15 Gorgeous Celebs Who Were Brutally Dumped

Getting dumped isn't easy for anyone, but for celebrities, it can be particularly tough. Sure, they can take their huge paychecks and jet off to a tropical island to nurse their broken hearts - that part is a bonus, and might make things a little bit easier. However, when they go through a breakup, things are often splashed across the pages of every tabloid, and the paparazzi follow them trying to get shots of them looking sad or heartbroken. Add to that the fact that most celebrity relationships are in the public eye to begin with, which means that many fans don't want to see their favourite couple break up, and you've got a whole mess of a situation. Who wants that kind of public attention when you're nursing your wounds and feeling sad about a relationship ending?

Given all that, you would think that celebrities would recognize the unique challenges of breaking up when you're in the public eye and keep things respectable and private, right? Well, not quite - it seems celebs can be jerks too, and aren't always the kindest when it comes to breaking up. In fact, some of them can be shockingly awful when it comes time to ending a relationship.

Here are 15 gorgeous celebs who were brutally dumped.

15 Jennifer Aniston

Back when they were married, Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt were Hollywood's golden couple. They were toned, tanned California royalty. She had a hugely successful television show under her belt, his movie career kept picking up steam year after year, and no one rocked a red carpet quite like they did. Then, Angelina Jolie happened. While Brad didn't come out and say anything vicious about Jen, many tabloids buzzed about the fact that he had apparently been checking into hotels with his Mr. and Mrs. Smith co-star while he and Aniston were still married. And, given that he divorced Aniston within the year and then went on to start up a serious relationship with Angelina Jolie definitely sends a pretty clear message about how things went down in that situation. Jen has since found her perfect match, but at the time, that's a pretty brutal thing to go through - even though much of the public sided with her, you still don't want to see your marriage and your partner's supposed affair splashed across every tabloid.

14 Katy Perry

Ending a relationship is tough enough, but ending a marriage is even tougher. There's a whole other level of commitment that goes into the latter, and your lives are often far more intertwined. British actor and comedian Russell Brand and pop star Katy Perry had a bit of a whirlwind relationship, and ended up tying the knot fairly quickly - but it seemed to be working for them. That is, until it wasn't. And rather than sitting down to have a mature conversation, Russell Brand decided to end their marriage with a text message. As Katy Perry spilled to Vogue, “let's say I haven't heard from him since he texted me saying he was divorcing me December 31, 2011.” Uh, yikes! Not only is that a brutal thing to do to someone, but what a way to ensure your partner's year gets off to an awful start. Can you imagine planning to ring in the new year, all excited about the future, only to get informed of your upcoming divorce via text? That's cold.

13 Laura Dern

Angelina Jolie strikes again! Many have forgotten about Laura Dern's past relationship with Billy Bob Thornton, but the gorgeous actress was actually engaged to Thornton for a while. It seemed to be a bit of an odd pairing at first, but Dern seems to like her men with a bit more of a free spirited vibe, so it was all working out. Then, Dern went to film a movie on location somewhere, as most actors do, and got a bit of a nasty surprise. You kind of have to hear it in her own words to believe it - “I left our home to go and make a movie and while I was away, my boyfriend got married and I never heard from him again.” That's right - Thornton was still dating Dern, and she thought things were going swimmingly, and then he went off and married Angelina Jolie while she was away working. That's beyond brutal.

12 Ariana Grande

Many singers try to get in a certain zone before they take the stage, to ensure that they can deliver a stellar performance. They prefer that no one bothers them so that they can truly focus. Unfortunately, Ariana Grande's ex-boyfriend didn't get the memo. A while back, the pop starlet was dating Jai Brooks. When he decided to break things off, he didn't wait until they had a private moment at some later time - he had to get it done ASAP. Grande spilled the details, saying that “the worst way I've been broken up with was probably over a text message the opening night of my tour right before I was about to go on stage.” Uh… ouch! Breaking up with someone via text is savage enough, but why on earth would you decide to do so before they went on stage, and on the very first night of their big tour that they're likely very excited about? That's a jerk move, Jai Brooks.

11 Jordin Sparks

For a while, Jordin Sparks and Jason Derulo were R&B's dream couple - so fresh faced, so adorable. However, after three years together, Jason decided that things just weren't working out, so he broke up with her. It's pretty sad, especially after being together for a considerable amount of time like that, but understandable - sometimes things don't work out. That part of this story is fine - the awful part is how he chose to break up with her. Apparently, Jason Derulo figured the best way to end things after three years together was with a quick phone call while he was out of town. Seriously. To their credit, Derulo's fans were totally unimpressed by the jerk move, and he actually had to do some press interviews trying to defend his decision. Honestly, though - if you're together for three weeks, maybe a phone call isn't that awful, but three years? That girl deserved a face to face.

10 Minnie Driver

This one is from a while back, but it definitely merits inclusion on a list of celebrities who were brutally dumped because it's pretty awful. Back in the day, curly haired cutie Minnie Driver was dating Matt Damon. The two had been together about seven months - not a huge stretch of time, but impressive in the fickle world of Hollywood nonetheless. Matt went on Oprah, and in their discussion ended up describing himself as single - even though everyone knew he was dating Minnie Driver, and the couple certainly hadn't discussed appearing single to the public. Basically, it was a very public, very brutal break-up. As Minnie Driver later said of the situation, “it seemed like a good forum for him to announce to the world that we were no longer together, which I found fantastically inappropriate.” We're siding with her on this one - he's happily married now and hopefully a bit kinder, but yikes, that's brutal!

9 Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift's boy drama has been well documented over the years, but the one that kind of started it all, her first high profile celebrity relationship, was with Joe Jonas. The two dated for a while, becoming pop's squeaky cleanest couple, and finally he decided to end things. Swift had no qualms about disclosing exactly how things went down on The Ellen Degeneres Show, saying that “when I find that person that is right for me, he'll be wonderful and I'm not even going to remember the boy who broke up with me over the phone in 25 seconds when I was 18.” On the plus side, that situation definitely gave her some ammunition for songwriting; however, it's still a pretty awful way to dump someone. Plus, come on - if your girlfriend is a songwriter who is known for putting her emotions into her songs, dumping her in such a brutal way is just asking for trouble!

8 Rita Ora

Okay, pull up your chair - if you thought getting dumped via text message was bad, can you imagine getting dumped via social media? British babe Rita Ora was just going on about her day when she decided to scroll through social media a bit, like we all do. She was checking out Twitter and discovered that her boyfriend, Calvin Harris, had tweeted that the two weren't together anymore. That's right - he told the public he was breaking up with Rita before he actually had the courtesy to break up with Rita in person. And, to rub a little salt in the wound, he also told her that he wouldn't allow her to perform her single “I Will Never Let You Down,” simply because he wrote it. Brutal, petty, and just awful in general. What on earth is it about this guy that allows him to snag such gorgeous, talented women?

7 Sandra Bullock

Let's be honest - Sandra Bullock could have had just about any guy out there. She's absolutely gorgeous, has a great career, and seems like a really sweet, down to earth person. However, of all the celebrities and musicians out there, she fell for a tattooed bad boy Jesse James. Hey, the heart wants what it wants, right? As long as Sandy was happy, the world was willing to accept the bad boy as her date to red carpet events and hear her gushing about what a good husband he was. That is, until the news got out that he had apparently been cheating on her for years. And, rather than accepting the blame and acknowledging that he had messed up, James used his public platform to say that Bullock had never made him feel loved. Uh… what a jerk. Luckily, Sandra Bullock moved on with grace, and is now a happy mom, but still - who behaves like that?

6 Shania Twain

It's especially terrible to be dumped when you've been together for years and your lives are so intertwined, as Shania Twain knows well. The country superstar had been married to ex-hubby Robert “Mutt” Lange for fourteen years - over a decade - and she worked with him regularly. Basically, every aspect of her life involved him. However, their union came to an end when Lange ended up cheating with her BFF Marie Thiebaud. It's bad enough when a celeb is dumped because their partner has been cheating - it's embarrassing, it's highly public, and it create a huge scandal. The fact that he was cheating with someone who Shania was so close to just rubs salt in the wound. It all ended up working out well in the end, with Shania actually finding love with Marie's former husband (such a tangled web!), but Shania has said that the break-up was so brutal and devastating she thought she might never even sing again.

5 Kim Kardashian

Kim Kardashian has been on both sides of the fence when it comes to brutal break-ups, but in this particular situation, she was the victim. As many know, before she was with famous rapper Kanye West and started creating a little Kardashian West family, Kim dated Reggie Bush. Things weren't working out, and apparently Bush decided to end the relationship by texting Kim. Now, we get it - the Kardashian girls are pretty much glued to their phones, so that's a surefire way to ensure that your message is received, but still - that's brutal. There were rumours swirling at the time that the real reason may have been because Bush was cheating on her, but Kim didn't really comment about the specifics - probably because she just wanted to forget the fact that she had been dumped via text! I mean honestly, who does that?

4 Perrie Edwards

For a while, Perrie Edwards of Little Mix and Zayn Malik of One Direction were pop's biggest couple. Perrie was in a successful British girl group, Zayn was in a successful British boy band, and they looked absolutely gorgeous together. They even got engaged! However, eventually things went south - and Edwards got her revenge by spilling all the details in a Little Mix book. She wrote about her single status and how happy she was in her life at the moment, but she mentioned the break-up, saying that “it was horrible, the worst time of my life. A four-year relationship, two-year engagement ended by a simple text message. Just like that.” Seriously - what on earth is giving these celebs the idea that it's okay to dump people via text message? It's such an awful thing to do, and sends a message that you absolutely don't care enough about your former partner to even tell them to their face.

3 Jennifer Aniston (again!)

Okay, seriously - before she found current hubby Justin Theroux, Jennifer Aniston had a stretch of being really, really unlucky in love. The woman is absolutely gorgeous and seems to be getting hotter with every passing year, but for some reason, she ended up with guys who were kind of jerks. Now, John Mayer has gotten flack for his jerk moves in various relationships, but this one is especially awful. Apparently, when the two were dating, they had a phone argument - something that a lot of couples have, particularly if you spend so much time away from one another because of your busy schedules. At some point, he hung up on her during the call - a jerk move already. Then, apparently, he broke up with her by sending a simple text saying that it was over. On the one hand, it's better than seeing your husband's cheating splashed across the tabloids. On the other hand, it's getting dumped via text - pretty brutal.

2 Jessica Simpson

Jessica Simpson has had a few longer term, serious relationships - such as her marriage to first hubby Nick Lachey, and the two years she was with quarterback Tony Romo - before she married her current husband, pro athlete Eric Johnson. However, that doesn't mean she's a stranger to the dating scene - in between serious relationships, Simpson has definitely played the field a little, and even had a short fling with fellow musician Adam Levine. Now it wasn't a serious relationship, but they had gone on a few dates. Then, Levine decided it just wasn't working out, and allegedly he sent the blonde bombshell a text saying that he was busy and needed space. That's a double whammy! Not only is getting dumped via text awful, but making such a lame 'it's not you it's me' excuse makes it even worse. Simpson is happily married now, but we imagine at the time she wanted to punch him a little bit.

1 Laura Govan

While not exactly an A-List celeb, Laura Govan appeared on the reality show Basketball Wives when she was dating pro athlete Gilbert Arenas. Now, the duo had a notoriously conflict-filled relationship, but this takes things to a whole new level. The way Arenas broke up with Govan was so brutal that she literally sued him for it. This isn't just a text message break-up - Arenas apparently kicked Govan out of their home, took her super pricey engagement ring back - using force - and then proceeded to sell the ring and keep the money. Given how much money professional athletes and celebrities make, usually they try to make things a bit easier for their partner by giving them the house they may share, or allowing them to keep gifts they may have received over the years, but Arenas was having none of it. Harsh!