Drew Barrymore's First Marriage Was A Short-Lived Disaster

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Drew Barrymore is no stranger to divorce, having scored a hat trick in that arena. Most recently, in 2016, Barrymore and her third husband, Will Kopelman, finalized their divorce after four years of marriage, though the exes maintain a co-parenting relationship for the sake of their two children. Prior to this, however, the "Scream" star had an even shorter marriage to Tom Green. Barrymore and Green wed in July 2001, only for Green to file for divorce the following December. However, even that doesn't hold a candle to just how short-lived Barrymore's first marriage was.

In March 1994, a then-19-year-old Barrymore married 31-year-old Jeremy Thomas, a bar owner who had been her boyfriend for all of a month and a half at that point. The two separated after just 19 days of marriage, with Barrymore formally filing for divorce in May. The split was finalized in 1995. That year, during an interview with Rolling Stone, Barrymore made it clear that she was better off after the divorce, calling Thomas "the devil." According to the unauthorized 2000 biography "Happily Ever After: The Drew Barrymore Story", she married Thomas to help him secure a green card, later accusing him of more or less being a gold digger.

This got us wondering if these sorts of whirlwind marriages are always doomed to fail, so The List decided to ask dating and relationship coach Nicole Haley. "Very few relationships that move extremely fast, like getting married after only a few weeks or months, actually stand the test of time," Haley told us, though clarified that the reasons for this aren't always malicious. "You simply haven't had enough time to truly know each other," she explained.

Given the information we have about the short-lived romance between Drew Barrymore and her first husband, Jeremy Thomas, it seems like a lack of authenticity on Thomas' part was at the heart of why things fell apart so quickly. While it's unclear if spending more time together before tying the knot would've helped much, dating expert Nicole Haley explained that part of the reason why marriages like this don't last is that the people involved quite simply don't actually know each other all that well yet.

"Chemistry and excitement can feel like love, but they can also mask red flags or fundamental differences that only surface later," Haley told us, adding, "It usually takes about six months just to begin dropping the masks and showing up authentically. Then it often takes another six months or more to truly feel seen and heard, to understand whether your needs can be met mutually, and to determine if your values and lifestyles are genuinely aligned."

The 12-year age gap between Barrymore and Thomas was another possible issue with their short-lived union. According to Haley, while a significant age gap isn't necessarily a problem in and of itself, it does make the length of time before marriage even more significant. "The larger the age difference, the more important it becomes to take time to understand each other's perspectives, experiences, and expectations," she said. The expert concluded, "Love grows over time; it is not built in a sprint. Whether there is an age gap or not, taking time allows you to see who someone truly is, rather than who you hope or imagine them to be."