Shailene Woodley and Aaron Rodgers announced their split this week. Was anyone surprised? I was not surprised. It was the least surprising celebrity news of the year, honestly. They had been telegraphing it for a while, and if you ask me, Shailene was halfway or mostly out the door last November, when Aaron exposed himself as an unvaccinated dumbass loser. It’s only gotten worse with Aaron in recent months. If I was in Shailene’s position, I would want people to know that we broke up because he’s a f–king idiot. But Shailene is all about peace and love and sunshine, so of course we’re being fed a narrative that everything is amicable and fine:
Shailene Woodley and Aaron Rodgers’ relationship had the odds stacked against it the get-go.
“They fell hard and fast, but it was a mismatch from the start,” a source close to the exes tells PEOPLE. “Aaron’s a complicated guy. No one in their circle is surprised this didn’t work out. In the bubble of the pandemic, it was easy for them to fall in love and focus only on their relationship but that’s not real life.”
Earlier Wednesday, another source confirmed to PEOPLE Wednesday that the NFL star, 38, and the actress, 30, had split, just over one year after he made the surprise announcement that they were engaged.
“It was an amicable split; it just wasn’t working,” the source, who is close to Rodgers, told PEOPLE. “They’re very different people with busy careers and there were obstacles that they couldn’t surmount. They will remain friendly; there’s no bad blood and no drama. It just didn’t work out for them.”
Earlier this year, a source told PEOPLE the pair oftentimes “agree to disagree” on subjects where they didn’t see eye to eye. “They are not talking about their politics, and they never really have,” said the source. “They disagreed on a lot of things. Early on, they decided to agree to disagree about things and not debate them.”
I think we had gotten used to them as the odd couple and we lost sight of just how weird it is that they got together in the first place. Shailene didn’t know the first thing about football, nor did she respect Aaron’s football career that much. Remember her comment about how she never thought she’d be engaged to someone “who throws balls for a living”? She came across, to me, as very patronizing and dismissive, and I believe that Aaron making his NFL career a priority was something that bugged her. Why would he prioritize “throwing balls” over spending time with her in a tree? Yes, it “was a mismatch from the start.” We tried to tell them that, but they were too busy doing awkward joint-interviews at Disney World (still one of the most bizarre things ever).
Photos courtesy of WENN, Avalon Red and Instar.
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- North America Rights Only – Paris, France -20200302- PFW – Stella McCartney arrivals. -PICTURED: Shailene Woodley -PHOTO by: Guignebourg Denis/ABACA/INSTARimages.com This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact Instar Images LLC for licensing fee and rights information at sales@instarimages.com or call +1 212 414 0207 This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. Instar Images LLC reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded
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- 176818, Aaron Rodgers at the 2018 ESPYS at Microsoft Theater at L.A. Live in Los Angeles. Los Angeles, California – Wednesday July 18, 2018. Photograph: © Joe Sutter, PacificCoastNews. Los Angeles Office (PCN): +1 310.822.0419 UK Office (Avalon): +44 (0) 20 7421 6000,Image: 515661130, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – DIRECT SALES ONLY – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: Joe Sutter, PacificCoastNews / Avalon
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- Shailene Woodley attending the 77th Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 5, 2020 in Beverly Hills, California. | usage worldwide,Image: 562866092, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: UK and US ONLY – DIRECT SALES ONLY – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: Jennifer Bloc/Geisler-Fotopress / DPA Picture Alliance / Avalon
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- Shailene Woodley a l arrivee du defile Giambattista Valli CELEBRITIES : Giambattista Valli Fashion show – Paris – 03/02/2020,Image: 563834107, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Federico Pestellini / Panoramic / Avalon
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- Aaron Rodgers, NFL Quarterback, attends The Barnstable-Brown Gala benefiting the Diabetes and Obesity Center on May 5, 2017 in Louisville, Kentucky.,Image: 563879000, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Steven Bullock / The Photo Access / Avalon
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- North/South America, UK, Australia Rights Only – Milan-Italy-20200219- 2020 Milan Fashion Week – Moncler Red Carpet -PICTURED: Shailene Woodley -PHOTO by: Riccardo Giordano/IPA/INSTARimages.com -IPA_IPA19150879.jpg This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact Instar Images LLC for licensing fee and rights information at sales@instarimages.com or call +1 212 414 0207 This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. Instar Images LLC reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded
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- Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Sports Awards 2018 Featuring: Aaron Rodgers Where: Santa Monica, California, United States When: 20 Jul 2018 Credit: FayesVision/WENN.com
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- Shailene Woodley arrives at the 2019 Harper’s BAZAAR Celebration of ‘ICONS By Carine Roitfeld’ held at The Plaza Hotel on September 6, 2019 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. Where: New York City, New York, United States When: 06 Sep 2019 Credit: WENN/Avalon **WENN/Avalon**
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- Shailene Woodley at The Fashion Awards, Arrivals, Royal Albert Hall, London, UK Where: Default, Default, Default When: 02 Dec 2019 Credit: WENN/Avalon **WENN/Avalon**
In other words contract finally ran out and she could officially bail…
Yep. Exactly this. Contractual faux-mance. What a terrible idea it was to try to sell these two as a couple. Never very believable.
Contract was up.
Yep!
Didn’t buy it from the start
They should get new publicists if this is what they came up with for a contract showmance. Such an odd pairing.
LOL! I still want to hear the call she no doubt had from her agent/manager/publicist. My guess is there was yelling.
That whole WDW thing…I still don’t get it. I almost buy them as genuine as I expect better of PR! I’m not a big fan of dissecting the whole “oh it was a contract!” narrative, but this certainly had “mutually beneficial until it wasn’t” vibes.
For those of you saying this is a contract, why do you say that? what is the benefit to Aaron? What does he get from it? I can see how it would help her, but how does it help him? What is required?
He gets a beard and an affiliation with a relatively respected actress that boosts his public profile — especially if he’s interested in on-camera work after football ends for him, which given his Jeopardy hosting stint he seems to be. He was an admittedly good host, I thought.
She’s the one who has always been into the alternative medicine crap. So I’m sure she talked him into doing whatever it was he did instead of getting vaxxed. I still blame him for saying he was vaxxed when he wasn’t. But I’m still sure she told him yeah it’s as good as the vaxcine. She was with him because she is always the weakest performer in whatever she’s in. Even when she’s the star. So she was with him to up her name recognition. I still can’t figure out why he was with her. What did she bring to his fame? Now their both screwed.
If rumors about his sexual preferences are true, she was his beard. He also seems to want to do Hollywood gigs in retirement, and dating an actress fit with that desire.
I have no idea if Quaaron is gay or not. I don’t really care. But this ‘relationship’ and their incredible desire to publicize it made it seem (to me) like more of a mutually beneficial fake romance than something real. They were slightly less manic than Tom Cruise jumping on the sofa on Oprah, but the nonstop PR about how in love they were had similar vibes. And I think the swiftness with with their relationship ended (and the ‘oh they were always DIFFERENT from each other’) after his COVID antics certainly looks like the breakup happened because things weren’t beneficial for SW anymore, not that they fell out of ‘love’.
nothing is ever going to top Tom Cruise jumping on Oprah’s couch.
I don’t think it was a contract as such it benefitted Qaron to have a connected fiance. He was already look at his transition post football and a lot of it was as a public figure, such as a talk show host. Her rolodex could help speed that along.
So she bounced and he already is killing his Q rating post retirement. People who don’t even truly follow football sided eye his MVP win for the season.
I don’t even think it was lust waining down that contributed. He doesn’t strike me as someone who is selfless in bed. He compensated for other things like maybe above average intelligence (HA) or a kind personality. Either way, she is gone and he is….I don’t know, a idiot.
Yeah he looks so bad after this relationship, where before he had a very good image and reputation. What a dumb move on his and his teams part. if this is all a beard its just sad what he destroyed in order to maintain his hetero image
“Aaron’s a complicated guy”
He’s about as complicated as a sack of potatoes.