Does it really exist – the famous Oscar curse? Researchers at the University of Toronto and Carnegie Mellon University took a closer look at awards ceremonies between 1936 and 2010.
Result: If an actor wins an Oscar, the chances of their relationship breaking up increase.
According to the study, the marriages of the lucky winners lasted only 4.3 years on average, while the marriages of the losers lasted 9.5 years.
Who are those ladies and gentlemen who are suddenly single again shortly after their big win? Blue News will tell you.
Sandra Bullock and Jesse James
Sandra Bullock was stunned twice in March 2010: at the beginning of the month, when she was presented with an Oscar for her leading role in “Blind Side”, and at the end of the month, when she learned about her husband Jesse James’s affair with Michelle “Bombshell” McGee, a model with tattoos all over her body.
Shortly after winning an Oscar in 2010, Sandra Bullock separated from her husband Jesse James.
Image: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images
Bullock and James were married for five years and adopted a child in January 2010. Since their divorce in June 2010, Sandra Bullock has sole custody.
Since mid-2015, she was in a relationship with photographer Brian Randall, who died in 2023 at the age of 57 after a long battle against the incurable muscle and nerve disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Julia Roberts and Benjamin Bratt
When Julia Roberts won an Oscar for “Erin Brockovich” in 2001, her partner Benjamin Bratt was still happy with her – four months later, the couple announced their separation after four years.
They parted on good terms, Roberts explained to David Letterman at the time, and no one was to blame. However, both soon found solace.
Benjamin Bratt married actress Talisa Soto in April 2002, Julia Roberts married cameraman Danny Moder in July 2002. In an interview for Gwyneth Paltrow’s podcast in 2019, Roberts expressed his love for her: “She really is, to this day, to this very minute, just my favorite person.”
Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe
Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe had a storybook marriage for seven years — until a man named Oscar came into the actress’s life in 2006:
Six months after Witherspoon thanked the Academy for her Oscar nod for “Walk the Line,” he filed for divorce due to irreconcilable differences.
Six months after winning an Oscar for “Walk the Line,” Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe have split.
Image: Kevin Winter/Getty Images
Witherspoon has been happily married to her new husband Jim Toth – and her Oscar – since March 26, 2011. And he also achieved a second nomination in 2015 with “The Big Trip – Wild”, without losing his marriage. However, the couple separated in 2023 without any curse.
Sean Penn and Robin Wright
She is an “immortal emotional inspiration” to him: When he won his first Oscar for “Mystic River” in 2004, Sean Penn thanked his then-wife Robin Wright (“House of Cards”) profusely.
When he was honored again in 2009 for “Milk”, Penn did not mention him at all in his acceptance speech. Was it silence or the “Oscar curse”?
The couple separated in 2010 after 14 years of marriage. Neither found lasting marital bliss after that: Penn was married to fellow actress Lila George from 2020 to 2022, while Wright was married to fashion manager Clement Giraudet from 2018 to 2022.
Kate Winslet and Sam Mendes
In March 2010, the marriage of Kate Winslet and director Sam Mendes also broke up at that seventh year – but jealousy of the Oscar that Winslet had won for “The Reader” a year earlier was probably not the reason: after all, thanks to her film “American Beauty”, Mendes already had a marriage of her own.
Actress Kate Winslet and director Sam Mendes’ marriage has failed in its seventh year.
Image: Imago/UPI Photo
Kate Winslet has been married to Ned Rocknroll since December 2012. Good news: The best man was her “Titanic” partner Leonardo DiCaprio. Speaking of which: When he won his first Oscar for ‘The Revenant’ in 2016 after a long wait, the actor was officially in a relationship with model Kelly Rohrbach.
The couple broke up soon after the awards ceremony. However, it’s doubtful that eternal heartthrob and bachelor DiCaprio blames the Oscar curse for this.
Halle Berry and Eric Bennett
Halle Berry’s acceptance speech at the 2002 Academy Awards went down in history. She was the first black leading actress to win an Oscar for her role in “Monster’s Ball” — an emotional moment in which she even tearfully thanked her then-husband Eric Bennett.
But his happiness did not last long. By October 2003, the marriage had broken down. This was due to reports of Bennett’s sex addiction and multiple affairs, which eventually became public. Berry filed for divorce.
Even later, the actress did not immediately find lasting happiness in her personal life. Her marriage to Olivier Martínez was also unsuccessful. But Berry is looking toward the future: She’s been dating musician Van Hunt since 2020, and the couple announced their engagement in February.
Hilary Swank and Chad Lowe
When Hilary Swank won her first Oscar in 2000 for “Boys Don’t Cry,” everything seemed stable in her personal life, too. At the time, the actress was married to her co-worker Chad Lowe, whom she had been with since the 1990s.
Hilary Swank and Chad Lowe split shortly after winning an Oscar for “Million Dollar Baby.”
Image: Kevin Winter/Getty Images
But after his second Oscar for “Million Dollar Baby” in 2005, many things changed. The increasing professional pressures and life in the spotlight have put a strain on the relationship.
Less than a year later, the couple announced their separation. Today, the actress is married again: In 2018, she tied the knot with entrepreneur Philipp Schneider. In 2023, the couple became parents of twins.
Jennifer Hudson and James Peyton
Jennifer Hudson’s breakthrough came in 2007: she won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the musical film ‘Dreamgirls’. Shortly after, personal news made headlines: the singer and actress split from her long-term boyfriend James Payton.
The couple had known each other since they were teenagers and had spent several years together. But Hudson’s sudden global success also fundamentally changed his everyday life. An insider at the time revealed that their interests had diverged – she was suddenly constantly on the road while his life was rapidly changing.
The Oscar Curse – An Old Phenomenon?
Incidentally, the Oscar curse is not a new phenomenon: Ingrid Bergman and Roberto Rossellini’s marriage is said to have fallen victim to it. The actress and director divorced in 1957 after seven years of marriage – just months after the Swedish actress was awarded an Oscar for “Anastasia.”
Liza Minnelli took divorce papers in hand shortly after winning an Oscar in 1973 – but she had already separated from her husband Peter Allen months before the first shooting of her breakthrough film “Cabaret.”
Image: Larry Ellis/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Liza Minnelli also took divorce papers in hand shortly after winning her Oscar in 1973 – although she had already separated from her husband Peter Allen just months before the first clapperboard fell for her breakthrough film “Cabaret.”
The relationship is said to have been fraught with tension from the beginning – possibly also because Allen gradually became aware of his homosexuality. The singer came to the fore a few years later.