As current reports continue to note that the whirlwind romance between Shailene Woodley, 30, and Aaron Rodgers, 38 has come to an end, many fans of the famous actress and NFL star are wondering when it all went wrong.
From their differing political beliefs to their complicated schedules, here is everything we know about the former couple (who Woodley revealed first met and began dating between March and July of 2020).
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Just one year after their engagement was announced, multiple sources are revealing that Woodley and Rodger are no longer together, and have given us inklings as to why that is.
“Shailene has been super busy with work,” one insider told Us Weekly, reportedly saying that Rodgers is always “focused” on football. “Everything was so different during lockdown, and they had been living in their bubble. Friends of Shailene don’t know believe Aaron is the best match for her.”A second source also said the former couple “haven’t been spending any time together.” So what happened? Firstly, let’s recap and look into their time together.
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As many fans recall, the world only found out that the Big Little Lies star and Green Bay Packers player were dating just a few days before their engagement announcement in February of 2021. A source told Us Weekly on February 3 of last year that “they started off as friends, but things have turned romantic. The two are staying in contact while they are living away from each other. The relationship is long-distance for right now, but they are making it work.”
At the NFL Honors awards that year, Rodgers said to the audience (while reflecting on what 2020 meant to him) that he “got engaged and I played some of the best football in my career.” He then listed people to thank before shouting out “my fiancée,” without naming her.
Just a few days later, their engagement was announced, and Woodley confirmed it in a televised interview with Jimmy Fallon. She showed viewers of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon her engagement ring. She also confirmed the pair met “during the coronavirus pandemic,” and that she hadn’t seen him play football in-person yet at that time and that she was “constantly learning” about him.
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From then until now, in February 2022, the pair had been spotted taking vacations together, hanging out with friends and publicly supporting one another on Instagram (Woodley telling fans to watch her fiancée on Jeopardy, Rodgers sharing shots of them together with loving captions, etc).
Many fans (in their respective social media comment sections and on Twitter) seem to think that the couple’s major political differences could have played a bigger part in their breakup apart from their busy schedules. This is especially due to cryptic posts from Woodley, like for example, the bell hooks quote she shared to Instagram on December 16th about women’s (often unreciprocated and overlooked) roles and duties in romantic relationships. Although this was a tribute to the recently passed poet who wrote it, fans began analyzing the message Woodley might have been trying to send about Rodgers.
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Last month, a source reportedly told People that the two didn’t want to let their political beliefs impact their relationship, preferring to “agree to disagree.” The source said,“they are not talking about their politics, and they never really have […] they disagreed on a lot of things. Early on, they decided to agree to disagree about things and not debate them.” The source also added that Woodley is “not someone whose mind you can change, so Aaron hasn’t even tried.”
As her fans know, Woodley was arrested protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline in Standing Rock, ND, in 2016 and supported Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) during his 2020 presidential run. Her background is vastly different from Rodgers,’ as he is an outspoken anti-vaxxer and critic of preventative COVID-19 measures and President Biden. A source did notably tell people last April, however that (despite their political differences), Rodgers “admires Shailene’s dedication to her career and to causes.”
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While word on the breakup from Woodley is yet to come, Rodgers shared an Instagram post on February 21st in which he thanked her for their time together as well as expressing gratitude for his teammates and co-workers. In the 10-photo collection, his first was an inspirational quote from poet Rumi, his second was a selfie of him and Woodley looking happy and relaxed, and the rest were snaps of him with friends and fellow Green Bay Packers.
In his caption, Rodgers wrote, “@shailenewoodley, thanks for letting me chase after you the first couple months after we met, and finally letting me catch up to you and be a part of your life.” He continued, “thanks for always having my back, for the incredible kindness you show me and everyone you meet, and for showing me what unconditional love looks like, I love you and am grateful for you.” Wow!
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One day later, Rodgers appeared on episode of The Pat McAfee Show and apologized to his ex-fiancée and to other loved ones in his life who were affected by his countless, public anti-vax comments. “One thing that I am sad about and definitely apologetic is I didn’t realize in the midst of the COVID conversations how much my situation was affecting my loved ones and my people,” he said. “I was too locked in on me and defending myself and trying to get a message out.”
Rodgers then added: “I am very sorry to those people, Shai and my loved ones. I didn’t realize the kind of shrapnel they’d be taking. … Understanding kind of the entire gravity of the situation I was thrust into and decided to speak on multiple times had an effect on a lot of people. To those people, I just say, ‘I’m sorry.’”
Overall, is this the reason the couple broke up? While it seems to be, this has not yet been confirmed by either Woodley or Rodgers and time will tell if it ever is!
