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Kelly Clarkson had a particularly messy divorce after she split from her husband, Brandon Blackstock, in 2020. The breakup led to a fraught legal battle involving Blackstock and his dad’s company — which had managed Clarkson’s career — and wasn’t settled until 2024.
Amid their legal battles, while performing Gayle’s “ABCDEFU” on her talk show, Clarkson changed the lyrics to slam her ex and his father, singing, “Forget you and your dad and the fact that you got half / And my broken heart, turn that shit into art.”
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Later, while promoting her Christmas album, she posted a YouTube video featuring an image of stockings above a fireplace labeled with “Mom,” the couple’s two kids’ names, and “Nope,” seemingly signifying Blackstock.
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In another messy breakup, Pete Davidson and Ariana Grande split in 2018 after a highly publicized four-month relationship that even included an engagement.
Just weeks after their breakup, Davidson appeared to lightly shade Grande in a promo for an upcoming episode of SNL. The clip featured Davidson pretending to propose to musical guest Maggie Roger in what appeared to be an obvious reference to his fast engagement with Grande.
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Ari quickly fired back, tweeting (seemingly in response), “for someone who hates relevancy you sure love clinging to it,” though she later deleted the tweet. She wasn’t done there, either — she’d later call Davidson a “distraction.” In a 2019 Vogue cover story, Grande said, “I met Pete, and it was an amazing distraction. It was frivolous and fun and insane and highly unrealistic, and I loved him, and I didn’t know him.”
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Davidson then took aim at Grande in his 2020 comedy special, Alive from New York. Responding to her comments and referencing controversy around the cover of the Vogue article, in which Ariana’s skin appeared darkened, Davidson joked, “Can you imagine if I did that? My career would be over tomorrow if I spray-painted myself brown and hopped on the cover of Vogue magazine and just started shitting on my ex.” He slammed Grande for speaking about him publicly rather than just to her friends or in her own home: “Can you imagine if I did that shit? If I was just like, ‘Yeah, I was just fucking her ’cause I was bored.'”
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Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber also had one of the messiest relationships of the 2010s, with multiple breakups and shade thrown on social media. When Bieber posted a photo with his then-rumored girlfriend Sofia Richie in 2016, causing fans of his relationship with Selena to start attacking Richie, Selena had this to say: “If you can’t handle the hate, then stop posting pictures of your girlfriend lol —it should be special between you two only. Don’t be mad at your fans. They love you and supported you before any one else did.”
The two would later reconcile and break up again, with Gomez eventually saying she felt she “was a victim to certain abuse,” agreeing that it was emotional abuse. Bieber had previously admitted to drug use and that he “abused all [his] relationships,” as well as “became resentful, disrespectful to women and angry.” Bieber has since married Hailey Baldwin (now Bieber), and reported “shade” between Hailey, Selena, and Justin continues to make headlines.
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Katy Perry has also had her share of messy relationships and breakups. She appeared to piss off former boyfriend Diplo after she memorably rated him last when she was asked by James Corden to rank the sexual skills of her past partners on a YouTube livestream to promote Witness.
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Diplo then responded with his own shade, tweeting, “I don’t even remember having sex,” then “I won the Bronze medal in sex Olympics,” along with a photo of himself on the scaffolding at a concert.
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Katy Perry has also shaded Russell Brand, her ex-husband, claiming he said he wanted an equal but then couldn’t “handle the equalness.” She called Brand’s disdain for her own agency “really hurtful” and “very controlling.” She continued, “Let’s just say I haven’t heard from him since he texted me saying he was divorcing me December 31, 2011.” Much later, on Call Her Daddy, Perry would seemingly refer to Brand by saying, “I’m no longer attracted to narcissists.”
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For his part, Brand shaded Perry in his documentary Brand: A Second Coming, saying that after a trip to Africa, he realized, “I’m associated with the very thing that I detest: vapid, vacuous, plastic, constructed, mindless celebrity. That’s the very sea we’re swimming in…’Oh, who’s he? He’s married to Katy Perry.'”
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He also made fun of Perry’s accent in the documentary. That’s not the only time he’s joked about Perry or the marriage, once saying, “Marriage is a bond that can last up to 14 months. This is a sacred 14-month arrangement. Begins on an elephant. Ends in a newspaper,” and adding that “That marriage was shaky from the get-go, before I’d even got off the elephant.” In another instance, he joked about how difficult it was to be with only one woman, reportedly saying, “I’d be having sex thinking, ‘think of anyone, anyone else'” during a stand-up routine.
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Seal and Heidi Klum also had a messy divorce. After they broke up, there were rumors that Klum had moved on with her bodyguard, with Seal claiming that Heidi had “fornicated with the help” before the divorce was final. Heidi would later confirm the relationship but said his claim was “obviously not true,” adding, “I never looked at another man while I was with him.”
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Seal later threw a bit more shade when he called co-parenting with Klum “challenging.” He told Us Weekly, “It requires teamwork. If you are a team, if both parents are a team, then it’s really easy and that’s not a real challenge at all. But you have to be a team. And if you’re not a team, then it can all fall to pieces. … I never had that teamwork [with Heidi]. We never had teamwork.”
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Taylor Swift famously shaded ex Joe Jonas on Ellen, revealing that he had broken up with her in a 25-second phone call. She referenced him in many of the breakup tracks on her second album, Fearless, and even made a video with a Joe Jonas and a Taylor Swift doll. Speaking to the camera, she said, “See, this one even comes with a phone, see, so he can break up with other dolls,” then told a doll of herself, “Stay away from him, okay?”
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Speaking of Taylor, after it was reported that she had written the lyrics for Calvin Harris’ song “This Is What You Came For,” her former flame took to Twitter to first confirm the news and commend her contribution. However, Harris then wrote, “I figure if you’re happy in your new relationship you should focus on that instead of trying to tear your ex bf down for something to do,” and then, “I know you’re off tour and you need someone new to try and bury like Katy ETC but I’m not that guy, sorry. I won’t allow it.” Harris was referring to Swift’s (now-resolved) “feud” with fellow artist Katy Perry.
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John Mayer also appeared to shade Swift, his ex, on social media, tweeting, “Tuesday, December 13 may be the lamest day of the year, conceptually.” December 13 is Taylor’s birthday. However, Mayer quickly deleted the tweet, writing, “NOPE. No. Nuh-uh. People I am 39. I am deleting those tweets. Come right at me for doing so. Absolutely no shade.”
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Mayer had previously criticized Taylor for releasing the song “Dear John” about him, telling Rolling Stone it “humiliated” him. “It made me feel terrible because I didn’t deserve it. I’m pretty good at taking accountability now, and I never did anything to deserve that. It was a really lousy thing for her to do.” He said he was “caught off-guard” by the song, saying, “It really humiliated me at a time when I’d already been dressed down. I mean, how would you feel if, at the lowest you’ve ever been, someone kicked you even lower?” He also called it “cheap songwriting”: “I think it’s abusing your talent to rub your hands together and go, ‘Wait till he gets a load of this!’ That’s bullshit,” he continued.
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In a messy example that kind of came out of left field, Sally Field pulled no punches when she straight-up said that her ex, Burt Reynolds, was a bad kisser on Watch What Happens Live. The two had dated for five years decades prior. Field has also claimed Reynolds was “not a nice guy” when she was nominated for an Oscar in 1980 and refused to attend events such as Cannes with her, saying, “You don’t think you’re going to win anything, do you?'”
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Demi Lovato also shaded ex-fiancé Max Ehrich’s skills, in this example with just three words on Twitter, writing, “My vibrator’s better.” (Lovato had recently created their own vibrator to sell.) Ehrich then posted a shirtless selfie, seemingly as a response, writing on Instagram, “I never have complaints.” The two had dated for just a few months before getting engaged in 2020, which Demi broke off a few months later.
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For his part, Ehrich was far more shady, though. After their relationship ended, Ehrich tweeted, “Remember when my ex fiancé made a finsta bullying Selena Gomez and then tried to sabotage my life. Me too.” This referred to an alleged Instagram account purported to belong to Demi, though it appears this account’s posts shading Selena were fabricated and photoshopped. The tweet was later deleted.
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In an Instagram Live, Ehrich also said he had been “used” by Demi “as a pawn in a PR stunt” and claimed Demi was spending “millions of dollars to write false, fake news about me.” He said of their song “Still Have Me,” “I hope this makes you happy. Enjoy. You just lost someone who loved you fully, completely, infinitely, for everything. … But I hope the song is No. 1 because you know what? If that’s what someone wants in the material world, here you go, you have it.”
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Emily Ratajkowski and producer Sebastian Bear-McClard split in 2022 after the two married only weeks into dating in 2018. After the split, Ratajkowski said she’d been “really, really unhappy” but “didn’t have the courage to leave for a long time.” Even when the split was only rumored, though, Ratajkowski had posted a pretty shady TikTok, dueted a video by user @Pierina captioned “When he thinks he’s a 10 because he pulled you but you like ugly men” and mouthing the “Pump 101” lyrics, “How can I say this in a friendly way?” while the song played in the background.
Ratajkowski also liked tweets such as, “Can’t believe that little bitch cheated on emrata” and “Emrata finally free from that man just proves that god is actually very real.” However, Ratajkowski has not made explicit comments on Bear-McClard, which she said is because of the son they share. “I’m learning that outspoken women don’t often get their children,” she told the Los Angeles Times.
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Kaia Gerber also appeared to shade her ex Jacob Elordi on social media, posting a photo of herself reading Dear Dickhead by Virginie Despentes, along with the excerpt, “At this point, your sheer dumbfuckery commands a certain respect. But it doesn’t change the basics: I don’t give a shit about you. All my love to your sister, she was a wonderful friend.” She captioned the photos, “A book for someone I used to know.” Fans assumed Gerber was referring to Elordi because Elordi has a sister, Isabella Elordi, and because Elordi was Gerber’s most recent ex.
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Zoe Kravitz also shaded her ex with a cryptic social media post. Just days after news broke that she’d filed for divorce from Karl Glusman, Kravitz posted a meme on Instagram of a drag queen putting trash labeled “People places and things that no longer serve my greatest and highest good” in a dumpster. She captioned the photo, “mood.”
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In a Twitter (now known as X) example, Christina Milian wrote, “Stop telling me you love me. Stop asking me to come see you. I am definitely not interested. #BeenOverIt #HappyNoThanksGiving. #Single,” which sources claimed was about her ex Lil Wayne. The tweet was later deleted. The next day, Lil Wayne appeared to reply, tweeting, “Hahahhahaahahahhahahaahhahahahahaahahhahahahahahaha.”
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But one of the most iconic tweets towards an ex is Amber Rose’s “Awww @kanyewest are u mad I’m not around to play in ur asshole anymore? #FingersInTheBootyAssBitch.”
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After Brian Austin Green and Megan Fox divorced, Fox began a highly publicized relationship with Machine Gun Kelly. Posting a photo of the two of them captioned “Achingly Beautiful Boy… My heart is yours.” Green then appeared to shade Fox by posting a photo of their three sons (and his son with Vanessa Marcil), writing, “Achingly beautiful boys…… My heart is yours.”
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Green later moved on and posted a photo with his new girlfriend, Sharna Burgess, captioning the photo, “It’s been a really long time since I’ve been with someone I can truly share life with.” In what seemed to be her own example of playful shade, Fox commented on the photo, “Grateful for Sharna💜.” She later deleted her comment, which fans assumed was sarcastic.
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This was not Green’s first experience with shady exes. After ex Vanessa Marcil claimed that she does not co-parent with Green and instead raised their son by herself, Green fired back on Instagram, writing, “I can’t tell you how frustrating it is to read continued lies from a 50+ year old woman on social media like she is still in high school. She has never in her life been someone to walk the walk. Talk is cheap. Megan and I bust our asses to give Kass a well rounded childhood since his mom was rarely there. I’m assuming that’s why she posts so much of him now. When will she just GO AWAY.”
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As you can see, when exes share kids, things can get especially messy. After her breakup with Kanye West (now known as Ye), Kim Kardashian said she’s “basically raising four kids by myself.” Ye has continually disparaged Kim and her parenting skills on social media, slamming her for things like allowing their daughter North to have a TikTok account and “kidnapping” Chicago by not giving him the address of her birthday party. He also harassed Pete Davidson, Kim’s next partner, and claimed Kim made him get a drug test, accused him of stealing, and even accused him of putting a hit on her.
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Honestly, Kimye’s breakup is so messy that we can’t even get into everything that was said, but just know that there has been a lot said on Ye’s side in particular, though Kim has also spoken about the way Ye’s words and actions have affected her. “All of his shenanigans, I don’t even know what the fuck to call it, is gonna be far more damaging to the kids one day than my tape will ever be,” she said on her show The Kardashians in October, slamming him for continuously bringing up her sex tape and looking down on her for it. “I have to sit here and not say anything ever, because I know one day my kids will appreciate that, and I know that, like, is the best thing for them.”
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In another Kardashian-related example, Blac Chyna slammed ex Rob Kardashian for filing to pay less in child support. The two share daughter Dream and were engaged before they broke up in 2017. “‘So’ my children aren’t supposed to live the same lifestyle as their fathers ETC ETC ha?” Chyna wrote on Instagram, also referring to her child with Tyga. “As a single Mother, I provide for them and give them the luxury lifestyle they deserve…..WOW!!!” In addition, she claimed she had to “give up 3 of my cars” and said she had no support or child support.
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And finally, Rihanna shaded all of her exes when she posted a meme on Instagram reading, “None of my exs are married or in happy relationships so it’s safe to say that I wasn’t da problem lol”…proving, once and for all, that Rihanna is the queen of online shade.
What example of a celeb shading their ex comes to mind for you? Let us know in the comments!