The Real List Of Celebs Who Have Open Relationships
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The following article includes a brief reference to suicide.
Who says marriage has to only be between two partners? For this string of A-Listers, monogamy is just, like, a social construct, man. In fact, one of them even believes that infidelity is as natural to human beings as their hair turning grey, which is a rationale we'd love to see someone shouting in objection to a furious ex lighting a match to a pile of clothes in the driveway.
Anyway, these celebrity couples have been totally committed to each other, but not at the expense of forgoing other partners, too — at least sometimes, and only if they're honest and up front with each other about it. Except for a certain country music megastar, who said she was cool with her husband stepping out on her so long as she never finds out about it. And listen, to each their own. As couples and sex therapist Martha Kauppi explained to Psychology Today in 2021, consensual polyamorous alternatives might even be considered the key to longevity for some relationships. "I see lots of open relationships that work fine long-term," she said. "I also see lots of couples with 20 or more years together becoming interested in opening up. It's not just young people who are into this."
But if this all seems vaguely unconventional, welcome to the wonderful world of celebrities who've revealed they have open relationships.
Mo'Nique initiated an open marriage
Mo'Nique and her husband, Sidney Hicks, have been open about their open marriage for quite some time. The "Precious" star told Andy Cohen on "Watch What Happens Live" in 2016 that she was the one who first brought up the idea of having an open relationship. That same year, "The Parkers" actor and her husband launched their podcast, fittingly named "Open Relationship." In the first episode, the couple discussed their open marriage agreement in depth. "Initially, when I said it, I had the attitude of whoever makes the money, makes the rules. ... But then he said to me in the Bahamas, 'Well, mama, you know if you can see other men, I can see other women,'" Mo'Nique shared, admitting that easing into the idea that the arrangement would need to be fairly reciprocal was difficult for her. Despite this eventual agreement, Hicks added, "This is not going to change the dynamic of our relationship because I'm in love with this woman."
However, things have since changed for the couple. In a March 2023 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Mo'Nique revealed that the pair had stopped seeing other people. "Life began to happen," she explained. "I began to see a strength I had never seen before. He loved me at my worst. I didn't want to sacrifice that just for a lay. So I grew out of that."
How fresh is this prince allowed to get?
Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith have endured years of open-marriage rumors, which they've alternated between denying and vaguely, potentially confirming. Pinkett Smith told HuffPost Live in April 2013, "I've always told Will, 'You can do whatever you want as long as you can look at yourself in the mirror and be OK.' Because at the end of the day, Will is his own man." She added, "He has to decide who he wants to be and that's not for me to do for him. Or vice versa."
A few days later, she clarified in part on Facebook, "Will and I BOTH can do WHATEVER we want, because we TRUST each other to do so. This does NOT mean we have an open relationship ... this means we have a GROWN one." Pinkett Smith, who also debunked claims that she and her husband are both swingers during a 2017 episode of "Watch What Happens Live," would later famously open up about her so-called "entanglement" with singer August Alsina in 2020. As explained in the married pair's joint "Red Table Talk" appearance that made headlines, Smith and Pinkett Smith revealed that they'd actually been separated at the time but were ultimately able to make it to the other side stronger than ever after the "entanglement" — which Pinkett Smith clarified, "It was a relationship, absolutely" — and their separation both came to an end.
Mr. & Mrs. Smith may have had company
Before their messy split in September 2016, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt may have had an open arrangement. In 2011, the Daily Mail reported that Jolie told Germany's Das Neue Blatt magazine, "I doubt that fidelity is absolutely essential for a relationship. ... It's worse to leave your partner and talk badly about him afterwards. Neither Brad nor I have ever claimed that living together means to be chained together. We make sure that we never restrict each other."
The idea of an open relationship might have been okay with Pitt after dating married model Nicole Poturalski in the summer of 2020, four years after his separation from Jolie. The actor and the model had a brief romance while she was still married to German restauranteur Roland Mary, with whom she also shares a son. They even allegedly met at her husband's Berlin restaurant Borchardt. A close friend of Mary's told the Daily Mail that he had no problem with the arrangement: "Roland is a very philosophical guy. He has been married several times and has five children. He is not interested in negativity or jealousy. They are still married but you could describe their relationship as an 'open marriage.'"
However, Pitt and Poturalski's romance was reportedly just a fling.
It's never cheating when you're in a different area code
Shirley MacLaine has said that her marriage to her husband, Steve Parker, worked because it was an open relationship. "I guess you would say 'practiced an open marriage' in 1954, which was another lifetime," MacLaine told People in 2016. "No one understood it, we did. He lived in Japan basically, I lived in America working, and this and that. We'd meet up, always great friends, traveled sometimes together." She added, "I think that's the basis for a long-lasting marriage if you really want to do such a thing. I would say better to stay friends and we don't have enough time to talk about the sexuality of all. I was very open about all of that and so was he."
During an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2011, MacLaine revealed that she had many love affairs because of her open relationship with Parker, even admitting that she slept with three people in one day. The actor also confessed to romancing some of the leading men in her films, like Robert Mitchum and Yves Montand.
Despite MacLaine and Parker's open relationship, the couple split in 1982 after 28 years of marriage. However, she still refers to Parker as the "love of [her] life."
Dolly Parton might not even know she's in an open relationship
The Independent reported that Dolly Parton and the rarely seen Carl Thomas Dean, who've been married for over 50 years, may owe their success to their open arrangement. As reported by the Daily Mail, while Parton was visiting Rotherham, England in 2007, she stated, "If we cheat, we don't know it, so if we do cheat, it's very good for both us. I don't want to know it, if he's cheating on me. If I'm cheating on him, he wouldn't want to know it. And if we do, if that's what's making it work, then that's fine too." However, Parton later told Oprah Winfrey that her remarks were taken out of context, saying, "We let each other be who we are and what we are, but I'd kill him if I knew he was with somebody, and he'd kill me."
To complicate things even more, Parton dished some dirt on herself in author Randy L. Schmidt's 2017 book "Dolly on Dolly (Musicians in Their Own Words)," confessing that she had "an affair of the heart" in 1982. Still, she refused to elaborate on it other than to say, "It just about killed me. I cried an ocean."
As Winfrey would say, "So what is the truth?"
What does hooking up with the nanny have to do with grey hair? Let Ethan Hawke explain
As of this writing, Ethan Hawke is married to Ryan Shawhughes, the ex-nanny of his children with ex-wife Uma Thurman. Though rumors of infidelity — with another woman, model Jen Perzow — swirled towards the end of Hawke and Thurman's marriage, he never explicitly confirmed or denied anything, despite Thurman telling Oprah Winfrey, "There was some stuff like that at the end."
Perhaps then, it comes as little surprise that he and Shawhughes seem to be open to an open marriage. As reported by E! News, he shared with Mr. Porter in 2013, "My relationship with my present wife is thrilling to me and I'm committed to it, but neither she nor I know what shape the future will come in. Sexual fidelity can't be the whole thing you hang your relationship on. If you really love somebody you want them to grow, but you don't get to define how that happens. They do."
Though Hawke denied Shawhughes had anything to do with his split from Thurman, he argued that human beings aren't meant to be monogamous. "People have such a childish view of monogamy and fidelity," Hawke said. "... To act all indignant that your world has been rocked because your lover wasn't faithful to you is a little bit like acting rocked that your hair went grey. Human beings are sexual beings." So, is there a Just For Men: Cheater's Formula? We're a bit confused about Hawke's human nature analogy here.
There were no reservations in this relationship
After Anthony Bourdain died by suicide in June 2018, many cruelly pointed fingers at his girlfriend, Italian actor Asia Argento, who'd been photographed holding hands with a French journalist named Hugo Clement shortly before the celebrity chef's untimely passing. However, Argento insisted that the pair had an open relationship for the time they were together.
"People say I murdered him. They say I killed him," Argento told Daily Mail TV in a tearful interview in September 2018, admitting that she understood why people would search for answers as to why a beloved figure like Bourdain would take his own life. However, her alleged affair was not what it seemed. "He had cheated on me too," Argento said. "It wasn't a problem for us. He was a man who traveled 265 days a year. When we saw each other we took really great pleasure in each other's company. But we are not children. We are grown-ups." She added, "Anthony was 62, I was 42. We had lives, we had wives and husbands, we had children. I cannot think of Anthony as somebody who would do an extreme gesture like this for something like that."
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Wait, it's this Silicon Valley star who's in an open relationship?
"Silicon Valley" star Thomas Middleditch told Playboy that swinging saved his marriage to wife Mollie Gates. He explained that it wasn't until after they tied the knot that he decided he wanted an open relationship. "I'd always thought I was a romantic and that when I fall in love, that stuff fades away," he said of his urge to have sex with other people outside of his once-monogamous relationship. "It does for some years — enough to be like, 'I should get married, and I'll be different.' But it's part of me. If that's part of your being and it feels important to you, find a way to explore it because repression sucks."
Though Gates was game to find an arrangement that worked for her and Middleditch, there were still plenty of bumps in the road. Admitting that they've often argued over not always being on the same page in this situation, he added, "But it's better than feeling unheard and alone and that you have to scurry in the shadows." He also noted that they tend to trust one another more about meeting other potential partners in person than online.
"We're not off on our own; we're together, a unit," he said of their experience "in the lifestyle," which is what he called swinging. "It's a perpetual state of management and communication, to the point where it's like, 'All right, we've got to stop. Chill.' I'm gas, and she's brakes."
Did Shailene Woodley have an open relationship with this pro athlete?
Shailene Woodley has been open about her alternative lifestyle, love for nature, and has also dished about her love life. In an interview with The New York Times in 2020, "The Fault in Our Stars" actor admitted to once being in an open relationship. "Listen, I'm someone who has experienced both an open relationship and a deeply monogamous relationship in my life, and I think we're in a day and age where there should be no rules except for the ones designed by two people in a partnership — or three people, whatever floats your boat!" Woodley said.
She continued, "But there has to be a level of responsibility in any relationship dynamic, and that responsibility is simply honesty and communication and trust. Apart from that, it's really none of our business what people choose to do with their lives."
There's no word on which of her previous relationships were open. From 2017 to 2020, Woodley dated rugby player Ben Volavola. In February 2021, after dating for less than a year, it was announced that the actor was engaged to NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers — however, the pair split in early 2022.
Margaret Cho was in an open marriage for over 10 years
Comedian Margaret Cho was in an open marriage for 11 years. In 2003, the "Drop Dead Diva" star married artist Al Ridenour after dating for several years. That same year, she told Bond that her relationship was "very conventional and conservative." However, she forgot to mention that she and Ridenour were allowed to have different partners during their union.
Cho spoke about her open marriage with the women of "The Real" in 2013. "I'm married to a man, but I'm bisexual, so I like both. ... We got together because ... we both have this [idea of], 'I just don't want to have sex with the same person my whole life. That's gross,'" the comedian shared, adding that she's even cooked for the women Ridenour has brought home. A year later, when appearing on "Oprah: Where Are They Now?" Cho explained that she and her husband had made the decision to have an open relationship as soon as they began their romance because it suited them.
However, Cho filed for divorce from Ridenour in 2015.
Brody Jenner and ex Kaitlynn Carter allowed other people in the bedroom
In 2015, Brody Jenner — son of Olympic gold medalist Caitlyn Jenner — revealed to GQ that he and his then-girlfriend, Kaitlynn Carter, were open to inviting other people into their bedroom. "We're not opposed to having somebody else join in on our sexcapades," Brody said, adding, "I truly believe a lot more people are a lot more receptive than you think. And when the conversation was brought up, Kaitlynn said, 'I actually don't mind at all.' So I was extremely excited about that."
The couple's open relationship was brought up when the pair starred in MTV's "The Hills: New Beginnings." In a 2019 episode, when they were asked if they were in a polyamorous relationship, Brody shared, "You know, we just, we like what we like." Despite his not-so-clarifying answer, Carter pretty much confirmed that the couple did engage with other partners, but not without the other being present. "Everything with me and Brody is under my control, let's put it that way," Carter said on the show, per People.
The couple ended up splitting in 2019 after about a six-year relationship. And, despite the pair tying the knot in Indonesia a year prior, they never legalized their marriage in the United States, which meant they were technically never officially husband and wife.
Willow Smith revealed she's polyamorous on Red Table Talk
In a 2021 episode of "Red Table Talk," Willow Smith revealed that she lives a polyamorous lifestyle. "With polyamory, I feel like the main foundation is the freedom to be able to create a relationship style that works for you and not just stepping into monogamy because that's what everyone around you says is the right thing to do," Willow explained to her co-hosts, Jada Pinkett Smith (her mother) and Adrienne Banfield-Norris (her grandmother).
The singer continued, "So I was like, 'How can I structure the way that I approach relationships with that in mind?' Also, doing research into polyamory, the main [reason] ... why divorces happen is infidelity." In addition to explaining why she chose to become polyamorous, Willow defended the practice after her grandmother stated that the lifestyle only revolved around sex. "In my friend group, I'm the only polyamorous person, and I have the least sex out of all my friends," Willow said after stating that she "was introduced [to polyamory] through a nonsexual lens."
During their conversation, Jada was supportive of her daughter's choices, noting her understanding while emphasizing the importance of clarifying your relationship intentions to yourself and everyone else involved. We wonder if Willow's parents' alleged open relationship had any influence on their daughter's lifestyle.
It's all about the love for Lizzo
In an interview with Vanity Fair in October 2022, singer Lizzo called her boyfriend, comedian and actor Myke Wright, "the love of my life" and her "life mate." However, that didn't mean the "Truth Hurts" singer believed in spending the rest of her life with just one person. In fact, she explained how she wasn't a fan of monogamy on the radio show "The Breakfast Club" that July, despite having a lot of love for her partner.
"I think a traditional relationship scares me for 10 years, but love is forever. I can love somebody forever. ... Monogamy, I think to me, is a little claustrophobic ... because there's the rules. I think a love relationship that's not monogamous has no rules," Lizzo shared. She continued, "It just means that there are just no expectations, and that way, the love gets to just be the main event. ... It's like, do what you wanna do, as long as you love me."
Lizzo and Wright worked together on MTV's "Wonderland" series in 2016 and ignited dating rumors in March 2021. Her romance with the comedian became Instagram official in February 2023 when the two walked the red carpet for Clive Davis' pre-Grammys gala and shared a few since-deleted highlights of that day on the social media platform.
Demi Moore paid the ultimate price for this agreement with Ashton Kutcher
Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore's 15-year-age gap definitely caused a stir when they started dating in 2003. They tied the knot in 2005 but called it quits in 2011 following several cheating accusations on Kutcher's part. In 2010, Brittney Jones alleged that she became intimate with Kutcher in the couple's home. Then, just a month before Moore announced their separation, a woman named Sara Leal claimed to have slept with the actor in a San Diego hotel. Years later, Moore seemingly proved all these rumors to be true.
In fact, rumors spread that the couple had an open marriage, but that didn't seem to be entirely the case. In her memoir "Inside Out," Moore revealed that she agreed to have threesomes, but it backfired. "I put him first. So when he expressed his fantasy of bringing a third person into our bed, I didn't say no. I wanted to show him how great and fun I could be," Moore wrote in her book, as reported by People. However, Kutcher allegedly used it against her when it came to his reported infidelities. "Because we had brought a third party into our relationship, Ashton said, that blurred the lines and, to some extent, justified what he'd done," the actor had written.
The couple's divorce was finalized in 2013.
Kehlani was okay with an open romance as long as there was communication
In May 2020, R&B singer Kehlani spoke with "The Breakfast Club" radio show, where they revealed that they had an open relationship with rapper YG. The singer admitted that although they and the rapper, who was seen kissing another woman at a nightclub, allowed one another to see other people, there was a breaking point for the "Beautiful Lies" singer that ended their very brief romance.
"I lowkey am saying s*** can go down as long as everything is communicated because everyone's adults. I know how this life is," Kehlani shared, adding that the end of their relationship resulted from "a lot of lies and a lot of covering up." When asked to define an open relationship, Kehlani expressed that no two open relationships looked the same, with couples having to decide what they feel is crossing the line and what is deemed appropriate. "I think it's whatever boundaries you guys set with each other," the singer stated. Despite having such openness with YG, Kehlani told the hosts that they weren't interested in anyone while the two were an item.
Since Kehlani's interview, the singer came out as lesbian in early 2021. Joking about the revelation on TikTok, they shared, "I guess I just wanted ya'll to know everyone knew but me."
Frankie Grande found himself in a throuple
On May 4, 2022, Frankie Grande married Hale Leon in a "Star Wars"-themed wedding. Captioning a series of photos of their big day, Frankie shared in part on Instagram, "I'm married to the man of my dreams, our families have merged together so beautifully, and we are well on our way to happily ever after. I love you Hale Grande. I am so so honored to be your husband." However, the older brother of superstar Ariana Grande wasn't always into a monogamous relationship.
In 2018, Frankie proclaimed that he was in a relationship with two men who were married to each other. Speaking with "Access Hollywood," he shared that he was involved in a throuple with a doctor and a lawyer, adding, "I was very open to the possibilities of what does love look like? What could love be? It just happened." Frankie also noted that he was not in an open relationship despite being with two other people. "It is an ethical and committed non-monogamy. Everyone knows what's going on."
Now married, Frankie told Page Six that his involvement with two other men helped him realize he was always "just a one-man man."
Drew Barrymore's brief romance with Luke Wilson had no set rules
Drew Barrymore dated several men in Hollywood, including actor Luke Wilson from 1996 to 1998. They even starred as love interests in the late '90s films "Home Fries" and "Best Men." After their split, Wilson spoke highly of Barrymore's professionalism when they both starred in the 2000 film "Charlie's Angels." "That's Drew — she didn't let the personal stuff get in the way," the actor told People.
And though their romance was over many years ago, Barrymore brought up their brief relationship while talking to fellow actor Kate Hudson on her talk show "The Drew Barrymore Show" in 2022. "When we first met, we were young and wild," Barrymore said when addressing how she and Hudson first met at a bar while she was with Wilson. "... I was dating [Luke], but I think he was also dating other people. Yeah, totally, it was an open relationship, we were young," she continued. Hudson laughed and added, "I've been there with a Wilson too," referencing Luke's brother, Owen Wilson, who she dated on and off from 2006 to 2009.
An open relationship worked for RuPaul and Georges LeBar
Famed drag queen RuPaul has kept much of his relationship with his husband, Georges LeBar, under the radar. However, one thing that RuPaul did disclose is that they allowed it to be an open relationship. Sharing his thoughts on the subject with Vanity Fair in 2019, RuPaul stated, "I wouldn't want to put restraints on the person I love the most on this planet. ... Listen, if you get something happening that you cannot resist and that is gonna make you happy, go for it." He continued, "Because the truth is, I know in my heart of hearts like I've ever known anything before that man loves me more than anything else in this world."
An open relationship between RuPaul and LeBar meant that the duo had enormous trust for one another. Having been together for nearly three decades, RuPaul shed light on why their open arrangement ended up working when he told The Guardian in 2018, "He is respectful of me. He would never turn it into something that would make me feel uncomfortable, and I wouldn't do that to him either." RuPaul added, "The truth of the matter is that there aren't many people that I like. I'm usually bored by people, you know. I'd rather be alone reading a book or something."
RuPaul and LeBar began dating in 1994 after meeting at the Limelight Club in New York City. They finally decided to make it official by tying the knot in 2017.
This Boy Meets World star was in an open marriage for years
William Daniels and Bonnie Bartlett have been married since 1951 and are credited with having one of Hollywood's longest marriages. However, their union had its fair share of bumps in the road. In an interview with Fox News Digital in January 2023, Bartlett revealed that the stars were in an open marriage for quite a few years. "I guess it was a little bit of an open marriage at first, but that was very painful. That didn't work well," Bartlett shared. "And it was a time when people were doing that. It was a time in New York when there was a lot of sex and a lot of people doing all sorts of things, you know — very free."
As reported by Fox News Digital, in her memoir "Middle of the Rainbow," Bartlett recalled that both she and the "Boy Meets World" actor engaged in extramarital affairs in the early stages of their marriage. "I never felt guilty because I was never tied to fidelity, and neither was Bill," she wrote. Bartlett admitted to being involved in a months-long affair in 1959 — but learning about her husband's affair in the '70s with a producer had her wanting to end their open marriage.
The pair eventually worked on their relationship and celebrated 72 years together in June 2023.