The interest in celebrity divorce is one of the most complex examples of what Freud called “Schadenfreude.” Schadenfreude is a German word for “taking delight in the problems and misfortune of others.” Researchers suggest Schadenfreude may be one of the reasons that collectively as a society, we are interested in celebrity divorce and gossip. I certainly can identify. Having gone through a particularly traumatic divorce, seeing someone who’s having a worse time makes me feel better about my own situation.
Here are three recent celebrity divorces that have played out in the Twitterverse:
1. Charlie Sheen and Denise Richards:
An article on celebrity train wreck divorces can’t be written without mention of Charlie Sheen and ex Denise Richards. Charlie is a train wreck on his own – but when combined with with ex Denise, the internets collectively gasps for breath. The couple has been famous for their on again off again co-parenting relationship of their two children Sam, 10, and 8-year-old Lola – which they have both taken to the Twitterverse.
A tweet at Christmas from Sheen (now removed) used the hashtag “#TooMuchChild$upport” to suggest that he’s not getting enough time with the girls and paying too much money for the privilege. RadarOnline has reported that Sheen has asked Richards to move out of his multi-million dollar mansion. This train wreck just keeps on burning.
2. Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries:
And on the subject of train wreck celebrity divorces one can’t help but look at the entire Kardashian family. The resent splits of Kardashian mom Kris from Bruce Jenner and sister Khloe from Lamar Odom have been on the tip of many tongues over the last little while. But sister Kim’s August 2011 televised marriage to NBA player Kris Humphries and divorce 72 days later continues to overshadow the rest of her family. This split resulted in a ton of internet haters and the emergence of two worldwide trending topics on Twitter:
#ThingsLongerThanKimsMarriage and
#KimKMarriageWasShorter.
The hashtags continue to trend today – despite the recent birth of daughter North West and Kimmie’s upcoming nuptials with fiancé, hip hop recording artist (and infamous internet train wreck) Kanye West.
Some of my favourites:
#ThingsLongerThanKimsMarriage a game of Flappy Bird
— Rebecca Daun (@BexDaun) January 27, 2014
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Our thoughts exactly about the Kim Kardashian divorce. #kimkmarriagewasshorter pic.twitter.com/xeGsr7WW
— New York City Pride (@NYCPride)
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3. Brandi Glanville and Eddie Cibrian:
The Twitterverse has also been afire with tweets from Brandi Glanville of “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” fame related to her split with former hubby, actor Eddie Cibrian. Brandi has been infamous for her twitter rants directed at her ex-spouse and his new wife, pop and country singer LeAnn Rimes.
Last month, Brandi tweeted a claim that Eddie wanted child support from her. Eddie took to the media and responded swiftly. Eddie said that the suggestion he’d asked her for child support for the former couple’s two sons, Mason 10, and Jake, 6 was “preposterous”. Her latest rant coincided with the release of her new book (hmmmm…perhaps Eddie is not too far off the mark when he suggests that her twitter rants are “self promotion’).
This was the latest rant:
Im not taking cheap shots at my ex in my new book cuz its all true, & now mr fancy new cars & house man is asking ME for child support! Uknownada
— Brandi Glanville (@BrandiGlanville) February 18, 2014
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Divorce in general is an incredibly difficult and painful experience. Celebrity gossip certainly seems like one way that you can put your own divorce into perspective. While you may have a high-conflict ex, at the very least, I hope you’re able to say that your divorce isn’t quite as bad as these three. Try not to take too much delight in the gossip, but at the very least – perhaps you can remain thankful that your own train wreck isn’t playing out on the world’s stage.
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