With this ring, I thee wed...

Earlier this month, 23-year-old Ashlee Simpson announced her engagement to Fall Out Boy rocker Pete Wentz. Quickly following on the heels of that announcement, an unnamed source confirmed to People Magazine that not only is the couple engaged, but they are also expecting a baby. With this revelation, Simpson joined the growing trend of young Hollywood starlets getting engaged, married or pregnant.

According to popsugar.com, Ashlee Simpson said, “We know there has been a lot of speculation recently about Pete and I and we wanted our fans to be the first to know, because you guys are the best. Yes, we are thrilled to share that we are happily engaged.”

Today, Hollywood’s young stars are tying the knot at extremely early ages. The trend started gaining momentum in 1994 when then 19-year-old Drew Barrymore got married.

Unfortunately, most of these young marriages end in divorce.  It seems as though it has become standard in Hollywood for stars to marry young and split up within five years.  It is as if those first marriages are just trial runs, expected to fail.  

Major factors that usually add to the high divorce rate in Hollywood are a large age gap between the partners and the inexperience of both parties.  
Another factor apparent in most of these divorces is when one spouse’s career skyrockets, and the others remains relatively stagnant.  The discrepancies in popularity and money arising from this scenario are breaking points.

Even those that seemed perfect, like America’s sweethearts Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Philippe, who married when they were just 23 and 24 respectively, eventually failed.

Witherspoon and Phillipe seemed like the poster couple for happy marriages, praising the benefits of couples counseling and produced two beautiful children. So it was shocking when they separated and later divorced after six years of marriage.

Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson also seemed blissfully in love after their televised 2002 wedding, but after constant break-up rumors, an ill-conceived MTV reality show and ludicrous “chicken or fish” dilemmas, the couple called it quits after four years.

Some marriages, though, seemed doomed to fail from the beginning. Who can forget “Home Alone” star Macaulay Culkin’s highly publicized 1998 marriage to actress Rachel Miner at the tender age of 19? Their marriage lasted a whole two years.  

Golden girl Kate Hudson was only 21 when she married Black Crowes frontman Chris Robinson, 13 years her senior.  The two seemed to mix about as well as oil and water and the marriage eventually ended in divorce, but not before the birth of their long-haired son Ryder Russell.

Perhaps one of the most famous bad marriages was 22-year-old Britney Spears’ surprising choice of a husband in her 2004 nuptials to the greasy wannabe-rapper Kevin Federline (this on the heels of that memorable 55-hour marriage to childhood friend Jason Alexander).  

Spears’ marriage seemed volatile and troubled from the beginning and was constantly rocked with rumors of violence and separation.  Once the two finally separated and Britney shaved her head, it seemed to become evident that Federline was the stabilizing force in the strange marriage. One would think she would learn from her sister’s mistake, but such is not the case for young Jamie Lynn Spears. 

The actress became pregnant with longtime boyfriend Casey Aldridge’s child at only 16-years-old.
Ashlee Simpson’s current situation should not come as a surprise to anyone familiar with the bizarre world that is our entertainment industry. She is another young woman who should probably have heeded the example of her sister’s failed marriage, and it remains to be seen how this seemingly happy couple will fare once the marriage license is inked, the vows are recited and the midnight feedings begin.