple," she said in a statement to People. "I wish them the best that life has to offer on their journey together."
In June 2022, Moakler once again showed approval of Kardashian while also showing support for Barker after a health scare. "Thank you to everyone who has reached out with concern to my ex and father of my children," she said in a statement, per E! News. "I know he is in great hands and surrounded by loving support and the best medical teams available and his beautiful wife Kourtney."
Might we see a friendship between Kardashian and Moakler one day? Well, we'll have to wait and see. While there doesn't appear to be any drama between Barker's ex-wife and current wife, it doesn't sound like these two are trying to become besties. "It might get better over time but for now, they have very separate and different lives," a source told Us Weekly in July 2022.