As unbelievable as it seems, back in the era before the Gwyneth Paltrow/Chris Martin split, people simply...broke up. Then, in 2014, Paltrow announced that she and ex-husband Martin were "consciously uncoupling", and although the term was fairly roundly mocked, it also spoke to a certain element of unfinished business that characterizes so many splits. After all, if you have kids, or a house, or even just a large group of mutual friends...how do you sever the ties completely?
That's the territory that weirdo-chic power couple Grimes and Elon Musk have waded into, announcing on Friday that they were ending their relationship after three years together. Well, actually, they're not quite ending their relationship: "We are semi-separated but still love each other, see each other frequently and are on great terms," Musk told Page Six, adding that the two would continue to co-parent their 1-year-old son, X Æ A-Xii Musk. (Yes, that's actually his name.)
"It’s mostly that my work at SpaceX and Tesla requires me to be primarily in Texas or traveling overseas and her work is primarily in LA. She’s staying with me now and Baby X is in the adjacent room," Musk continued to Page Six, and honestly, even grading by the adjusted "Elon and Grimes probably do not have a life any of us would consider normal" curve, this kind of...makes sense? I've always been on the side of a clean break, but realistically, where has that gotten me? I'm twenty-eight, I'm single, and I still duck into the nearest CVS every time I pass an ex on the street. Would it, in fact, be better to embrace the "semi-separation"? Sure, it sounds emotionally complicated, but at least there's probably less hiding in the tampon aisle.