Why Don’t Justin Bieber, Meghan Markle, and These Other Celebs Have Prenups?
Prenuptial agreements might not seem romantic, but they often protect celebrities’ bank accounts and assets in the event of a divorce. Just ask Wendy Williams, Mel Gibson, and Jeff Bezos, who all chose not to sign a prenup and ended up breaking up with their respective spouses.
While highly public couples like Jessica Biel and Justin Timberlake, Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman, and Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones all have rock-solid prenups, some married celeb pairs chose to forego the contract. Some might have done it for romance, while others chose to avoid the custom as a gesture of confidence in the relationship.
Here are six currently married well-known couples who don’t have a prenuptial agreement in place.
Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin
Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin married last year in a courthouse in September of 2018, and enjoyed a second wedding in South Carolina a year later.
The young couple seems madly in love, but their difference in net worth is also quite sizable. Bieber’s net worth is over $250 million, according to some reports, while Baldwin’s is estimated at around $3 million. Still, the pair opted out of a prenuptial agreement.
Justin and Hailey had only dated exclusively for a few months when they got engaged last year. According to TMZ, the Biebers initially considered a prenuptial agreement, but their courthouse wedding didn’t allow enough time for them to lawyer up and sign a contract.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry
Just like Kate Middleton and Prince William, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry didn’t sign a prenuptial agreement before they tied the knot. Some fans wondered if Markle and Prince Harry would sign one, as it’s not an uncommon practice in Hollywood.
According to experts on the royal family, prenups are not a standard practice. Royal expert Katie Nicholl, author of Harry: Life, Loss, and Love, told Town and Country Magazine: “I don’t think members of the royal family sign prenuptial agreements.”
She continued, “It’s commonplace with celebrity marriage, but this is not a celebrity marriage, it’s a royal marriage.”
Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell
Dax Shepard spoke openly about his choice not to have a prenuptial agreement with his famous wife Kristen Bell of Frozen and The Good Place. Shepard explained to Conan O’Brien, “When we first started dating, I had more money than her, and I owned the house that I lived in, and she said to me at one point, ‘Would you like a prenup?’
“Because you were getting married,” O’Brien interjected.
Shepard continued, “Because we were getting married, and I said, ‘no, I don’t want a prenup. But I really wanted a prenup. Really bad. I really wanted a prenup. But I said, ‘no I don’t want one.'”
When O’Brien asked why, Shepard responded jokingly: “Just, something good came over me for once, and I made the right decision. But the joke is now on her, because she’s become much more successful than me, and has much more money than me.”
He ended with another tongue-in-cheek question: “Or does she?”
Seth Rogen and Lauren Miller
Seth Rogen of Knocked Up, The 40-Year-Old-Virgin, and Superbad married his girlfriend, writer and actress Lauren Miller, in 2011. The pair had been dating since 2004.
Rogen famously told Howard Stern during a 2011 interview that even his business manager had suggested he sign a prenup. But when Stern urged him to rethink his decision to forego the practice, Rogen said sweetly, “Marriage can be expensive, and if I lose millions, then it’ll be the best millions I’ve spent.”
Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi and Jionni Lavalle
Jersey Shore‘s infamous meatball, Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi, initially talked about getting a prenup with her non-famous husband Jionni LaValle. But she ultimately decided against getting an agreement.
The couple married in Nov. 2014 at a Great Gatsby-themed wedding in New Jersey. Polizzi welcomed her third child with LaValle in May, so it looks like the decision not to get a prenuptial agreement hasn’t gone wrong for her so far.
Waka Flocka Flame and Tammy Rivera
Rapper Waka Flocka Flame married Tammy Rivera in 2014. After appearing on Marriage Boot Camp this year, the couple gave an interview to EBONY Magazine in which they discussed the ups and downs of their relationship.
The rapper told EBONY that his friends advised him to get a prenuptial agreement, urging him: “Get a prenup, get this and all this. I’m like, why are you thinking about my money and not my well-being?”
He told the outlet that he decided not to sign a prenup with Rivera and chose to ignore his friends’ opinions. “Everybody asked me, did you get a prenup?” he shared. “Now I realize why I didn’t tell them.”
