Media Coverage of Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman's Split Reinforces the Urgent Need for More Empathy and Respect

In 2025, thanks to social media, we know more about our chosen pantheon of celebrities than any other society in history. We'll scroll through carefully curated Instagram carousels of bathroom selfies, dog photos and birthday wishes between stars, which pop up on our feed alongside posts from people we actually know.

This enhances the illusion that, when we interact with these posts and maybe even partake in a jovial exchange in the comments section, these celebrities are ‘just like us’ and much more accessible than they were in the days before IG, Facebook and X.

You can forgive fans who get swept up in this uber-approachability, and that believe Post Malone and Morgan Wallen will one day get round to reading those DMs. The real issue is with media outlets and publications who mistakenly assume that this breaking down of walls between fans and artists on socials applies to them too, and gives them an excuse to lose any and all sense of personal boundaries.

This has been epitomised in the rapidly unfolding coverage of Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman's separation after 19 years of marriage. Neither party has publicly commented, yet the internet is awash with mysterious “sources” supposedly shedding light into an array of intimate details and shocking reasons for their split.

We saw the same when Kelsea Ballerini and Chase Stokes broke up earlier in the summer, when an official rep for Ballerini quietly confirmed the duo had stopped dating.

But then, like with Urban and Kidman, while a number of larger outlets respectfully covered the news according to the rep's statement, it wasn't long before tabloids started digging into the rumours and conjecture, and attempting to find some kind of juicy reason for the couple's split. It became so invasive that Ballerini took to TikTok to share a thinly veiled dig criticising the “speculators, 'sources' and hidden cameras outside the hair salon” and asking them to ‘shut up’.

With Urban and Kidman, the news of their split has barely been out for a full day, and already there are outlets promising to provide the “intimate real reason” why they broke up, and citing “distance, busy schedules, and growing tension” as the culprits.

There are deeply personal reports of arguments between the couple, with some outlets brandishing Urban ‘unhappy’ and suggesting that he was the one to ‘call Kidman out’. These are details that you'd probably be hesitant to share with your closest friends and family, let alone the world. At a time when both are likely feeling more vulnerable than ever, this coverage will only exacerbate the pain of this split.

And this is the issue - this kind of reporting does not consider the celebrities in question as real-life people. They are viewed purely a means of entertainment and click-magnets.

Of course, after it was revealed that the two stars had separated, the first question in all of our minds was, “I wonder why?” You can argue that these outlets are simply trying to answer the questions we are all asking, and in this post-AI world of no-click-searches and an increasingly uphill battle to hold onto traffic, you can, admittedly understand why many publications are resorting to this no-holds-barred approach. And there have certainly been times where we have overstepped by joining in on dating speculation based on particular songs.

But it just feels like there's no nuance anymore, and no willingness to try and improve, even after various celebrities have continually underlined to journalists and paparazzi why things need to change. Tabloid culture, particularly in the UK, has been a blight in the media landscape for decades now, and with social media cementing itself as the place where most users get their news, the relentless chase for salacious details and exclusive “sources” has only grown more tenacious.

With social media making us feel as though the celebrities we idolise are our friends, perhaps it's time we start treating them just as we would treat our actual friends - by giving them space when going through difficult times, celebrating their wins as opposed to dragging them down, and contributing to a long-awaited world in which empathy and respect is king, rather than clicks and views.

For more on Keith Urban, see below: