Divorced Couples Who Worked Together

by Daniel Bukszpan, CNBC.com

When a couple divorces, it's rarely as simple as one person packing a suitcase and sleeping on a friend's couch. Lawyers are hired, assets are divided and child custody is negotiated. A painful process, to be sure, but those enduring it can sometimes escape at work, an oasis of distraction where personal problems can be ignored for eight hours a day.

See the Slideshow: Divorced Couples Working Together

This is not an option when a divorced couple works together. As stressful as this situation likely is, some divorced couples roll up their sleeves, put on a stiff upper lip and deal with seeing the ex at the office every day. Yes, some couples who have ended their marriages have also decided to hang on to their exes in a professional capacity.

Some of these couples are coworkers in name only, sharing ownership of a business entity and communicating strictly through lawyers and underlings. Others have adjoining desks. And some go on 300-day international stadium tours together to promote a million-selling album.

Marc Anthony & Jennifer Lopez
Marc Anthony & Jennifer Lopez

Marc Anthony & Jennifer Lopez

Singers Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez married in 2004. The couple had what appeared to be a happy marriage, but in 2011 they announced plans to divorce.
Anthony and Lopez may not be a couple any more, but they're still business partners. They are partial stakeholders in the Miami Dolphins, have lines of clothing sold at Kohl's department stores and are co-producers of a reality show called "Q' Viva! The Chosen."

The show was created by Simon Fuller of "American Idol" fame. People magazine reported that Anthony and Lopez will use the show to search Latin America for the "world's most extraordinary talent."

Desi Arnaz & Lucille Ball
Desi Arnaz & Lucille Ball

Desi Arnaz & Lucille Ball

Lucille Ball remains an American comedy icon thanks to "I Love Lucy," the classic sitcom that ran from 1951 to 1957. It has lived on for decades in reruns and is seen in the U.S. by 40 million viewers every year. Ball starred alongside husband Desi Arnaz, who played her fictional husband Ricky Ricardo.

Arnaz and Ball were married for 20 years and owned Desilu Productions together. The company was home to "I Love Lucy," as well as such popular shows as "Mission Impossible" and "That Girl." When they divorced in 1960, they stayed with Desilu Productions. Arnaz eventually resigned as president in 1962 and sold his share of the company to Ball, then formed Desi Arnaz Productions, which made its home at Desilu.

Jack White & Meg White
Jack White & Meg White

Jack White & Meg White

From 1997 to their recent breakup in 2011, the White Stripes were purveyors of no-frills, down and dirty garage rock. The band had only two members - drummer Meg White and guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Jack White, but they produced a full sound nonetheless. They were also married in 1997, although in interviews they claimed to be brother and sister.

In 2001, it was revealed that not only were they a married couple, but they had already divorced. The end of the marriage didn't spell the end of The White Stripes, though. In 2001, they released "White Blood Cells," their first album to achieve mainstream success, and they followed it up with three more successful albums and nonstop touring. The band officially broke up in 2011, marking 11 years of simultaneous divorce and success.

Kathryn Bigelow & James Cameron
Kathryn Bigelow & James Cameron

Kathryn Bigelow & James Cameron

Kathryn Bigelow is the Academy Award winning director of the 2009 war film "The Hurt Locker," as well as the Patrick Swayze classic "Point Break." In 1989, she married James "King of the World" Cameron, director of 1997's "Titanic" and 2009's "Avatar," but they still worked together after their 1991 divorce.

Bigelow directed the 1995 science fiction movie "Strange Days," which featured the services of her ex-husband as co-writer and co-producer. More recently, they battled for supremacy at the 2010 Oscars when "The Hurt Locker" and "Avatar" competed for Best Picture, and they themselves for Best Director. "The Hurt Locker" and Bigelow won, leaving Cameron with only his film's $2.8 billion box office gross to console him.

Richard Burton & Elizabeth Taylor
Richard Burton & Elizabeth Taylor

Richard Burton & Elizabeth Taylor

The actors Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor fell in love on the set of the 1963 cinematic epic "Cleopatra." They wed in 1964, but the marriage was contentious, and they divorced in 1974.

Despite everything, true love soon beckoned again, and they remarried in 1975. But after nine months, they divorced for a second and final time.

In 1983, the couple reunited onstage in a Broadway revival of the Noel Coward play appropriately called "Private Lives." The prospect of seeing them work together again for the first time since 1966 helped make the play a popular attraction. It ultimately had a successful limited run of 63 performances.


Cher & Sonny Bono
Cher & Sonny Bono

Cher & Sonny Bono

Actress and singer Cherilyn Sarkisian began her professional career as the latter half of Sonny & Cher. The pop music duo was best known for the hit single "I Got You Babe," which reigned atop the Billboard charts for 14 weeks in 1965. They parlayed their success into a variety of endeavors, including "The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour," a popular television show that ran on CBS from 1971 to 1974.

The show was canceled when the couple separated. Their divorce was finalized in June 1975, and each started a television variety show. However, the promise of further televised hijinks was too tantalizing, and the newly divorced couple reunited for "The Sonny and Cher Show" in 1976. It was nowhere near as popular as its predecessor, and was canceled in 1977.

Christine McVie & John McVie
Christine McVie & John McVie

Christine McVie & John McVie

The popular 1970s rock group Fleetwood Mac began in the 1960s as a blues band. When original guitarist Peter Green left, the remaining members decided to pursue a pop sound, and bassist John McVie asked his wife, keyboard player and singer, Christine, to join the band in 1970. Fleetwood Mac gained in popularity over the next few years, but the McVies' marriage crumbled.

In 1977, the couple divorced. At the same time, the band released its most successful album, "Rumours," which reached No. 1 on the Billboard pop charts and is still one of the best-selling albums ever. The divorced couple decided to grin and bear it. They stayed with their very successful band, and they appeared on five more albums together.

See the Slideshow: Divorced Couples Working Together

More from CNBC:
13 Most Divorced Celebrities
11 Costly Sports Divorces
States With the Most Divorces