Call it the battle of Shakira and Gerard Piqué. The cheating allegations, the viral songs, the cryptic Instagram posts — the Colombian pop star and the retired FC Barcelona player have been making headlines for months as their messy separation plays out in public.
The couple famously met back in 2010 on the set of “Waka Waka,” the song Shakira wrote for the FIFA World Cup that year (Piqué appears in the video.) The two made their relationship official some time later. They had their first son Milan in January 2013 and their second son Sasha in 2014.
But in June 2022, Shakira and Piqué announced their separation after 11 years together. Since then, it’s been a whirlwind of headlines, interviews, and chart-topping songs as the couple deals with the aftermath of their public breakup. Here’s a timeline of everything that’s happened since Piqué and Shakira went their own ways:
June 2022: Shakira and Piqué announce their separation
On June 4, 2022, days after Spain’s El Periodico reported that Piqué wasn’t living with Shakira and their children, the couple announced that their 11-year relationship had come to an end.
“We regret to confirm that we are separating,” the couple said in a joint statement. “We ask for privacy at this moment for the well-being of our children, who are our maximum priority. Thank you in advance for your understanding and respect.”
El Periodico claimed that they had made the decision to separate after Piqué was allegedly caught cheating.
September 2022: Shakira calls the post-breakup period her “darkest hour”
Several months after the couple confirmed their split, Shakira appeared on the cover of Elle magazine and opened up about the breakup following what she called a “total circus” of tabloid gossip.
“I’ve remained quiet and just tried to process it all. It’s hard to talk about it, especially because I’m still going through it, and because I’m in the public eye and because our separation is not like a regular separation,” she told the magazine in September 2022. “And so it’s been tough not only for me, but also for my kids. Incredibly difficult. I have paparazzi camping outside, in front of my house, 24/7. And there’s not a place where I can hide from them with my kids, except for my own house.”
She added, “I’ve tried to conceal the situation in front of my kids. I try to do it and protect them, because that’s my number one mission in life. But then they hear things in school from their friends or they come across some disagreeable, unpleasant news online, and it just affects them, you know?”
She shared that her father had been ill at the same time, and described the period as “one of the most difficult, darkest hours of my life.”
October 2022: Shakira releases “Monotonía” with Ozuna
Shakira alluded to the end of her relationship with Piqué in the lyrics and video for “Monotonía.” In the song, Shakira laments a romance that just became too routine: “No fue culpa tuya/Ni tampoco mía/Fue culpa de la monotonía,” she sings on the track. (“It wasn’t your fault nor mine/It was monotony’s fault.)
The video follows Shakira as she walks around town looking for her missing (literal) heart, even as people trample over it in the street, indicating major heartbreak.
November 2022: Shakira and Piqué reach a custody agreement
In November 2022, the couple told People that they had reached a custody agreement for their sons Milan and Sasha.
“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 couple told the magazine. “We appreciate that their privacy will be respected.”
January 2023: Shakira releases chart-breaking, Piqué-slamming Bizarrap single
Shakira broke records, topped charts, and took direct aim at Piqué when she released her “BZRP Music Session #53” with Argentine producer Bizarrap in January 2023.
“Una loba como yo no esta pa’ tipos como tu (A wolf like me isn’t for guys like you),” she declared on the song, referencing her 2009 mega-hit “She Wolf.”
“I won’t get back with you, not if you cry, not even if you beg me,” she sang in one of the most biting lines. “It’s clear that it’s not my fault if they criticize you. I just make music, sorry if it splashes you.” She pauses at the end, emphasizing “pique” in the Spanish word “salpique” — a clear nod at her ex.
She also made reference to Clara Chia Marti, the woman Piqué’s allegedly cheated with, emphasizing “clara” in the word “claramente.”
“I wish you luck with my supposed replacement/I don’t even know what happened to you,” she sings on the track, later adding, “Lots of time at the gym, but your brain needs a little work too.”
January 2023: Piqué responds to the BZRP session
Piqué referred to the song during a stream of his Kings League-focused podcast, showing off a Casio watch on his wrist, in reference to Shakira’s lyrics.
“Casio has sent us watches,” he said in Spanish. “We reached a sponsorship agreement with Casio. The Kings League struck a deal with Casio… I’m serious!”
By April, the song had more than 420 million plays on YouTube, and nearly 500 million streams on Spotify. (The song also broke 14 Guinness World Records.)
January 2023: Piqué and Clara Chia Marti make things official
Not just rumors, these two are official. Two weeks after the release of her scathing “BZRP Music Session #53,” Piqué and Clara Chia Marti confirmed they were together after Piqué shared a selfie with her.
He’s since been mostly absent from Instagram, aside from posting about his Kings League venture.
February 2023: Shakira sings about Piqué’s new relationship on Karol G collab
The following month, Shakira and Karol G released their highly anticipated collaboration “TQG,” with each of them alluding to their past high-profile relationships. Shakira mentions someone who strayed away from her, singing, “Seeing you with the new one hurt me/But I’m already set by myself.”
“Listening to that story and where she was at, the song ‘TQG’ made a lot of sense,” Karol told Rolling Stone. “I sent it to her and she loved it.”
March 2023: Piqué officially breaks his silence: ‘I keep doing what I want’
In March, Piqué officially broke his silence, sitting down for a full interview with Spain’s El Pais. In the interview, the soccer player said he had no interest in “cleaning up” his image and explained that he would continue doing what he pleased.
“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.”
He added, “There have been changes in my life and I have known how to preserve happiness.” (He emphasized being “very happy” with his life now.)
Piqué also said he wanted to do what was best for his kids. “It’s about protecting them,” he said. “That’s the job of all parents with their kids. That’s what I’m focused on and that’s my role as a father.”
March 2023: Shakira posts cryptic selfie that some think references Piqué’s girlfriend
Shakira posted a selfie with a cryptic caption that read simply “chiaroscuro.” Fans quickly began wondering if it was an indirect reference to Clara Chia Marti, noting that the word means “light-dark” — or “claro-oscuro.”
April 2, 2023: Shakira confirms she’s moving out of Barcelona to find “happiness” elsewhere
Months after a source told People she would move to Miami to be closer to her family, Shakira confirmed that she was leaving Barcelona, where she had moved earlier in her life to give her children “stability.”
“We’re now looking for that [stability] in another corner of the world alongside family, friends, and the ocean,” she wrote in a Twitter statement on April 2. “Today we begin a new chapter in the search for happiness.”
Shakira thanked those who “surfed waves” with her in Barcelona, the city where she says she learned that “friendship lasts longer than love.”
“Thanks to everyone there who cheered me up, dried my tears, inspired me, and made me grow,” she said. “Thanks to my Spanish fans who have covered me with their love and loyalty.”
April 2, 2023: Piqué calls Shakira’s fans “people who don’t have a life” — and she claps back
During an interview with Gerard Romero’s Jijantes podcast in early April, Piqué seemingly threw shade at Shakira and her fans, expressing that he didn’t care what people thought of him, and emphasizing that his ex-girlfriend is from Latin America. (Some fans believed Piqué’s mention of Shakira’s birthplace was racist and out of place.)
“My ex-wife is Latin American. You have no idea what I received on social media, but I don’t care. Zero. I don’t know them,” he said on the podcast, opening up about the backlash he’s faced following the split. “They’re people without lives and I’m never going to meet them. They’re like robots.”
“If you care too much about comments, you’re dead,” he added. “You’re dead.”
Shakira clapped back with a simple message on Twitter: “I’m proud of being Latin American.” She also shared emojis of the Latin American flags.
April 10, 2023: Shakira asks paparazzi to “respect” her children’s privacy
After arriving in Miami, her new home base, Shakira asked the media to respect the privacy of her children with Piqué, Milan and Sasha.
“In this period of change in my life as a public figure, it’s understandable that there is a permanent curiosity around me and my family,” Shakira wrote. “However, my children, Milan and Sasha, have endured a very difficult year, suffering incessant harassment and persecution without relief by the paparazzi and several media outlets in Barcelona.”
Shakira “implored” that the media respect her children and not follow the two children as they attend school, leave their home, or attend their extracurricular activities.
“I extend this petition not as an artist, but as a mother who wishes to protect and care for the psychological and emotional well-being of my children so they may live a happy and healthy life, as all children deserve to do,” she added.