On September 6, NFL insider Dov Kleiman’s post on X went viral after reporting that actress Shailene Woodley had described her past relationship with Aaron Rodgers as “traumatic and toxic.” He tweeted,
“Awful: Steelers QB Aaron Rodgers’s ex-girlfriend Shailene Woodley says he caused her to lose her soul, happiness, and joy in life. She says Rogers made her depressed and was at the lowest point in her life because of him. Woodley adds that the relationship was traumatic & toxic.”
Awful: Steelers QB Aaron Rodgers's ex-girlfriend Shailene Woodley says he caused her to lose her soul, happiness, and joy in life.
She says Rogers made her depressed and was at the lowest point in her life because of him.
Woodley adds that the relationship was traumatic &… pic.twitter.com/lw2O5VABnO
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) September 6, 2025
Back in December 2024, the 33-year-old toldOutside magazine that she“felt like I lost my soul, my self, my happiness, my joy” during their time together. Woodley added she’d stayed in the situation out of empathy for someone else, calling it beautiful but not right.
Rodgers, now 41 and playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and Woodley secretly began dating during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pair went public in February 2021, when the veteran QB announced their engagement. Rodgers had earned his fourth NFL MVP award, throwing for 4,115 yards and 37 touchdowns in the 2021 season.
Woodley reportedly said her lowest point came in early 2022. She recalled depression, anxiety, and complete soul detachment, telling the outlet that she even looked at a tree and felt nothing. The actress, known forDivergent andBig Little Lies, called it “the lowest low of my life” and credited her best friend and stylist, Kris Zero, with helping her recover through activities like surfing and volunteering.
Inside Shailene Woodley and Aaron Rodgers’ Public Romance to Public Scrutiny
Pittsburgh Steelers Aaron Rodgers
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) walks along the sideline with a head set during the first half of the first preseason game where the Jacksonville Jaguars hosted the Pittsburgh Steelers Saturday Aug. 9, 2025, at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. [Doug Engle/Florida Times-Union]
The couple’s high-profile appearances became a staple of entertainment pages throughout 2021. In March of that year, they posed for photos during a trip to Arkansas.
In April, they answered fan questions on Instagram Live while Rodgers guest-hostedJeopardy! Later that month, they were spotted wearing matching Star Wars masks at Disney World. By May, they were at the Kentucky Derby with friends Miles Teller and Keleigh Sperry Teller.
Despite the public smiles, Woodley later toldPorter magazine in January 2023:
“It honestly never really hit me that millions of people around the world were actually watching these things and paid attention to them. Then, I dated somebody in America who was very, very famous.
It was the first time that I’d had a quote-unquote ‘famous’ relationship, and I watched [the] scrutiny, opinions, the desire for people to know my life and his life and our life — it just felt violating in a way that, before, it was fun.”
She said it felt violating compared with her previous private relationships. In February 2022, reports confirmed the pair had ended their engagement. Sources said their careers had taken them in separate directions. Woodley has called the period following the breakup the darkest, hardest time in my life.