Sara Gilbert Isn't the First: Five Other Lesbian Breakups in Hollywood

The Talk cohost calls it quits with longtime partner, so who could she call for some advice on handling a high-profile split?

By Marc Malkin Aug 25, 2011 5:00 PMTags
Sara Gilbert, Allison AdlerFlynet

Sara Gilbert, you're not alone.

Couples break up all the time—gay and straight. So Sara, if you're feeling blue about you and your partner, television producer and writer Alison Adler, calling it quits after nine years and two children together, just know it'll be OK.

You're certainly not the first lesbian power couple to call it quits in Tinseltown.

So with that, we give you E! Online's top five lesbian breakups in Hollywood. Remember, for every Anne Heche in the world, there's also a Portia de Rossi:

 

READ: Playboy Club's Amber Heard: Has Girlfriend, But Don't Call Her a Lesbian?

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1. Ellen DeGeneres & Anne Heche: Before DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi became America's Lesbian Sweethearts, there was Anne Heche. She and DeGeneres famously dated for three years before Heche swung to the other side and hooked up with her now ex-husband, cameraman Coley Laffoon.

Ron Galella/WireImage.com

2. Rosie O'Donnell & Kelli Carpenter: The onetime View cohost and now Oprah Winfrey Network star married former Nickelodeon executive Kelli Carpenter in 2004 in San Francisco two weeks after Mayor Gavin Newsom authorized the granting of marriage licenses to same-sex couples. However, the right to marry (and four children together) doesn't guarantee living happily ever after. The two split in 2007.

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3. Melissa Etheridge & Tammy Lynn Michaels: This split was far from pretty. The Etheridges (Michaels took the singer's last name when they married) ended their nine-year relationship earlier this year after Tammy Lynn allegedly found out the rocker was carrying on an affair with Nurse Jackie cocreator Linda Wallen. Tammy Lynn had a field day blogging their very dirty laundry.

Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic; Gregg DeGuire/WireImage

4. Jodie Foster and Cydney Bernard: In 2007, after being together for 14 years, Foster made her only public comments about film producer Bernard when she thanked her at a Women in Hollywood event, referring to her as "My beautiful Cydney, who sticks by me through all the rotten and the bless." A year later, they reportedly split. Don't hold your breath waiting for Foster to talk about that anytime soon either.

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5. Lindsay Lohan & Samantha Ronson: The embattled starlet and celebrity deejay have kept everyone guessing for so long. One day they were on and the next day they were off and so on and so on. We have a feeling we haven't seen the last of these two.