8 Famous Couples Whose Relationships Were Tainted By Social Media

“Social media is ruining romance! It ruined mine.”

Social media can create drama in any relationship -- especially when it comes to celebrities. Whether it’s a controversial old tweet that causes conflict or someone from the past sliding into their Instagram DMs, it’s not easy for a romance to unfold on such a public platform. While fans and followers watch their favorite celebs fall in love online, it opens the door to criticism, which can also leave a negative impact. Unfortunately, not all famous couples are able to handle the pressures of sharing their relationship on social media, ultimately leading to their split.

Find out why these famous couples broke up…

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1. Rachel Leviss & Matthew Dunn

Rachel Leviss ’ short lived relationship with businessman Matthew Dunn ultimately ended because of social media. In the early days of their relationship, Rachel asked Matthew to not post photos together on social media because it was “too soon.” He agreed -- but less than a month into dating, Matthew changed his Facebook profile picture to a photo of them together.

“He told me one thing and his actions were different,” she shared on her Rachel Goes Rogue podcast. “The media caught wind of that, and it was just this whole thing…I had to end it. It was sad because we had a good connection and good conversation and he was emotionally stable and emotionally intelligent…It just seemed like maybe he either had an impulse control issue, because we agreed not to do that -- or he wanted to post to show me off.”

2. Brandi Glanville & Donald Friese

In 2016, Brandi Glanville began dating Donald Friese after meeting on a dating app post-Scandoval. But after just over a year of dating, Brandi ended the relationship, explaining that social media had ruined things for the couple. While she didn’t specify exactly what happened, she did say she was now passing Donald on to the “IG hoes.”

“Social media is ruining romance! It ruined mine,” Brandi tweeted with a broken heart emoji, adding, “Is official I’m SINGLE! He is all urs IG hoes! He is lovely so be nice.”

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3. Justin Bieber & Sofia Richie

During the summer of 2016, Justin Bieber and Sofia Richie sparked dating rumors when they started posting about each other on social media. Justin’s posts with Sofia caused a frenzy among fans, and he eventually issued an ultimatum, writing that if fans didn’t “stop the hate,” he was going to make his Instagram private. His ex Selena Gomez even weighed in, writing in the comments that he shouldn’t be mad and if they couldn’t take the hate, they should keep their relationship private. After some back and forth, Justin deleted his Instagram account.

Justin and Sofia continued to date for several more weeks, jetting to Mexico and Japan together but their relationship didn’t last. By the middle of September, the couple had gone their separate ways with some sources saying the social media controversy had taken a toll on their relationship.

4. Demi Lovato & Max Ehrich

In early 2020, Demi Lovato met Max Ehrich -- and their whirlwind relationship quickly escalated. When the pandemic hit a few months later, they began quarantining together and by July, they were engaged. Behind the scenes, things weren’t going as smoothly as they seemed.

Following their engagement, old tweets from Max began resurfacing where he gushed over Demi’s former friend Selena Gomez. In some messages, he even expressed his desire to marry Selena. While Demi initially accused the messages of being fake, the couple split by late September. Demi later explained that she had ended up seeing another side of Max after the social media posts.

“I realized as time went on that I didn't actually know the person that I was engaged to. We were only together four or five months, and honestly, it was false advertising,” Demi said in their documentary Dancing With the Devil . “The hardest part of the breakup was mourning the person that I thought he was. I mean, I was just as shocked as the rest of the world at some of the things that were said and done.”

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5. Dixie D’Amelio & Noah Beck

For much of their relationship, TikTok stars Dixie D’Amelio and Noah Beck shared all the details about their romance on social media. The pair began dating in 2020 but two years into their relationship, they took a short break. When they got back together, they decided to stop sharing anything publicly. They explained that social media had put pressure on their relationship and caused “a lot of drama” for them, “no matter what” they did.

In the midst of rumors that they had split once again, Dixie told People, “As we’ve said like a million times, we’ve decided to take our relationship off social media” because it was “better for our mental health.” Just a few months later, the couple called it quits for good.

6. Bella Thorne & Charlie Puth

Social media caused some major drama for Bella Thorne and Charlie Puth in the early days of their 2016 romance. Shortly after beginning to spend time together, an article surfaced featuring Bella talking about spending the holidays with her ex Tyler Posey . Charlie immediately shared the post to social media, tweeting that Bella had lied to him about having split from Tyler.

“I can’t believe what I’m reading. No one should have their heart messed with like this, and I’m not going to be in the middle of it. I don’t know Tyler personally, but I know he shouldn’t be treated this way … She told me she was not with him anymore. This is all news to me,” Charlie wrote.

It turns out the whole thing was a misunderstanding as the post had been written prior to Bella’s split from Tyler. Bella clarified on Twitter, writing that she and Tyler had been “broken up for like over two weeks” and the “article was written forever ago.”

“Charlie and I were hanging out.. he saw an old interview and got butthurt but instead of texting me and asking about it he put it on Twitter,” Bella wrote, adding that she definitely wasn’t dating Charlie anymore. The pair weren’t spotted together again.

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7. Rachael Kirkconnell & Matt James

At the end of Matt James ’ season of The Bachelor , he gave his final rose to Rachael Kirkconnell . But after the show wrapped, allegations surfaced that Rachel had taken part in a plantation-themed fraternity party while in college. Pictures of her in attendance began circulating on social media and it caused a rift in their relationship. Rachel apologized, admitting she “was ignorant” at the time but her “ignorance was racist.” Eventually, the controversy caused the couple to split.

“I'm so ashamed that I basically participated in that unknowingly because I’m sitting here in my own little privileged, selfish world just thinking, ‘Oh, we just put dresses on to go take a photo op,’” she later said, noting she “didn’t think anything about it because it didn’t affect me personally.”

Several months later, the couple did reconcile their relationship, with Matt sharing he felt it was “unfair” for him to leave Rachael while she tried to “be better.”

8. Chris Olsen & Ian Paget

Chris Olsen and Ian Paget had only been dating for seven months when they went viral on TikTok. Viewers loved seeing the couple interact and they quickly became social media celebrities. Fans watched their relationship unfold on TikTok but eventually the pressure of being viewed as a “perfect amazing couple” on social media became too much and they split.

“Being in the public eye the way that we’ve been through these last like year and a half, two years, is wild,” Ian shared in a joint YouTube video. “And extremely complex, layered, pressurized, so many things. For now, we’ve just decided that it would probably be in our best interest to be moving through the world unromantically.”

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