Inside Shakira and Ex Gerard Pique’s Messy Split: Soccer Retirement, Child Custody Agreement, More

June 2022

The power couple of 12 years announced they were splitting up in a joint statement reading: “We regret to confirm that we are separating. For the well-being of our children, who are our highest priority, we request respect for (our) privacy. Thank you for your understanding.”

Two months prior, Shakira dropped a song with the lyrics, “To complete you I broke into pieces,” and “Don’t tell me you’re sorry, that sounds sincere, but I know you well and I know you’re lying,” amid reports in Spanish newspapers that Gerard had been unfaithful.

August 2022

Gerard went public with his new girlfriend, Clara Chia Marti, at a festival in Catalonia, Spain, on August 19, where they were photographed passionately making out. The following day, paparazzi caught the pair lovingly holding hands while attending his friend’s wedding in Costa Brava, Spain.

August 2022

On August 21, after back-to-back days of media photographs showing Gerard with his new girlfriend Clara, Shakira was snapped by paparazzi looking heartbroken and forlorn while taking her two sons she shares with the soccer star for a hike outside Barcelona, Spain.

September 2022

Shakira breaks her silence about her split from Gerard, telling Elle, that the aftermath was the “most difficult” and “darkest hours” of her life. “I can only say that I put everything I had into this relationship and my family,” she shared, adding that, “everything is so raw and new.”

September 2022

Shakira and Gerard attended Milan’s little league baseball game in Barcelona, with the singer sitting on the left side of the field and the soccer player on the right side. They did not interact, though the “Whenever, Wherever” songstress looked animated while cheering on her son with a squad of family and friends, as Gerard appeared quiet and by himself.

October 2022

Shakira released her first post-breakup song, “Monotonia” and an accompanying music video. In it, she has her heart blasted out of her body and wanders the streets holding it and feeling broken. “Suddenly you were no longer the same/You left me because of your narcissism/You forgot what we were one day/Hey hey hey,” she sang in the lyrics.

November 2022

Gerard announced his retirement from soccer after a nearly two-decade-long career.

“The last few weeks, months, lots of people have been talking about me. Until now, I haven’t said anything. But now, I want to be the one talking about me,” he said in a video via Instagram on November 3. “Now is the time to bring this journey to its end. I’ve always said that there would not be any other team after Barca. And that’s how it will be.”

November 2022

Shakira and the former couple’s sons will be relocating from Barcelona to Miami in 2023 after she and Gerard came to an arrangement on November 7. “We have signed a custody agreement. Our sole objective is to provide our children with the utmost security and protection and hope that they can continue with their lives in a safe and calm environment,” the former duo said in a joint statement to TMZ. Many members of Shakira’s maternal family live in the Miami area.

January 2023

Releasing diss track “BZRP Music Sessions #53” in January 2023, Shakira didn’t hold back when referencing her ex and his alleged cheating. Though the lyrics were poignant, Gerard didn’t hesitate to clap back. Using his football competition Kings League, Gerard is now working directly with Casio watches, with the company sponsoring the popular social media contest.

As aforementioned, Shakira compared luxury watch company Rolex to Casio – a more affordable brand – when dissing her ex. Clearly not shaken by the lyrics, Gerard stated in the sponsor deal aftermath, “This Casio is for life.”

January 2023

Gerard made his girlfriend Clara Instagram official, sharing a cuddly photo of the pair on January 25. The couple went public with their romance two months after the former Barcelona player’s split from Shakira, making out while attending a music festival in August 2022.
Two days after Gerard’s post, Shakira appeared to react to her ex’s bold move, sharing a video of her doing a sexy dance with the empowering caption, “Women no longer cry. Women dance merengue!”
 

February 2023

Gerard gushed about how Clara picks out his clothes and has him wrapped around her finger in an interview with Spanish streamer Ibai Llanos. When asked how he keeps up with fashion trends, the retired soccer star replied, “The truth is I go with my girlfriend to the shops, and she buys them for me. I’m a puppet.”

February 2023

Shakira seemingly hit out at Gerard’s girlfriend, Clara Chia, telling journalist Enrique Acevedo, “There is a place in hell reserved for women who don’t support other women.”
“I bought that story, that a woman needed a man to complete herself. I also had that dream of a family where the children had a mum and dad under the same roof,” the singer explained.
“I’ve always been emotionally quite dependent on men, I’ve fallen in love with love, and I think I’ve been able to understand that story from another perspective and today I am sufficient on my own,” she continued about life without Gerard.
“When a woman has to face life’s battles, she comes out stronger. Now paradoxically I feel complete because I depend on myself and I have two children who depend on me and that means I have to be stronger than a lioness,” Shakira added.

March 2023

Shakira opened up about her split during a March 2023 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. The songstress called her collaboration with Bizarrap “a healthy way to channel” her emotions. 

“I’ve had a very rough year after my separation, and writing this song has been so important to me,” the “Te Felicito” artist explained. “After we put out this song, I really felt that I don’t even have fans out there. I have a sisterhood of women who have been through the same things.”

March 2023

Gerard opened up about their split telling El País that he is “very happy.”

“I keep doing what I want,” he said. “The day I die, I will look back and hope I have always done what I wanted. I want to be faithful to myself. I’m not going to spend money cleaning up my image.”

The former soccer star went on to say, “The people that I love and care about are the ones who know me.”

“The rest isn’t important to me. I spend my energy on being with my loved ones and giving them what I have,” he continued. “There have been changes in my life and I have known how to preserve happiness.”

April 2023

Shakira said farewell to her life in Barcelona, as she headed to a new life in Miami with her two sons she shares with Gerard. Sharing a photo of the city, she wrote in an April 2, Instagram post, “I settled in Barcelona to give my children a stability, the same we are now looking for in another corner of the world next to family, friends and the sea. Today we start a new chapter in the pursuit of their happiness.”
“Thank you to everyone who surfed alongside me so many waves there in Barcelona, the city where I learned that friendship is certainly longer than love. Thank you to everyone who has been there to cheer me up, dried my tears, inspired me and made me grow,” she continued.
“Thank you to my Spanish audience who have always wrapped me in their love and loyalty,” the singer added, concluding, “For you just a see you later and as my father said so many times, see you around the curves!”

May 2023

Shakira seemingly addressed her messy split from Gerard during her acceptance speech at the May 2023 Billboard Latin Women in Music gala.

“This has been a year of seismic change in my life where I’ve felt more than ever and very personally what it is to be a woman, and what it means” she said on stage, per Billboard. “It’s been a year where I’ve realized we women are stronger than we think, braver than we believed, more independent than we were taught to be. Because what woman hasn’t at some time in her life forgotten herself because she’s seeking the attention and love of someone else? It happened to me, more than once.”

Shakira continued, “But there comes a time in the life of every woman where she no longer depends on someone else to love and accept herself just as she is. A time when the search for someone else is replaced by the search for oneself. A time when the desire to be perfect is replaced by the desire to be authentic, and where finding someone who is faithful is less important than being faithful to ourselves.”

September 2023

During a September 21 interview with Billboard following her triumphant performance at the MTV Video Music Awards where she was honored with the Video Vanguard award, Shakira was asked if she was happy.

“It’s a very short question for a very long answer,” she revealed. “I don’t think everyone has access to happiness. It’s reserved for a very select number of people, and I can’t say I’m part of the club at this moment. There are moments of happiness, distraction, moments of reflection. There are also still moments of nostalgia, and my music right now feeds off that cocktail.”

“I think that nothing can compensate for the pain of destroying a family,” Shakira explained. “Of course, I have to keep going for my children’s sake; that’s my greatest motivation. But my biggest dream, more than collecting platinum albums and Grammys, was to raise my sons with their father. Overcome obstacles and grow old together. I know I’m not getting that now.”

September 2023

On the day Shakira’s interview came out, she dropped the music video for “El Jefe” with the Mexican band Fuerza Régida. It featured a cameo by the former nanny to Sasha and Milan when they lived as a family in Spain.

The soccer star allegedly fired the woman after she reportedly told Shakira about his infidelity. When the former childcare worker appeared on screen, the Grammy winner sang the line, “This song is for you, since you weren’t paid severance,” as Gerard allegedly didn’t pay her upon termination.