Sad news for people deeply invested in Dakota Johnson and Chris Martin's relationship (all of us): they appear to have broken up. The former couple are pretty "on again / off again" but sources are saying this most recent split feels permanent. People confirmed the news, and spoke to one insider who said "It feels final this time."
So...what went wrong? According to a Daily Mail insider, "Their relationship has been over for a long time, they just haven't been able to figure out to make it official. Dakota held a flame for them to be together because she loved him so much and loved his kids so much."
They added, "Breakups aren't instant and they continued to breakup and makeup and sometimes things would work when they were away from each other, while they were working because absence makes the heart grow fonder, but then they'd get back together and little things just kept adding up to where they weren't right for each other anymore. Dakota is devastated that she isn't going to be around his kids as much anymore, but wants them to know that she is always there for them."
Meanwhile, The Sun spoke to a source who said, "They really tried to work through their issues but the age gap was often a problem and she'd expressed that she may want children in the future, whereas Chris is kind of done with that part of his life but they discussed it... They made some beautiful memories as a family and it'll be hard for both of them to move on after such a long relationship but they will do it."
Dakota and Chris got together in 2017 and made it official with an engagement a few years later. They went through breakup rumours in August of 2024, when a source told the Daily Mail that "Chris and Dakota have tried desperately hard over the past few months to make their relationship work. They’ll always have love for each other but they’ve both come to the conclusion the relationship cannot be sustained long-term. They’re both busy people, Chris has been in Europe with Coldplay and they both have personal priorities, passions, and work commitments which don’t naturally intertwine with each other. They wanted it to work but it just hasn’t, and they’ve now accepted it is best to move on."
At the time Dakota's rep denied this, telling TMZ that claims of the split were "nothing but a false alarm" and that Chris and Dakota were "happily together." Meanwhile a source told People, "Sure, they've had issues and taken breaks in the past, but things are great now. They both love their careers. They are balancing things the best they can."
However, it appears this time the split is for real, and we're going to need three to five business days to recover from the news.
