Robin Wright’s ‘devastating’ dynamic with Sean Penn: Former celeb couples who CLASH as co-parents

Robin Wright’s marriage to Sean Penn ended in divorce 15 years ago, in 2010.

However, considering the couple had been together since 1989 and came to share two children — Dylan and Hopper Penn — their lives remained forever entwined.

Recently, the House of Cards star opened up about how she was forced to reconcile with her ex-husband multiple times to honour their “family”, made up of their children.

“Divorce in and of itself, and with children, is devastating. Worse than that,” she told The Times.

Furthermore, the Emmy nominated actress reflected, “One of the reasons why we got back together and broke up so much was trying to keep the family together. If you’ve got kids, it’s a family, and you try again, and you try again. We did that for a long time.”

Naturally, celebrity co-parenting struggles remain in the public eye for a long time, without them ever having the liberty of keeping things quiet.

Like Robin Wright, other A-listers who were once part of celebrated couples have publicly recounted their struggles as co-parents.

Check out some of them right here:

Jennifer Lopez & Marc Anthony

Jennifer Lopez was married to Marc Anthony for a decade between 2004 and 2014, and the former couple are parents to twin children, Emme Maribel and Maximilian David.

“When my marriage ended, it was not easy to find forgiveness. It wasn’t the dream that I had hoped for, and it would have been easier to fan the flames of resentment, disappointment, and anger,” she once confessed.

However, she further admitted, “But Marc is the father of my children, and that’s never going away. So, I have to work to make things right. And that is, by far, the hardest work I do.”

Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt

Angelina Jolie’s relationship breakdown with Brad Pitt came at the cost of great public scrutiny for both of the parties – and their six children were not spared the ordeal either.

Besides the bitter divorce, allegations of abuse, and a tough custody battle that followed, the couple famously known as “Brangelina” eventually had to come to terms with their status as co-parents.

While Brad told GQ in 2017 that the couple had cast aside any “vitriolic hatred” among themselves to focus on raising their children following the separation, Angelina revealed to Harper’s Bazaar that as part of their co-parenting deal, she had to forgo her desire of moving abroad and base herself where her children’s father “chooses to live.”

Kim Kardashian & Kanye West

Kim Kardashian’s relationship with Kanye West resulted in a marriage, four children, and a messy divorce — all extremely high profile.

Between everything that came with the publicity around their separation, the reality TV mogul also had to endure and navigate her way through her ex-husband’s infamous social media meltdowns.

Even though they came to share joint legal custody, Kim alluded to a lack of support from Kanye, admitting that her time as a co-parent can often feel quite lonely.

“People will be quick to say, ‘Oh, but you have nannies and help.’ But even with all the help, I’m basically raising four kids by myself,” she said on an episode of What in the Winkler? Podcast.

Britney Spears & Kevin Federline

One of the most famous relationships from the early aughts and Britney Spears’ only marriage ended in 2007, three years after the couple’s whirlwind romance and subsequent wedding.

The songstress was dealt a harsh blow when she lost the custody of her two sons — Sean Preston and Jayden James — to her ex-husband, and eventually came to be estranged from them for many years.

Following a prolonged battle with Kevin, which included Britney paying him child support, the couple have seen many ups and down as parents — the Grammy winner candidly commented on the situation with her children and as a co-parent once in her since-deleted post on Instagram, saying in an audio note, “Since they’ve been gone, I’ve honestly felt like a huge part of me has died. Like, literally, I have no purpose anymore. They were my joy, they were my everything. I looked forward to seeing them. That was what I lived for.”

Kim Basinger & Alec Baldwin

A popular vintage couple, Alec Baldwin’s first marriage to fellow actress Kim Basinger greatly decimated and a fierce custody battle for their daughter, Ireland Baldwin, ensued soon thereafter — never quite seeing a desirable conclusion.

Describing their divorce as “heavy-duty” during a 2022 appearance on Red Table Talk, it was further revealed that the Oscar winning actress and her ex-husband “did not see ‘eye to eye’ on co-parenting at one point”, per PEOPLE.

“We’re all fine and we all get along, whatever … but he’s a challenge,” Kim said about Alec.

While the 30 Rock star opened up on his reality series The Baldwins about his divorce and early co-parenting struggles, saying, “One of my most regrettable things about the whole thing was how it affected Ireland.”