Awards Shows
Win an Oscar, Lose Your Man

In Hollywood, winning an Oscar is the crowning moment of any celeb's acting career. But for some actresses, it appears to come at the expense of their high-profile relationship.

Angelina, Reese and Halle
In the last eight years, six Academy Award-winning actresses have lost their B-list men on the heels of their Oscar wins. Whether it's a symptom of living in the shadows of their celebrated spouses, or just a wacky coincidence, their fellas can't seem to deal with Oscar being the other man.

For your consideration, TMZ takes a look inside the so-called "Oscar Curse."

Julia RobertsJulia Roberts

Just three months after winning her 2001 Best Actress Oscar for "Erin Brockovich," Julia Roberts ended her relationship with sexy boyfriend Benjamin Bratt. The couple split amid rumors that Ben wanted Julia to work less and settle down. Apparently, that didn't fly with Roberts, but love didn't elude the "Pretty Woman" for very long. A year later, she married cameraman Danny Moder, with whom she had twins.






Angelina JolieAngelina Jolie

All eyes were on Angelina when she accepted her Best Supporting Actress Oscar for "Girl, Interrupted" in 2000. All eyes, except those of her blood-vial-adorned-soon-to-be-ex-husband, Billy Bob Thornton -- who was conspicously absent from the ceremony. After getting his 'n her tattoos, their public groping came to end in 2003. Angelina traded up.


Helen HuntHelen Hunt

In 1998, Helen was Hollywood's golden girl, having won the Best Actress Oscar for "As Good As It Gets" -- and netting a cool $1 million an episode for the final season of NBC's "Mad About You." This was also as good as it would get with hubby Hank Azaria, best known as the voice of Apu on "The Simpsons." Their short-lived marriage ended in 2000. Now Helen is mad about her boyfriend, TV writer/producer Matthew Carnahan, with whom she has a daughter.


Halle BerryHalle Berry

In 2002, Eric Benet seemed to have the best gig in the world; sleeping with Halle Berry. A year later, after Halle's win for "Monster's Ball," the couple separated, reportedly over Benet's extra-curricular sex addiction. Although Halle said she will "never marry again," she is currently dating hunky male model Gabriel Aubrey. If he can't change her mind, no one can!

Hilary SwankHilary Swank

After Hilary Swank won her Oscar for "Boys Don't Cry" in 2000 --and forgot to thank her husband Chad Lowe--some smelled trouble in Paradise. The couple endured for another five years until Swank's second win for "Million Dollar Baby." Since their split in January, Hilary has been linked to Hollywood talent agent John Campisi, while Chad has returned to the confines of obscurity.

Reese WitherspoonReese Witherspoon

Reese became the latest victim of the Oscar curse when she announced her split from husband Ryan Phillippe (first reported by TMZ) just months after her Best Actress win for "Walk the Line." While the couple has no prenup, and Reese has reportedly been pulling down $20 million a picture, the divorce is not expected to be messy, even though Ryan's been linked with co-star Abbie Cornish. Time will tell.

Reader Comments

(Page 2 of 3) Previous 15 Comments | 1 | 2 | 3 | Most Recent | Next 15 Comments

16. splitting couples in showbiz is just an ordinary issue, its part of it..

Posted at 5:32PM on Nov 5th 2006 by car-videos

17. who cares.

Posted at 5:37PM on Nov 5th 2006 by Joisy Boy

18. "Win an Oscar Lose your Man"?? Where do I sign up?? Can I win one please??? I got one i'd like to lose.

Posted at 7:12PM on Nov 5th 2006 by tootoomuch

19. The problem I have with hollywood is there are children involved in these relationships. There is nothing more important than self and the promotion of self. #15 you are right I saw the same thing and I knew that the writing was on the wall. Also alot of the former winners were never heard from again. Check the list starting around 1988.

Posted at 7:40PM on Nov 5th 2006 by Lenn K.

20. Benjamin Bratt found out that Julia was was playing the horizontal bop with the very MARRIED cameraman in her movie The Mexican. Bratt, being the gentlemen, told the world it was because he couldn't live in her "fishbowl of a life"..but people in the know.. knew the reason BEN dumped JULIA, is because he had found out she was cheating on him, with Danny Moder. It was NO secret on The Mexican set, that those two were going at it pretty hot and heavy. He was the FIRST male that EVER dumped THE DIVA. Usually SHE is the one that dumped the males in her life, with an icy precision. Julia made a play for the very married Brad, on the set of The Mexican, he turned her down flat. (And yes I have THAT on very good authority) Hence, moving onto the cameraman. Julia seems to always sabatoge her relationships, even though her marriage to Danny, has been the most stable relationships she has ever had, she has been out of the loop making movies. Just wait until she gets back into the swing of things, making movies, and I am sure some other male co-star will spark her interest. Danny? I hope you got yourself a nice pre-nup, that includes visitation to those twins. After all Julia bought and paid for you once, I highly doubt she will be THAT generous when she dumps you, when some other male co-star, sparks her interest.

Hilary Swank..............classic example of 2 egomaniac actors trying to keep a marriage afloat when one of the partners career is flying high, while the other can barely get any kind of acting parts. Instead of turning to another woman, Chad turned to a bottle of pills..and booze.

Angelina Jolie went ahead and adopted Maddox. Billy Bob Thorton didn't want to adopt, he didn't want any children. But like Angelina, she goes ahead and does anything she wants to, without regard to anyone else. Brad will figure this out, when he's got a brood of kids.............and ends up being burned out, trying to be the movie/producer star, and has to come home at the end of the day to play the DADDY role, to a bunch of kids. The constant travel, adopting, producing and starring in movies, will probably be the catalyst to break these two up.


Halle Berry and Eric Benet..............he was a loser when she met him, and then proceeded to marry him anyways. Ya get what ya pay for.

Reese/Ryan...just another classic example. Partners career is flying high, the other turns to someone else. Ryan cheated. Reese bolted. The only thing in this whole tragedy, is it's the kids that suffer in the end.

Hank and Helen, were together for 12 yrs before they made it official, (or maybe that was the problem) by getting married. They should of stuck to the "Goldie/Kurt" way of life.....

Posted at 7:55PM on Nov 5th 2006 by Donna J.

21. So what was your excuse Mr. Evans no. 11?? Ali had only one hit in her entire career. After Love Story it was all down hill. You obviously didn't marry her for her talent so your theory doesn't hold water.

Posted at 7:54PM on Nov 5th 2006 by love is everything..

22. Butt I cournt remember officer! LOL, my that is a large gun down your (Pantz (TM)) (;-po-:)
(C)2006+ MKMair ARReserved

Posted at 9:04PM on Nov 5th 2006 by geocitiescomzenlight69

23. I love how you people scream equality and then blame the break-ups on the men. We all know that the women above cannot possibly be blamed for their respective relationships ending. Because actresses are emotionally stable and don't stage relationships to further their careers. None of them have questionable taste in men or the attention span required to make a relationship work, right? Its 100% the men's fault. Relationships are never 50/50. Let's all believe the women who label themselves as being "America's Sweethearts" (except for Angelina who's less superficial than everyone else on this list, and Helen Hunt who isn't as well-known as the rest of the list.) and who can afford better P.R. than those "losers" the women dated at the time.

No wonder the divorce rate is over 50% in this country. You people would rather believe fantasy rather than what could be reality. And anyone expressing an opinion that differs from your's is "jealous" or an "idiot."

Oh, and if you guys want to further the cause of "equality," why don't you get off the gossip websites and time offline volunteering for and donating to established organizations that work for equality. Or would that take time away from reading US Weekly?

Posted at 9:11PM on Nov 5th 2006 by Katie

24. FYI: Julia didn't give birth to anyone.

Posted at 1:48AM on Nov 6th 2006 by nancy

25. Reese and Ryan were very young when they married each other and were not dating long. Brad and Jen dated two years, spent a million on their wedding and it only lasted four years. They were in their 30's. Reese and Ryan should be commended for lasting this long in Hollywood. Thery were barely over 21. Why do people always assume they know why the marriage broke up when they don't even know these people!! Reese said it was a combination of things over a long period of time.. People do outgrow their partners sometimes when they get married at a young age.

Posted at 8:14AM on Nov 6th 2006 by Dr

26. wow, that picture of reese ......... WHAT'S GOING ON WITH HER CHIN!?!?!?!?!!!

it's sooooooooooooooooo big and POINTY!!!!!

she better get to work on that soon, because when she gets older, it's going to REALLY REALLY STICK OUT. my god ..... can u imagine if jay leno and reese ever got together to produce babies, WOW!!!!

Posted at 9:02AM on Nov 6th 2006 by Georgie

27. I think your writer needs to research their story better. Didn't Angelina marry Billy Bob after winning her oscar? It was her brother she was all over at the ceremony.

Posted at 11:04PM on Nov 6th 2006 by kari

28. I agree with tmz.com. I have agreed with this logic all along. I first started noticing it after Matt Damon(97) and Gwyneth Patltow(99). Also what about the OTHER OSCAR curse. The one that AFTER you win an OSCAR your career tanks?

Posted at 10:20AM on Nov 8th 2006 by Marty

29. SALLY FIELD AND BURT REYNOLDS - THEY WERE THE FIRST. Men are so jealous - any successful woman knows that they are intimidated. They feel like they are helpless, less than, if they can't offer you more than what you already have. Don't they get it? We can do it on our own - we just want true and real love and support.....duh!!!

Posted at 4:42PM on Nov 9th 2006 by Shaz

30. I don't know about all of the situations. Perhaps some men feel threatened by the fact that their women are more successful than they are! With Ryan, you could see that on his face.

As for Halle, I don't think it was the Oscar! Halle can barely keep any man with or without an Oscar. Now she's dating some weak gay looking model, perhaps he will stick around and be cool with being the lap dog/red-carpet accessory for Halle.

Eric seems to be cool with his life now! If he's a playboy, oh well! He's single. I say we give the man a chance to redeem himself from Halle Hell, which is why I think he fell off. I think Halle can take a lot from you spiritually. Eric, who was in the prime of his career could barely write any music when he was married to Halle. Usually songwriters, WHEN THEY ARE HAPPY, are inspired by their significant others, Halle took the inspiration out of Eric. And I think it's interesting how Eric STOOD BY HALLE DURING HER HIT AND RUN! And yet he's being painted as the devil right now, and Halle as some beautiful flower. AND CEASE WITH THE SHE'S LOOKS SO HAPPY NOW, SHE'S FOUND LOVE WITH THE MODEL!! THAT'S A BUNCH of wackness!!! Just because Halle is dating a model, who happens to be white, does not make him the perfect man!!!! Plus, if you ask me, the whole, dating a model, she's one of the "most beautiful" people in the world and they are the perfect couple makes me question their relationship even more! There's going to be a bomb that will drop on them, just like it dropped after Halle won the Oscar. When something is TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, it usually is.

The point, nothing is ever perfect and those who live their lives looking for perfection (which Halle seems to do) usually fall on their faces!!

JMO!

Posted at 10:50PM on Nov 9th 2006 by Oh Please

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