Drew Barrymore’s Divorce Had ‘Devastating’ Impact on Her Family—A Raw Look Inside Her Emotional Journey

In a rare and vulnerable moment on her daytime talk show, The Drew Barrymore Show, the beloved actress and host opened up about the long-lasting emotional toll of her 2016 divorce from Will Kopelman—calling it nothing short of “devastating” for her and her family.

Now 50, Drew is more candid than ever about the life she envisioned, the one that unraveled, and how she’s been slowly piecing it all back together.

The Dream of a “Traditional” Family

Drew Barrymore grew up in chaos. From childhood fame to substance struggles and emancipating herself from her parents at 14, stability was a luxury she never knew. So when she married art consultant Will Kopelman in 2012 and welcomed daughters Olive (now 12) and Frankie (10), she swore things would be different.

“I was so jealous of those kids who could call their mom or dad at school,” she confessed during a March 21, 2025 episode of her show. “I never had that. I just sat there wondering what that kind of love felt like.”

Determined to give her daughters a family life she never had, Drew poured everything into building what she hoped would be a forever home. But in 2016, that dream shattered. The couple announced their split after nearly four years of marriage, finalizing the divorce just a few months later.

“I swore I’d never let my kids go through what I went through,” Drew said, choking back emotion. “And then, there I was—back in that place of breaking something that was supposed to last.”

A Painful Recovery

The actress didn’t sugarcoat the aftermath. “It took a long time to recover,” she admitted. “Not just from the breakup—but from the shame of not keeping the promise I made to myself and my kids.”

Despite putting on a brave face in the years since, Drew says it wasn’t easy reconciling the pain of her failed marriage with her public persona as a resilient, sunny force in Hollywood.

“Everyone says, ‘You’re so strong, so positive.’ But behind the scenes, I was grieving what I thought my life would be,” she revealed. “There were nights I cried myself to sleep after putting the girls to bed, wondering if I was enough—if I’d ruined their future.”

Still a Family, Just Different

Drew and Will’s split was remarkably civil, and the couple made a public commitment to co-parent with love and respect. “Our children are our universe,” they said in their joint statement at the time.

Since then, they’ve built a new kind of family—one rooted in cooperation and mutual support. “Our relationship has never been better,” Drew told People in 2023. “We talk every day. We’re in this together.”

Will has since remarried Vogue director Alexandra Michler, and the couple welcomed a son, John, in 2023. Drew speaks warmly about the blended family dynamic and remains close with her ex-husband’s new wife.

Still, she’s honest about how much it hurt to see the traditional family life she longed for playing out elsewhere.

A New Chapter, Still Healing

Drew’s post-divorce journey has been one of self-reflection—and solitude. In a 2022 blog post, she revealed she hadn’t been in an “intimate relationship” since the divorce, saying she simply didn’t “need sex” and had been focused on healing, parenting, and rediscovering her identity outside of romance.

In 2023, she admitted she had “sort of” been seeing someone for three years but offered no further details—indicating that love, for her, now comes with boundaries and caution.

“I’m not closed off,” she said on her show. “But I’ve learned that love isn’t always a fairytale. Sometimes it’s showing up for your kids, even when your heart’s broken. Sometimes it’s picking up the pieces and building something new from the rubble.”

What She Hopes Her Daughters Learn

More than anything, Drew hopes her daughters see strength in her struggle—not failure.

“I want Olive and Frankie to know that life doesn’t always go as planned, and that’s okay,” she said. “What matters is how you show up after the storm.”

She hopes her vulnerability helps others going through similar pain. “We don’t talk enough about the grief that comes with divorce,” she told her audience. “But if sharing my story helps even one mom feel less alone, then it’s worth it.”

Legacy of Love

Drew Barrymore’s path has never been easy. But her resilience, honesty, and fierce devotion to her children continue to redefine what strength looks like. She may not have the traditional family she dreamed of—but she has something just as powerful: a love that endures, even when the picture changes.

And that, Drew believes, is the kind of family her daughters will remember.