Hollywood actress Drew Barrymore has opened up about her philosophy on love, marriage, and the deep social stigma that surrounds divorce — drawing on her own experience of going through three failed marriages. Her candid remarks, originally made on The Drew Barrymore Show, have resurfaced online and sparked fresh conversation about how society judges people — women in particular — for relationship breakdowns.

Owning the Narrative

In the resurfaced clip, Barrymore addressed the disparity between how breakups and divorces are perceived socially. 'I've been married three times. Okay. Yeah. And it's funny because when you have a breakup, you have a breakup and it seems like, oh, it didn't work out. You know, people don't always work out. Things don't always work out. When you get a divorce, it's so shameful,' she said.

Rather than retreat into that shame, Barrymore said she chose to reclaim the narrative entirely. 'I would get married 4 times over the course of my lifetime. You got to, at that point, like own it and be a baller and be like, I'll get married whenever I want,' she added. She argued that projecting confidence — laying out, in her words, 'a tone and a foundation that people can't question' — is itself a form of self-protection.

Valerie Bertinelli on Releasing Shame

Actress Valerie Bertinelli, who has been married twice, joined the conversation with a perspective that resonated widely. 'That shame thing, that slapped me in the face right there because I think during anybody's life, I think since childhood, we're slowly building and adding shame into our soul,' she said.

Bertinelli drew a distinction between what she called 'good shame' and 'bad shame', arguing that the latter leads to self-loathing. 'I think the key to feeling beautiful and feeling like you're worthy and feeling like you are enough is to release a lot of that shame,' she said, adding: 'Do what you want to do. Do what feels good. As long as you're not hurting anybody, do what you want to do.'

Barrymore's response was immediate: 'Okay, that's my favorite advice.'

Why the Clip Is Resonating Now

The resurfacing of the segment reflects a broader cultural moment in which public figures speaking frankly about relationship failure — rather than curating an image of success — tend to strike a chord. Notably, Barrymore's three marriages and her willingness to discuss them without defensiveness stand in contrast to the silence that often surrounds high-profile divorces.

Her remarks also touch on a well-documented psychological pattern: the social penalty for divorce falls disproportionately on women, who are more frequently judged for 'failed' relationships. By framing repeated marriage as a personal choice to be owned rather than a failure to be hidden, Barrymore offers a reframe that many viewers have found liberating.

Drew Barrymore's Personal Journey

Barrymore has had one of Hollywood's most publicly documented personal lives. Her three marriages — to Jeremy Thomas (1994), Tom Green (2001–2002), and Will Kopelman (2012–2016) — have each ended in divorce. She shares two daughters with Kopelman. Despite the personal turbulence, she has built a successful daytime television career and has spoken repeatedly about finding peace and purpose outside of romantic partnership.

As the clip continues to circulate, it is a reminder that vulnerability, when delivered with confidence, can travel further than polished perfection.