With the dissolution of Bradley Cooper and Irina Shayk’s relationship, Jezebel has created an oral history of their brief, four-year relationship, as told by People headlines. Because of course we would!
Their relationship began with a date to Finding Neverland in April 2015 and later continued with a date to Hamilton in May. The following Monday, they “continued their love fest” at Rihanna’s Met Ball afterparty. They sat with Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid, and “walked around and pretty much any time they got to a spot where it was very dark, they started kissing.”
At the time, Bradley Cooper was 40 and Irina Shayk was 29. He’d just split with a 23-year-old Suki Waterhouse.
Their “hot summer romance” continued with a trip to London just weeks after their first date. He was in town for the premiere of a movie called The Elephant Man. As sources claimed at the time, he wore a baseball cap “pulled down low” and shared a “sweet kiss goodbye” when dropping her off at a hotel.
The very first line of this reads: “Bradley Cooper not only has found a new love in Irina Shayk, but also a big fan!” She wore a “blush, chiffon Atelier Versace gown, paired with a slick updo and scrappy heels.” Bradley Cooper is referred to as the star of Aloha. He wore an almost-white Dolce & Gabbana suit.
After the premiere, they stopped by celebrity hotspot Chiltern Firehouse, where Cooper was photographed alone with Joan Collins and Anna Wintour. I left People’s spacing error in the headline as dramatic foreshadowing.
They spent the summer trawling the Amalfi coastline. They kissed on every conceivable surface. Imagine all that sand! He wore lots of trucker hats and she brought three luggage trunks of bikinis. They eventually moved their Wet Hot Amalfi Summer to Capri.
Nothing ends a luxurious Italian summer like a trip to Jersey! The actor “chowed down on a Philly cheesesteak” while “posing for photos with the employees at Bob’s Grill on the Ocean City boardwalk.” Strangely, Irina Shayk was in every headline but absent in the many aggregated social media posts.
It would make sense that after summering on a yacht, you’d like to bring your new fling home to mom! The description of this dog walk as “friendly” and “chummy” is more menacing than anything, but at least there are photos of Cooper’s dog Charlotte!
At this point, proving their love to an unenthusiastic press is a recurring trope in the lifespan of their relationship. The first sentence reads: “Bradley Cooper and Irina Shayk are going strong.” That’s because, in the time between their New Jersey getaway and now, the pair had only one headline on People.com: Bradley Cooper and Irina Shayk Keep Things Hot on a Chilly Day with Sweet PDA
What had changed between then and now? Neither had big projects in the works! Remember: Their relationship, and much of the early press around it, were tied to his starring role in The Elephant Man. Now, the next press blitz begins with the start of the new fashion season. Interesting!
Their next headline, a month later, is L’Oreal spon. The pair were photographed in Paris at the Red Obsession Party, where they “packed on the PDA” while posing for photographers. He wore pinstripes and she was seen in an “elegant red gown with a plunging neckline.”
Irina Shayk shared a sultry photo on her Instagram Friday of herself and Bradley Cooper in the pool together, although their faces were just out of the frame. While their faces couldn’t be seen in the picture, a source confirms to PEOPLE that the mystery man is indeed Shayk’s boyfriend, Cooper.
I love that Bradley Cooper and Irina Shayk had at least one thing in common: Beyoncé! He also brought her mother, Olga Shaykhlislamov. In a dramatic twist, Shayk foreshadowed her looming future in a Facebook post: “Boy bye, I’m not thinkin bout u.. #FormationTour.”
Lake Garda is in Italy, signaling the return of their Wet Hot Amalfi Summer. Neither had any notable projects in the works, however, so this is the last time the pair would be written about until October.
Having returned from Italy at an unknown time, the pair reemerged in Indio, California at the Desert Trip concert. They listened to Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, and the Rolling Stones. Bradley Cooper wore many hats.
Shortly after walking in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, which aired days after this announcement, People reported that Irina Shayk was pregnant with Bradley Cooper. While they didn’t immediately return the requests for comment, I love this description of their relationship timeline: “[They] regularly step out together on exotic trips and at fun events.”
Two weeks pass, and the couple still haven’t commented on the pregnancy. Irina Shayk then proceeds to step out with a large emerald ring, encrusted with diamonds. It’s at this point that People explodes. Rumors of an engagement skyrocket, with the ring being compared to Princess Kate’s.
In all the paparazzi photos, Shayk keeps her hand across her chest where the ring would be most visible. Despite their refusal to comment, it’s pretty clear that the “leak” is arranged.
“He has been spotted dropping her off at the airport with kisses as she is about to take off for another job,” says the source. “They are just a very sweet couple.”
The emerald “engagement” ring once again enters circulation. I even began to suspect it’d be the Chekhov’s gun of this story. The photos, which I recommend you look at, show Irina Shayk carefully holding Ralph Lauren shopping bags in a way that emphasizes the ring.
Both Cooper, 42, and Shayk, 31, were dressed casually, he in a grey t-shirt, black track pants and tennis shoes with half his hair pulled back in a mini-man bun; she was wearing a black t-shirt and black yoga pants, with a black sweatshirt tied around her growing baby bump.
His “mini-man bun” is an incredible relic of it’s time.
Their daughter is eventually born. They name her Lea De Seine Shayk Cooper. It’s the first time the pair are mentioned as being together in headlines after seemingly spending “months apart.”
They still have not commented on the pregnancy, fueling rumors that she’d carried a ghost baby.
Their next headline together post-baby is during their annual Wet Hot Summer, three months later. They yachted in Tahiti with an incredibly “diverse” group of people, including: Allison Williams and her husband, Anderson Cooper and his “studly partner,” Diane Von Furstenberg, and Andy Cohen. While I couldn’t find any mention of Cohen’s inclusion of a questionably aged undergrad, I won’t rule out the (very likely) possibility.
Return of the ring! This is the first headline the couple has shared since their Tahitian vacation. And, as I’m inclined to point out: notice that it’s appended to a headline about her recent fashion jobs. In fact, the “fashion job” in question is that of “consultant” to Pronovias Bridal.
My favorite moment of this journey has been the 300 photos of Irina Shayk posing with an “engagement ring” next to mannequins dressed in bridal gowns on a red carpet made of astroturf. I’ll leave you to decipher the symbology and subtext!
Bradley Cooper and Irina Shayk at the Heavenly Bodies: Fashion & The Catholic Imagination Costume Institute Gala at The Metropolitan Museum of Art Image:Getty
Wet Hot Amalfi Summer, Part 3. Notice the consistently widening gaps in their press! Their third Italian getaway was a “welcome respite” from his directorial debut in A Star Is Born, claimed a source. With the premiere of ASIB looming, we’re about to enter Peak Content on their relationship status!
I screamed when I came across this headline, considering the three-month gap between headlines. People genuinely thought that their readers would have forgotten who she was!
Her absentee status in his rising star, however, was more than noticeable.
Irina Shayk and Bradley Cooper attend the 76th Annual Golden Globe Awards Image:Getty
The self-aware deployment of “rare appearance” in the headline was a nice touch. At this point, awards season is in full swing and the pair are photographed across the Hollywood strip. From People:
This is the first time the couple hit the red carpet together during Cooper’s promo tour for the film which he starred in, directed and helped write the score for. The last time we saw them together at an event was the 2018 Met Gala in May, where they made their red carpet couple debut.
She also makes a point to fix his bow tie in front of every photographer in Los Angeles.
Isn’t it interesting that a fashion brand couldn’t change the date of their photoshoot for the girlfriend of the 2019 award season’s biggest leading man? And isn’t it even more interesting when you consider the fashion industry’s reliance on red carpets and exposure to celebrities to maintain profitability?
The job, a Marc Jacobs beauty event in Moscow, came almost a week after Couture Week in Paris.
The press quotes around them begin adopting an affectionate tone as rumors of their troubled relationship begin to rise. While giving a speech at the BAFTAs, Cooper said:
“Most of all I have to thank Irina, for putting up with me for all the music I was trying to make in our basement for a year,” he said. “Thank you very much. Thank you.”
The first recorded instance of Irina Shayk speaking in People is a quote about not speaking:
“I have a lot of friends who share a lot of their personal life on Instagram or social media, very publicly. I admire it and I think it’s great – but I think it’s all about personal choice,” she tells Glamour UK in her new cover story. “Because my work requires me to be out there, I just decided my personal life will be quiet. That’s why it’s called personal, because it’s something for you and your family, and I feel happy with it.”
After the fizzling out of A Star Is Born’s strained awards season, People magazine is flooded with an unprecedented number of headlines concerning their affectionate relationship.
Two months after their brief, affectionate April, Bradley Cooper and Irina Shayk officially split. It comes as no surprise following a press cycle plagued with rumors of Bradley Cooper’s “love” for Lady Gaga, Irina Shayk’s absence at major award shows, and the lack of any big projects on the horizon.
Post-Breakup
In the week that follows, it’s revealed that they spent a lot of time apart and that the “Lady Gaga romance rumors didn’t help.” The most shocking detail to emerge amidst Shayk’s post-breakup Iceland escape, however, is not her poetic romp through glaciers and knitwear. It’s the revelation that Lady Gaga’s ex, Christian Carino, “liked” her Iceland-bound Instagram photos.
In the wake of this journey, I’m floored. The Chekhov’s gun was never the emerald engagement ring! It was Christian Carino!
