Celebrity Couples Who Stayed Together After Affair Drama Rocked Their Relationships

Hollywood hookups aren't uncommon. You put two gorgeous people in an exotic location, throw in a sex scene or two, and, well, things happen. But what if one or both of those people are married? Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, Bogart and Bacall, Brad and Angelina ... the list of famous philanderers goes on and on. Some celebrity couples throw in the matrimonial towel at the first whiff of infidelity, while others turn a blind eye. Then there are those who acknowledge that there's trouble in paradise, but choose to work through it.

These couples choose door number three. Their marital (and extramarital) affairs became public knowledge, forcing them to deal with their private issues in the public eye. But rather than cut and run, they toughed it out, enduring the gossip and headlines to make it work. Why? Only they know for sure. But we're guessing things like public apologies and admissions of guilt didn't hurt. And as for the old adage, "Once a cheater, always a cheater," experts say that's not always the case. There are many things to consider like whether or not it was a one-time slip-up. "Someone with a longer pattern of infidelity is definitely more likely to cheat again than someone who's only done it once — unless they've done serious work on themselves," Dr. Kayla Knopp, PhD, co-founder and clinical psychologist at Enamory in San Diego, told Self. While that doesn't make an indiscretion any less painful, it does make a case for why some people fight for the relationship and, occasionally, come back stronger. 

One of the most, um, open celebrity couples out there, country singer Jelly Roll and his wife Bunnie Xo have shared so many details about their relationship it borders on TMI. What we've learned is that theirs has been a rather unconventional take on matrimony and monogamy. "We both live by the motto that we aren't each other's possessions and consider our relationship to be free, not open," the former escort wrote in her memoir "Stripped Down: Unfiltered and Unapologetic," per People. 

Despite that laissez-faire attitude (and a penchant for threesomes), there was an affair drama that will always haunt Jelly Roll's relationship with Bunnie Xo. If you're wondering how someone can technically cheat in a relationship that allows for sexual freedom, you're not alone. However, this relationship in 2018 went beyond the couple's usual bedroom antics, and lasted for months. When Bunnie found out, she admitted in her book that she considered taking her own life. After separating for three months, the sometimes controversial couple eventually worked things out and, of course, talked about it publicly. On the "Human School" podcast, Jelly Roll admitted, "One of the worst moments of my adulthood was when I had an affair," but added that they were able to work through it and come out "stronger than ever." How did they do it? "Love, man," the "Fire Country" actor told People. "Love will always do it." 

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He may be a funny man, but no one was laughing when Kevin Hart was caught on tape with his pants down (so to speak) in Vegas. In 2017, it was revealed that the "Fatherhood" star was being blackmailed with a sex-tape video where he appeared to be cheating on his wife, Eniko Parrish, with a woman named Montia Sabbag. What happened in Vegas did not stay in Vegas. As the scandal grew, Hart (who blamed the drug Ecstasy for his behavior) was forced to fess up. In an emotional Instagram video, he publicly apologized to his pregnant wife and children. "I gotta do better and I will," he captioned the mea culpa. "I'm not perfect and have never claimed to be ...I love you all." 

The comedian's wife wasn't the only one hurt by his cheating ways. Kevin Hart's infidelity affected his young daughter, too. The father of four had to have a "Hart to Hart" with oldest daughter Heaven, whom he shares with his ex-wife, Torrei Hart. "Getting my daughter back, getting my daughter to understand that I'm sorry, that I made a mistake, that was real," he told Will Smith on "Real Table Talk" (per Page Six). As for Parrish, in the Netflix documentary "Kevin Hart: Don't F**k This Up," she expressed her hurt, and revealed why she stayed. "I believe in second chances," she said (per People). "I'm all about forgiveness, and you only get two times. Three strikes you're out, you're out of here." 

They may have seemed like Hollywood's most rock-solid couple, but in 2016, Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne almost got a divorce. No, it wasn't for his well-documented drug and alcohol abuse, or the amount of groupies "The Talk" host knew he bedded. The straw that broke the camel's back after 33 years of marriage was the late metal god's four-year fling with hairstylist Michelle Pugh. "He always, always had groupies and I was so used to that," Sharon, who was 63 at the time of the split, told Mirror UK. "But when he knows the name of the person, where they live and where they work... it is a whole different thing as you are emotionally invested."

The news was such a blow to the mom of three that she tried to take her own life. "I just thought, 'My kids are older, they are fine and can take care of themselves,' she said at a London theatre show (per Mirror UK). "So I took an overdose and locked myself in the bedroom. The maid tried to come in to clean room and saw me." Ozzy went into therapy for sex addiction following the scandal, and the couple reconciled two months later. In an episode of "The Talk" (per People), Sharon explained why she took the "dirty dog" back. "I forgive," she said. "It's going take a long time to trust, but we've been together 36 years, 34 of marriage ... I just can't think of my life without him."

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They have been together since high school, but inside Jon Bon Jovi's relationship with his wife Dorothea, things haven't always been a bed of roses. The New Jersey natives have had their fair share of the perils and pitfalls that come with a rock 'n' roll lifestyle — including the groupies. With his good looks and rock star stage presence, Jon Bon Jovi had no shortage of admirers. Although he has never come out and openly said, "I cheated," he implied as much in the ABC primetime special "Halfway There." He joked with host Michael Strahan about how he "got away with murder" before confessing, "I'm not saying that there weren't 100 girls in my life. I'm Jon Bon Jovi," (per Complex). The rocker quickly backpedaled on that statement in an interview with The Independent. "These are all the wonderful clichés of rock stardom ... It's about never lying about having been a saint, but not being a fool enough to f*** up the home life, either." 

Dorothea, who has been with her man since he went by Jon Bongiovi, has not commented on her husband's implied infidelity, but she has stayed with him for almost 40 years. The couple, who share four children, seem to be as strong as ever — and as plenty of other celebrity couples have proven, it isn't easy to juggle a marriage and children with fame and fortune. Nevertheless, Dorothea acknowledged to People that "somehow it works" for her and Jon. "I think because we grow at the same rate," she said. "We grew equally and not in opposite directions."

There have been plenty of weird things about Bill and Hillary Clinton's marriage that everyone ignores, but one thing that couldn't be swept under the rug was the former president's affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky in 1995. The affair set off a firestorm of media attention (not to mention cigar jokes) as the president vehemently denied any allegations of sexual misconduct — until he didn't. In 1998, after appearing before the grand jury, Bill addressed the nation and admitted to the relationship he classified as "inappropriate," and "wrong." "It constituted a critical lapse in judgment and a personal failure on my part for which I am solely and completely responsible," he said (per The History Place). The former commander in chief expressed his regret and committed to repairing the damage. "I must put it right, and I am prepared to do whatever it takes to do so."

In her book, "What Happened," Hillary finally answered the question that had been on the public's mind ever since that speech: Why did she stay? Without specifically naming the Lewinsky scandal, she wrote (per the Sydney Morning Herald), "There were times that I was deeply unsure about whether our marriage could or should survive." She added, "But on those days I asked myself the question that mattered most to me: Do I still love him? And can I still be in this marriage without becoming unrecognizable to myself — twisted by anger, resentment, or remoteness. The answers were always yes. So I kept going."

Pink and Carey Hart's relationship has been filled with red flags, yet they have managed to stay married for 20 years and share two children. Those two decades weren't always easy, though. Like any long-term relationship, there have been ups and downs, breakups and makeups. The couple famously split once in 2008, just two years after they married, even filing for divorce. "Because we were working all the time; there was so much time between our visits," Pink told Redbook when asked about why they broke up. But there may have been a different reason. Rumors began to fly that Hart had an affair with stripper Michelle "Bombshell" McGee. "I knew about her fling with Carey Hart, Michelle told me that she had slept with him," McGee's former husband Shane Modica told Radar. "She flew out to Las Vegas to see him but she was upset that they never got to spend as much time together as she expected too."

While neither Pink nor Hart confirmed those rumors, they decided not to go forward with the divorce and reconciled less than a year after they separated. "We're rebuilding," the "So What" singer told People in a 2009 interview. Sometimes you have to take a couple of steps backwards to move forward." Pink credits couples' counseling for helping them find their way. "We are couples-therapy people," she told Redbook. "We do it for maintenance, not problems." 

When life hands you lemons, you make lemonade. Just ask mega-star Beyonce, who took her husband's infidelities and turned them into her whole personality — empowering women everywhere in the process. "Lemonade" was a huge hit for the star, who had taken a huge hit herself when she learned of her husband's cheating. The pop star later changed her tune to "stand by your man," but what's the truth about Beyonce and Jay-Z's marriage? 

Longtime fans of the Carters may recall that stories of Jay's cheating ways started back before the couple ever made it official. As far back as 2005, rumors that Jay-Z and Rihanna were sneaking around behind Bey's back while they were dating caused a brief breakup. Since they tied the knot in 2008, there have been allegations of affairs with everyone, including Rita Ora, LIV, and Rachel Roy, to name a few. It's mind-boggling to think that someone as beautiful, successful, and talented as Beyonce would put up with being two-timed, yet the couple is still together, and shares three children. "You know, most people walk away, and like divorce rate is like 50 percent or something 'cause most people can't see themselves," Jay-Z told The New York Times. "The hardest thing is seeing pain on someone's face that you caused, and then have to deal with yourself." The rap artist's public apology came in the form of the song "4:44" off of his album by the same name, which probably didn't hurt either. 

In one of the most non-traditional birth announcements ever, Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl shared an Instagram post in 2024 stating, "I've recently become the father of a new baby daughter, born outside of my marriage." Translation: I just got caught cheating in a really big way! 

With a reputation as "the nicest guy in rock," the Foo Fighters frontman and his beautiful, blonde wife seemed to have a solid relationship. However, it turned out that there were some red flags in Dave Grohl and Jordyn Blum's relationship before the bombshell baby news, not the least of which was the rocker's flirtatious nature. A source close to Blum told People, "Dave's flirty behavior has been a hurdle in their marriage. It's been hurtful to Jordyn."

Flirting might be hurtful, but finding out your husband fathered a child with someone else is devastating, and an insider told People that Jordyn initially wanted to call it quits. "Her first instinct was that she wanted a divorce. The betrayal felt too heavy," the source explained. "But as weeks passed, she got some space to think and it just felt very sad to her if the family would split up." Grohl and Blum share three daughters, so there was more at stake than just the two of them. In his post, Grohl added, "I love my wife and my children, and I am doing everything I can to regain their trust and earn their forgiveness." Seems like he succeeded.

What constitutes cheating? For some people it's a sexual act. For others, it's an intimate conversation. The cheating scandal that rocked Adam Levine's relationship with his wife, model and Victoria's Secret Angel Behati Prinsloo, involved sliding into the DMs of an Instagram model. In 2022, word got out that the Maroon 5 frontman had been "Doin Dirt" by engaging in some racy conversations with Sumner Stroh, who alleged that they made it out of the chat and into real life. Stroh claimed that she engaged in a year-long affair with "The Voice" coach and that after they broke up, he asked her permission to name his soon-to-be-born son after her. In a since-deleted Instagram story, Levine defended himself against the allegations of an affair, but admitted to some inappropriate conversations. "I used poor judgment in speaking with anyone other than my wife in ANY kind of flirtatious manner" (per CNN). He denied having any sort of physical affair but confessed, "I crossed the line during a regrettable period in my life." 

Levine and Prinsloo tied the knot in 2014, and they share three children. "My wife and my family is all I care about in this world," Levine's statement continued. "To be this naïve and stupid enough to risk the only thing that truly matters to me was the greatest mistake I could ever make. I will never make it again." Prinsloo has not spoken publicly about her husband's indiscretions, but it seems she's giving him "One More Night." 

Of all the headlines the public probably didn't expect, late-night king David Letterman's cheating scandal was probably in the "Top Ten." The wry comic hardly seemed like a player, but sometimes it's the ones you least expect. Part of the charm of "The Late Show" was that you never knew what Letterman would do or say next. But one thing no one ever saw coming was the 2009 monologue where the host shared that he had been blackmailed by someone who had evidence that he had done some "terrible things," and later revealed the nature of those "things." "The creepy stuff was that I have had sex with women who work for me on this show," he confessed on-air, per Vice. The blackmailer turned out to be the boyfriend of one of the women involved. 

Letterman's admission couldn't have been easy for his wife, Regina Lasko, to watch, especially since (1) she, too, got involved with him while working on the show and (2) he was involved with the show's head writer when they met. An on-air apology to his wife followed Letterman's confession. "She has been horribly hurt by my behavior, and when something happens like that, if you hurt a person and it's your responsibility, you try to fix it," Letterman said, and added, "So let me tell you, folks — I got my work cut out for me."