Monogamy may be in need of a rebrand, but official endorsements of polyamory, swinging, and open relationships are still few and far between. Unless, of course, you try Hollywood—where a number of single celebrities, as well as celebrity couples, have vouched for the benefits of staying open.
"There has to be a level of responsibility in any relationship dynamic, and that responsibility is simply honesty and communication and trust," actress Shailene Woodley told the New York Times. "Apart from that, it's really none of our business what people choose to do with their lives."
If live-and-let-live is her unofficial motto, then Woodley is certainly in good company when it comes to her Hollywood peers. Ahead, all the celebrities—and celebrity couples—who have embraced the ups and downs of open relationships.
01 of 09
Brad Pitt and Angelina JolieJason LaVeris/Getty Images
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt were a mainstay of Hollywood before they called it quits in 2016. One secret to their 12 years of relative success? A lack of conviction surrounding monogamy.
"I doubt that fidelity is absolutely essential for a relationship," Jolie said back in 2009. "It's worse to leave your partner and talk badly about him afterwards. Neither Brad nor I have ever claimed that living together means to be chained together. We make sure that we never restrict each other."
02 of 09
Will Smith and Jada Pinkett SmithSteve Granitz/Getty Images
Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith enjoyed a long, mostly private marriage despite their status as Hollywood A-listers. In a rare interview, however, Will did open up about how, "at some point, their relationship stopped being monogamous."
"Jada never believed in conventional marriage...There were significant endless discussions about, what is relational perfection? What is the perfect way to interact as a couple? And for the large part of our relationship, monogamy was what we chose, not thinking of monogamy as the only relational perfection," he told GQ. "We have given each other trust and freedom, with the belief that everybody has to find their own way. And marriage for us can't be a prison. And I don't suggest our road for anybody. I don't suggest this road for anybody. But the experiences that the freedoms that we've given one another and the unconditional support, to me, is the highest definition of love."
03 of 09
Aston Kutcher and Demi MooreBill Davila/Getty Images
Demi Moore's short-lived marriage to Ashton Kutcher gets plenty of air-time in her 2019 memoir Inside Out. Among the revelations? The pair's penchant for threesomes, which Kutcher later used to try and avoid getting into hot water for cheating.
"I put him first," Moore wrote. "So when he expressed his fantasy of bringing a third person into our bed, I didn't say no. I wanted to show him how great and fun I could be. Because we had brought a third party into our relationship, Ashton said, that blurred the lines and, to some extent, justified what he'd done."
04 of 09
Willow SmithRebecca Sapp/Getty Images
Willow Smith followed in her parents's footsteps when she, too, publicly embraced the virtues of being in an "unconventional" relationship. On an episode of The Red Table Talk titled "Is Polyamory for you," Smith explained her reasoning.
"With polyamory, I feel like the main foundation is the freedom to be able to create a relationship style that works for you," she said. "And not just stepping into monogamy because that's what everyone around you says is 'the right thing to do.' So I was like, how can I structure the way that I approach relationships with that in mind?"
05 of 09
Bella Thorne, Mod Sun, and Tana MongeauKevin Mazur/Getty Images
Bella Thorne's two-year relationship with both Mod Sun and Tana Mongeau was one of very few—if any—public Hollywood throuples. In the fall of 2019, she opened up to Cosmopolitan about what it was like to date multiple people at once.
"Obviously, dating two people at once is a little difficult," she said. "If you're gonna date a guy and a girl at the same time, those people have to really fuck with each other. Or literally fuck with each other. You know what I'm saying? It's like, it really depends on finding the right mesh of two people."
06 of 09
Shailene WoodleyCorine Solberg/Getty Images
Though Shailene Woodley didn't mention her partner, or partners, by name, she otherwise spoke candidly about her flexibility when it came to monogamy back in 2020.
"I'm someone who has experienced both an open relationship and a deeply monogamous relationship in my life, and I think we're in a day and age where there should be no rules except for the ones designed by two people in a partnership—or three people, whatever floats your boat!" She said in an interview with the New York Times. "But there has to be a level of responsibility in any relationship dynamic, and that responsibility is simply honesty and communication and trust. Apart from that, it's really none of our business what people choose to do with their lives."
07 of 09
Kehlani and YGTaylor Hill/Getty Images
Former lovers Kehlani and YG had to explain their open status when he was caught kissing another woman—and therefore, supposedly, "cheating"—by paparazzi outside of a club.
"That wasn't a rule-breaking situation," Kehlani said during an interview on The Breakfast Club radio program. "I just don't feel like getting online and deeply explaining that that is not a situation that matters to me then I gotta deal with everybody coming at my mentality about an open relationship."
08 of 09
Drew Barrymore and Luke WilsonRon Galella/Getty Images
Former child star Drew Barrymore has had quite a few beaus, but it was her relationship with actor Luke Wilson—which lasted from 1996 to 1998—that she remembered as decidedly non-monogamous.
"When we first met, we were young and wild," Barrymore said while speaking with Kate Hudson on her talk show in 2022. "I was dating [Luke], but I think he was also dating other people. Yeah, totally, it was an open relationship, we were young."
09 of 09
LizzoAnna Webber/Getty Images
Lizzo doesn't want any rules when it comes to love—and that includes the rules fundamental to monogamy. In a 2022 interview with Charlamagne tha God, she opened up about how monogamy made her feel "claustrophobic."
"I think a love relationship that's not monogamous has no rules," she said. "I think people who do poly and all that stuff—there's still rules. I don't want any rules. It's like, do what you wanna do—as long as you love me, I'm cool. It just means that there are no expectations, and that way, the love gets to just be the main event."
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