Nicolas and Cécilia Sarkozy

French voters have long shrugged off presidential extramarital affairs, but this year saw the first divorce of a French president while in office - a president whose wife and son were the centerpiece of his public image. In 2005, Cécilia left Nicolas for another man; in 2006 she returned, and the couple maintained an image that helped Nicolas get elected in May. Nevertheless, afterward, Cécilia rarely attended public events. By October the announcement of the end of the Sarkozys' troubled 11-year marriage was widely expected. Now that they are divorced, Nicolas will embark on a true experiment in statesmanship — dating.

Sumner Redstone and David Geffen

After Redstone's Viacom purchased Geffen's Dreamworks Studios in 2006 for $1.6 billion, there should have been peace in moguldom. Dreamworks, the studio founded by Geffen, Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg, delivered a string of hits — Dreamgirls, Blades of Glory, Transformers —and Viacom's Paramount Pictures ably marketed and distributed them. But Dreamworks execs, reportedly experiencing sellers' remorse, felt Paramount was taking credit for their successes. High-net-worth backbiting ensued. Things really got ugly when a Viacom exec told investors that losing Spielberg would be "completely immaterial" to his corporation. It may sound mild, but in Hollywood this is tantamount to calling Mother Teresa a little bit loose.

George Bush and Karl Rove

Nicknamed "Bush's Brain" for his pivotal role in the president's ascendancy to the White House, Rove was also Bush's friend of 34 years. Their friendship seems likely to stay intact, but their 14-year political partnership ended when Rove resigned in August, the object of multiple Congressional investigations. Rove said he was leaving to spend more time with his family. "Karl Rove is moving on down the road," Bush said. "I'll be on the road behind you here in a little bit."

Salman Rushdie and Padma Lakshmi

He's 60, a Nobel-prize winning novelist, a knight and the onetime victim of a fatwa. She's 37, a model, a cookbook author and the host of a foodie reality show. Despite residing at opposite ends of the cultural spectrum, the two Indian expats managed a much-talked-about eight-year relationship. When they announced their divorce in July, all hopes for the very special "Satanic Verses" episode of Top Chef were dashed.

Justin Timberlake and Cameron Diaz

During their entire, nearly four-year relationship, the former 'N Sync-er and star of There's Something About Mary endured rumors that they were either breaking up or getting engaged. In January, the pair finally announced the former with little fanfare. In fact, the most dramatic moment in this split was an awkward and much-photographed meeting on the red carpet at the Shrek the Third premiere four months post-breakup. They kissed and lived happily ever after — without each other.

Rosie O'Donnell and The View

Theirs was a brief, stormy, but fruitful relationship. When O'Donnell replaced Meredith Viera on the all-gal chat show in 2006, the outspoken comic's rants and public feuds helped spike ratings and set The View apart from daytime TV's blander alternatives. But too much pepper spoiled the soup. In May, O'Donnell left a month before her contract ended and two days after an especially long and nasty on-camera tiff with her frequent foil, conservative co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck. Now the stay-at-home crowd seeking villainesses has to stick to soaps.

Joe Torre and The Yankees

After four World Series titles and 12 straight years in the playoffs, the Yankee skipper couldn't stomach the contract that team owner George Steinbrenner offered him in October, when the Yankees failed to make it past the first round of the playoffs for the third year in a row. Rather than accept a pay cut, Torre departed for the Los Angeles Dodgers sounding wistful: "The 12 years just felt like they were 10 minutes long, to be honest with you."

Laurie and Larry David

The curmudgeonly comic behind Curb Your Enthusiasm and Seinfeld, and his wife, a producer of An Inconvenient Truth and other environmental projects, called it quits in June after 14 years of marriage and two children. Laurie had inspired the role of Larry's tree-hugging, energy-conscious spouse on Curb played by Cheryl Hines. On the show, Hines' character moved out this season and Larry was bereft. In real life? "Well, after the divorce, I went home and turned all the lights on!" Larry said.

Kate Hudson and Owen Wilson

After meeting on the 2006 set of You, Me and Dupree and dating quietly for several months, two of Hollywood's best-loved blondes broke up just as quietly in May. Hudson quickly moved on to yet another shaggy funnyman, Dax Shepherd. Wilson, however, didn't rebound so well. In August he was hospitalized in an apparent suicide attempt. Now he seems to be in better spirits, and has been dating a model.

Britney and Lynne Spears

One constant in Britney's chaotic life has been the presence of her Louisianan mama, Lynne. But, along with her hair and her dignity, Britney gave her mom the Ugg boot this year. Reportedly ticked about being pressured into rehab in February, the singer distanced herself from her family and delivered an upsetting letter to Lynne in front of hordes of paparazzi in June. After Britney lost custody of her two sons in October, her mom flew in to try and patch things up. But by December it seemed little had changed: Britney spent her birthday with the same date as last year, Paris Hilton.

(Xinhua via Agencies December 14, 2007)