As someone who has been cheated on several times by previous partners, I’m going to say something I never expected to say: we need to chill out about cheating.
Not about cheating in our own love lives — absolutely not. Take that seriously. If you and a partner have agreed upon boundaries in your relationship, whether that’s complete monogamy or a set of rules for polyamory, those should be respected. Infidelity isn’t acceptable.
But we do need to chill out about celebrities cheating, or more precisely, about our favourite celebrities being cheated on. Because it’s getting wildly out of hand. For some reason, we treat it like a personal affront. We take it more seriously than almost any other wrongdoing a celebrity can commit, whether that’s being rude to fans, behaving inappropriately towards colleagues, or even something like theft. The second there’s even a whiff of a cheating scandal, we’re ready to cancel someone at speed.
We don't want to be them, but we just can't stop watching.
From Lily Allen to Sabrina Carpenter — or more specifically, David Harbour to Barry Keoghan — we ride at dawn for a perceived scorned partner. Often, and in these cases, without any confirmation that cheating has happened. But in all that intensity, we start treating infidelity like a legal crime rather than an ethical one. And in the process, we risk reinforcing some pretty outdated, simplistic views about relationships and betrayal. We’re seeing that play out again now with Megan Thee Stallion.
We need to talk about our favourite celebrities being cheated on, and then, maybe, learn when to log off and let it go.
Megan Thee Stallion stars in a cheating scandal
The latest entry into the world of celebrity cheating scandals? Megan Thee Stallion. The artist confirmed her split from NBA star Klay Thompson in a statement to CNN, saying:
“I’ve made the decision to end my relationship with Klay.”
“Trust, fidelity and respect are non-negotiable for me in a relationship, and when those values are compromised, there’s no real path forward."
“I’m taking this time to prioritise myself and move ahead with peace and clarity.”
On 25 April, she also put it far more bluntly in an Instagram post that opened with the word “Cheating.” Ruh roh.
“Holding you down through all your HORRIBLE mood swings and treatment towards me during your basketball season now you don’t know if you can be ‘monogamous’????” Megan wrote. “I need a REAL break after this one .. bye yall.”
She’s since pulled out of her role as Zidler in Moulin Rouge! The Musical, and many fans believe the breakup is to blame after she was recently seen crying on stage.
The announcement has seriously riled her loyal fanbase. Within an hour of the breakup news, users were flooding both of their comment sections; Megan’s with love, and Klay’s with vitriol. People started compiling clips of Thompson’s worst moments on the court, joking about “cursing” his knee, and spamming his Instagram with threats.
TikTok content
“I’m tryna figure out ways to fry Klay Thompson’s ACL like a chicken gizzard,” one popular video read.
Under a report about Donald Trump’s evacuation from the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, one user replied: “nobody gives a sh*t rn we’re all concerned about megan.”
It’s also worth noting that Klay has since gone on Instagram Live, claiming she cheated first, alongside a number of other allegations.
The celebrity cheating epidemic
Before Megan Thee Stallion, it was Sabrina Carpenter. When the pop star split from her boyfriend Barry Keoghan and infidelity rumours began to swirl, fans quickly turned on him with a level of intensity that felt… a lot.
Keoghan later spoke on Benny Blanco’s podcast about the aftermath, describing the wave of backlash as “absolutely disgusting” and “vile,” with comments not just targeting him, but his family too.
Speaking to SiriusXM host Ben Harlum in March, Keoghan, who denied that he had cheated on Carpenter, alleged that some individuals went as far as knocking on his grandmother’s door and “sitting outside my baby boy’s house, intimidating them.”
Similarly, when Lily Allen released her triumphant fifth studio album, West End Girl, which seemingly detailed the breakdown of her open marriage and infidelity by her then-husband David Harbour, the reaction was just as intense. People were either shocked that a mother would speak so openly about cheating and sex, or fully ready to ride at dawn for her ex-husband.
Men like these were swiftly branded “cancelled.” Their comment sections filled with hate, they were mocked across TikTok, and yes, even Etsy witches were apparently summoned. But while cancel culture is fickle anyway — find a man who actually stays down — it’s still strange to see it weaponised like this. Sexual assault, physical violence, abuse of power, racism, homophobia — all valid reasons to hold someone accountable. But breaking the rules of a relationship? That’s grounds for your ex and her group chat to hate you, not the entire internet.
“Fans often live vicariously through celebrities," reveals Dr Wendy Walsh, Psychology Professor and expert at DatingAdvice.com. "Becoming angry and sad when a beloved celebrity gets cheated on is like how some fans feel when Liverpool FC loses a football match. And when fans pile on with social media posts, it becomes a powerful collective emotional experience.”
“The other piece is that we ascribe God-like qualities to our adored celebrities," Dr Walsh continues. "When they tumble into the fragile world of basic humanity, our faith is tested. What can we trust, if our infallible idols fall apart?”
Because at the end of the day, we don’t actually know these celebrities, and shouldn't be the ones fighting their battles.
Cheating is not the worst thing you can do
You’re not going to like this one, but someone has to say it: cheating isn’t the worst thing you can do in life, or even in a relationship.
Yes, cheating is wrong. Yes, it’s not excusable. I haven’t cheated, and I hope never to. I've been cheated on by two partners, and it was devastating.
But there are plenty of other ways to be a bad partner. There are people who never stray but are still deeply harmful in relationships. They belittle their partner, take them for granted, mock them, hurt them. They betray them emotionally without ever technically “cheating.” There’s sleeping next to someone and feeling lonelier than ever, even when they’ve never stepped out. There’s being with someone who is faithful on paper but constantly trying to shrink you, change you, or make you feel small. There are countless forms of dishonesty and disloyalty that don’t involve infidelity at all.
“Cheating is the most legible betrayal we have, which is why our culture has crowned it the ultimate sin," explains Sabrina Zohar, host of The Sabrina Zohar Show. "There’s a clear villain, a clear scene, and a clear before and after, so you can point to it and prove it happened. It’s the easiest betrayal to talk about, and that’s a huge part of why it gets the headline treatment.”
“The reality is that some of the worst things people do to each other in relationships have nothing to do with anyone else’s bedroom," Zohar continues. "Years of quiet contempt, being made to feel small in your own home, emotional abandonment while sharing a couch, being gaslit about your own reality, and withholding affection as punishment are all soul-eroding things. We don’t have the same dramatic language for any of them, so we end up minimising them, and people stay in relationships that are quietly dismantling them because they feel like they don’t have permission to leave when nobody technically cheated.”
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My partner of four years cheated on me, and it wasn't the worst thing he did to me. It wasn't the reason he was a bad partner. It was one of many relationship crimes. It also wasn't the cause for our ultimate split.
“Cheating is also rarely the disease itself, it’s usually the symptom of something that’s been rotting for a while, in the person, in the relationship, or in both," explains Zohar. "That doesn’t excuse it, because nothing excuses it, but it does complicate the idea that it’s the worst thing one person can do. Most of the time, it’s actually just the loudest thing.”
Cheating is very bad, but it’s not the only way to break a relationship. So why do we act like celebrities cheating is a crime against humanity?
Pretty girls don't get cheated on
In our rush to defend our favourite celebrities from betrayal, we end up reinforcing some pretty outdated stereotypes about infidelity. In all three of these examples — and plenty more — the focus somehow shifts to the attractiveness of the woman who’s been cheated on.
Basically: if [insert celebrity name] can get cheated on, what hope is there for me?
I remember this clearly when Adam Levine cheated on his wife, Behati Prinsloo. Yep, you guessed it: the internet immediately spiralled into disbelief that a Victoria’s Secret model could be cheated on, as if beauty is some kind of protective shield against betrayal.
We’re seeing it again now with Megan Thee Stallion, as fans attack Klay Thompson’s appearance. Some are even linking relationships like this — and Sabrina Carpenter and Barry Keoghan — to the Gen Z concept of Shrekking, aka dating someone deemed less attractive so they’ll treat you better.
The intention might be to uplift the celebrity, but what it actually does is tie infidelity directly to appearance. So if I get cheated on, does that mean I wasn’t attractive enough? Is there some magical level of beauty or thinness that makes you immune to betrayal? Suddenly, it’s not just heartbreak, it’s a referendum on how you look.
“There’s also a deeper fear underneath all of it," explains Zohar. "If she got cheated on, then what hope is there for the rest of us? She’s gorgeous, she’s accomplished, she’s literally a superstar, and he still did that to her. The panic isn’t really about her, it’s about the story we’ve all been sold, which is that if you just become enough or do enough or look the part, you’ll somehow be safe from this. The truth is that you won’t be, because cheating is never a referendum on the person who got cheated on, it’s a referendum on the person who did it.”
But appearance has nothing to do with infidelity. The other person isn’t more or less attractive in any meaningful way, because their looks are irrelevant. What matters is that your partner chose to break the boundaries of your relationship. Whether it’s stress, ego, opportunity, or something else entirely, there are always alternatives to cheating.
And why are celebrities talking so openly about cheating again? Zohar feels it's not just female celebrities, it's women as a whole.
“What’s shifting now is that women are refusing the assignment entirely," explains Zohar. "They’re saying out loud that this happened, that this is what it cost them, and that they’re not going to perform composure just to protect his image anymore. That isn’t bitterness, that’s clarity, and when a public figure does it, it gives every regular woman who’s been told to ‘just move on’ the permission to stop performing okay.”
Dr Walsh believes that the airing of dirty laundry is what keeps people in line: “Public shame is an excellent female consequence.”
“Women now realise that they are not responsible for their partner’s behaviour," she continues. "He can control himself. Male sexual desire does not override executive control functions. Infidelity remains a matter of choice.”
Until we can talk about celebrities being cheated on without dragging appearance into it — or treating it like a crime against humanity — maybe we should just… not. There are far more serious behaviours worth this level of outrage. Let their friends be their sounding board and go do the same for yours.
