George Lopez: Another Hollywood Divorce? Seriously?

George Lopez and his wife, Ann, are splitting after 17 years of marriage, which makes me second-guess the whole institution.

-Faye Brennan

Funnyman George Lopez isn’t laughing about this one – he and his wife, Ann, are splitting up (even though this photo was taken last week. They sure put on a good show, right?). A rep for the couple tells TMZ:

“George and Ann Lopez have made the decision to end their 17-year marriage. The decision is amicable and by mutual agreement. They remain dedicated parents, and committed partners in business and their philanthropic organization, The Lopez Foundation.”

I don’t mean to get all philosophical, but divorces like this really bother me and are something I’ll never quite understand (until I get married, I guess, but let’s hope not). How do you spend 17 years of your life with another person—someone who gave birth to your 15-year-old daughter and who donated her own kidney to save your life—and then wake up one day and say, “Hey, I don’t want to be with you anymore”? How exactly does that work?

Sources tell TMZ this split has been in the works “for a long time,” but I hope it took an even longer time for George and his wife to decide that divorce was their only option. If they could still remain business partners, who says they can’t remain life partners with a little extra effort?

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Of course, I don’t know the details of the split or why the Lopezes have decided to go their separate ways, so maybe something happened that would make any romantic partnership between these two impossible. And yes, I realize that it’s possible to simply fall out of love with your partner. But, these two better have a very good reason for why they’re splitting now, because there is a teenage girl stuck in the middle. Being 15-years old is hard enough – I can’t imagine being in those awkward years again and having to deal with my parent’s divorce. Not cool mom and dad. Not cool.

And seriously, does George Lopez really want to be 49 and single? Sure, he’s got a good thing going with Lopez Tonight, but I doubt he has any late night show groupies waiting to get with him.

Then again, David Letterman surprised us all in that arena, as did Larry King, so who knows? Maybe this is exactly what George wants.

It just makes me sad to hear that yet another marriage is over, not just in Hollywood, but in general. As a twenty-something, I wonder if marriage is something I should be looking forward to, when half the time it seems to end in heartbreak for celebrities and the average person alike… even after 17 years.

Faye Brennan is assistant editor at BettyConfidential.