The one-sided power couple to break up pipeline.
- charis clarke
- Nov 30, 2025
- 8 min read
During these recent years many celebrity couples have been separating left right and centre. I have started to notice a pattern in these splits from Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck to Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom. But this isn't just about couples that have split but ones that are still continuing their charade. I call these couples the one-sided power couple; a couple that may seem good on paper, but when you take off the rose coloured glasses, there is an imbalance in the way they act and exist within the relationship.
But don't be fooled
This dynamic doesn't just exist in Hollywood relationships.
However, I will be using celebrity relationships as examples but in this post, my dear readers, I will identify five core characteristics that make up this relationship trope.
You may thank the stars that you aren't or no longer in this pairing or might start sweating and realise that maybe you are...
1) Superficially beneficial
All relationships have benefits. However, some benefits are more shallow than one would hope. When someone says that a relationship is a great benefit to them, they would usually speak about emotional fulfilment, passion, understanding or shared values. But in the one-sided power couple, these benefits are often performative, trying to fulfil a brand quota rather than a healthy partnership.
Person A will use the relationship's label as internal and social validation, treating their partner as a prop to carry to events or verbally in conversations, even oversharing to tick a box, performing the relationship rather than living healthily in it.
What comes to my mind is one of the many painful scenes from Jennifer Lopez's documentary 'The Greatest Love Story Never Told' about her self produced, acted and sung (and self- funded) movie, sharing the love story between her and Ben Affleck. She shows her team the letters that Affleck wrote to her, he did not know about this until the cameras were on him and when the crew were calling him Pen Affleck.
I was like, ‘You’ve been showing all the musicians all these letters?’" Affleck says in the documentary. "And they were like, ‘Yeah, we call you Pen Affleck.’ And I was like, ‘Oh my God.’ "things that are private I had always felt are sacred and special in part because they’re private."
Lopez of course knew that Ben Affleck would not be comfortable with these letters being shared and her response was...
"But he loves me, he knows I'm an artist and he's going to support me in every way he can because he knows he can't stop me from making the music I made and writing the words that I wrote. That's going to happen, and he doesn't want to stop me," she said.
Well Affleck may not have wanted Lopez to stop, but the relationship certainly did. As Jennifer filed for divorce not long after the fallout of her movie's release. This is a perfect example of how in one-sided power couples, there is an inherent foundational imbalance between the two people.
The relationship between Affleck and Lopez initially benefited both, at least on the surface, both actors. Ben Affleck a screenwriter and director while Jennifer primarily a singer - glamorous and eager for stardom and attention. So they should have both been perfect right? To top it off both starred in the movie Gigli (2003) which ultimately bombed at the box office.
Regardless, their chemistry was well received by the public. However, the pair both reflected on their first engagement stating that the paparazzi was too much (more for Affleck of course, than Jennifer). This lead to their marriage being called off 3 days before the wedding! The relationship started that way and subsequently ended for similar reasons.
Jane Fonda said something so poignant about Lopez's and Affleck's relationship, which can be used to identify this relationship type across the board.
However, this is my concern. Like, it feels too much like you’re trying to prove something instead of just living it. - Jane Fonda
The price of being superficially beneficially is also public humiliation, and oversharing - at least one person in this relationship type feels the need to show off. They do this by overexposing private information to prove the relationship.
2) Half hearted commitment
This is a classic characteristic of the one-sided power couple, one person is more eager, more invested, or perhaps more desperate to lock things down. The other is a passenger in the relationship, not a copilot.
The couple that comes to mind is Rita Ora & Taika Waititi.
Rita Ora sat down with Davina McCall and revealed that she in fact proposed to Waititi. For context, the director was previously married and is 15 years senior to Rita. Some would say its empowering that Rita proposed to her now husband, but let's zoom into the conversation itself and the context of how this proposal happened.
Rita tells Davina...
"I rented a hotel room in Palm Springs. A really nice fancy one, filled it up with balloons — heart-shaped balloons and a heart-shaped cake, because I'm basically doing what I would have wanted for mine," she said, laughing. - Buzzfeed
Lets zoom in on the words "I'm basically doing what I would have done,"when someone says this is the equivalent of admitting that you knew that the person you're with or the people around you would never take the lead and plan your dream in the way that you wanted.
In other words, Rita wouldn't have got this marriage if she didn't go on one knee herself.
Let's continue
So "anyway, I get down on one knee, and he was just like, 'What is happening?'" ... Rita said she initially thought his reaction meant he would say no. [...] "Maybe he doesn't want it. Maybe it's okay to just be in a relationship." "Which was fine with me, too," she clarified. "But I just wanted to lock him down." - Buzzfeed
Although the marriage happened, what we can infer from Rita's retelling of the story is Waititi wasn't as excited about this. Rita did the heavy lifting: the planing, the chasing.
He simply just accepted.
I am a big believer that to get the things you want in life you will have to go after them. However, relationships are different. Its about balance; like a dance, one must make a step, and so does the other. It won't be effortless if one person is dragging their partner along and the other passively responds.
Here are some comments that I found interesting.
An honourable mention has to be Jhené Aiko and Big Sean, who have had a passionate on again off again relationship for the past ten years. In November 2025 it has been reported that the couple split for differing perspectives on marriage. A long-term couple isn't incomplete without marriage but it shows an imbalance of values when one person in the relationship truly values it and the other is reluctant to committ in that way.
This leads to public call out, passive aggressive posts, nagging and begging. I will never forget the Instagram live where Jhenè and Big Sean were talking (yes I was there) and Jhenè blurted out in front of thousands of people.
"Why don't you marry me?"
All big Sean had to say was:
"It's in the works. Don't even trip".
Ouch... That was back in 2020, they welcomed their first child together in 2022, it is the end of 2025 when I am publishing this post. So it looks like its still in the 'works'.
There have been other instances too when the two were on stage and Jhené queries the ring situation mid performance which was met with cheers from the crowd.
Big Sean does have the ability to propose. As he did propose to his late ex, Naya Rivera after 3 months of dating. Not saying their relationship was perfect or pitting the two women against each other, all I am pointing out is if you have to mention and ask multiple times it shows a lack of commitment and initiative, despite excuses and word salads.
So on paper these two are a power couple, both artists who make amazing music together but they can/could never seem to get on the same page.
Another couple that comes to mind is Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom, always on odd pairing that I didn't realise were even together until recently. I was shocked that they had been engaged for 6 years... two people who have the finances or who are eager to marry wouldn't delay for six years.
Not surprising that the two split June/July 2025.
PR: Awkward & forced
One of the major tells about this relationship dynamic is that there is something unnatural about the connection itself. As if the people in them are actors, performing on a stage, whether that be PR purposes, a way to boost their public image or simply for another way for their name to be kept in the news.
The most recent couple that I can think of is Kylie and Timothée Chalamet; whenever anyone makes any comments about these two, it is either hard fan girling or vehement hatred over the pairing.
I am neither of the two, just an observer. A lot of defenders of the couple argue that "Why would Kylie need Timothée? She is famous and rich" And? The Kardashians and Jenners despite their money and influence, are entertainment famous, but are far from respected in Hollywood, and some would say the general public.
The Kardashian brand holds a quiet meaning, 'classless', power hungry and socially calculative. After The Kardashians and Jenners dated predominately black men, rappers and basketball players, they have now moved on to the next flavour. Timothée has that type of respect, notoriety and is a part of the Hollywood in crowd, him being an actor and all. The relationship between the two is an attempt to
Shock the public
To elevate the Kardashian/Jenner name and push past Baby mama socialite image that Kylie has.
The couple hard launched themselves at Beyoncé's birthday concert which is far from subtle, every celebrity was there. It was a perfect and strategic move, congrats Kris Jenner, I take my hat off to you.
Psst I work in marketing
I will always say this, desperation carries a scent, it smells.
Whenever these two bless (or curse) our eyes with their version of PDA, I can't help but wince a little. It seems so forced - It's like watching two people who don't know the moves to a dance step, trod on each other's toes. Kylie is the one who leads the majority of these interactions and having the insane ability to track down the camera instantly.
A lot of people feel the need to infantilise Timothée Chalamet, his public image is the poetic, goofy, pretty, white boy, but he is just as strategic and ambitious as any other celebrity. He doesn't need saving; it was a strategic choice and he has even admitted that he is ambitious and this applies to more than just acting.
I’m really in pursuit of greatness. I know people don’t usually talk like that, but I want to be one of the greats. I want to be up there."
Could these two last a long time? Of course, with relationships like these it's not about the longevity but how it is beneficial to the two and Kylie nor Kris Jenner seem like they're ready to let go any time soon.
There were signs from the beginning
There was always an imbalance, always one person putting in more effort than the other. One was into the other more, or at least the image of being a couple.
There is a quiet push and pull between the two, not one born from chemistry but of tug of war between one wanting to leave and another needing the person to stay.
Bonus: Neither innocent
I think it is easy to try and put the blame on one person, but the truth is, there is a minimum of two people in a relationship. Both feed the dyanamic in ways that are both toxic, shallow and sometimes embarrassing. It's a two way street and depending on how bad it gets, it shows a lack of self- respect and superficiality that becomes so transparent, it is painful.
Well I hope you enjoyed this blog post
Written by theconsciousthoughts and not AI!
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