The Truth About Cole Sprouse and Lili Reinhart: Why did they breakup 2 times within a year? Is Cole Sprouse hooking up with Elisha Herbet? Kaia Gerber? And more exposed!
Cole Sprouse and Lili Reinhart have been linked together since 2017. Starring on the same popular show, Riverdale, the duo has created an active fanbase for both their couple on screen and off screen. However, things started getting a little awkward when their reps announced their breakup in the summer of 2019. The breakup was quickly dismissed by Cole and Lili as they debuted their new photoshoot. We didn’t make things easier for their fans when we claimed that Cole has been cheating on Lili.
It’s August 2020 now and it’s reported that Cole and Lili have separated once again.
Let’s run through some of their details.
Relationship Rundown
Cole and Lili have been close ever since 2016 because of the show, but it was in 2017 where it was rumored that they were dating.
In April 2017, Cole started posting photos of Lili but didn’t confirm their relationship.
At Comic-Con in July 2017, a source reported that Lili was wearing Cole’s jacket and that they were holding hands, kissing, and looked very “coupley.”
In August of that year, Lili posted a very sweet birthday message for Cole on Instagram, introducing him as the “the man who has showed me more beautiful places in this past year than I have ever seen in my whole life.”
Despite claiming each other publicly on social media, they both refused to talk about their relationship status. In November 2017, Cole spoke to People about how he believed it was offensive and an invasion of privacy whenever fans wanted the on-screen couples together in real life.
…
Personally, I find that statemnent very weird and tone deaf because fans will always be fans. If fans want two people to date because they support them on the show, then that’s just called shipping people together. It’s a normal thing that happens to all celebrities. It only becomes an invasion of privacy if it bypasses those realms, but other than that, how is that offensive? Someone elaborate in the comment section below.
Anyways...
When asked about his relationship with Lili in that interview, he said “no comment.”
2018
Fast forward to January 2018 where Lili and Cole took a vacation together to Hawaii.
Splash News
That same month, Lili had an interview with V Magazine where similarly to Cole, she bounced around the confirmation of the relationship and went on a whole tangent about privacy. I’m going to include her full quote because I think she did make a couple of good points.
“People are just dying to know information about if I’m in a relationship or not. I understand the interest, but it’s called a private life for a reason. And it’s not something that I owe the world. People are going to say anything and everything. They’re going to say that I love KJ, they’re gonna say that I love Cami, and they’re gonna say that I love Cole: it’s inevitable. But I’m not at a point in my life where I’m ready to openly confirm, deny, or talk about a relationship that I’m in, because I think it’s brutal to have a relationship in the spotlight where I can be scrutinized by anyone and everyone. Being in a relationship with someone, it’s a relationship between those two people, and I feel like when you let enough people in, it’s not about those two people anymore. It’s about everyone.”
She’s made some excellent points and we’ll get to the whole rambling about privacy later on in the post, but let’s just follow their relationship timeline.
In March, the cast of Riverdale was at PaleyFest where a fan asked them directly if they were dating. Cole responded “no comment,” once again.
While you do have a right to privacy in general, celebrities often sign that right away when they sign up to become stars. You’re in the public eye, you make money off staying in the public eye, and you remain in the public eye by drawing interest to you. You can’t possibly complain about privacy when you sign up for this. This has always been my pet peeve when it comes to celebrities, but anyways!
In April, US Weekly published photos of them kissing in Paris.
Best Image / BACKGRID
Best Image / BACKGRID
Here’s a photo of Cole taking pictures of Lili (which I find cute).
Best Image / BACKGRID
And here’s the two of them later that night, going on a romantic dinner together
Best Image / BACKGRID
Ugh, Lili looks so good in red.
So in May 2018, the two debuted their red carpet look together at the Met Gala, which is a huge night for fashion.
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
Despite their debut at the Met Gala, Lili was still not willing to talk about their relationship. Speaking to Harper’s Bazaar in July, she said, “I’m not okay talking about my relationship. I’m not going to tell you my love story. That’s just not appropriate right now.”
In August, Lili posted another photo on Instagram of Cole in honor of his birthday. The post is now deleted, but her caption was rather lovey-dovey as opposed to her interviews.
“It seems as if the world would still be a stranger to me, if not for you. I’m so thankful that our paths intertwined to form this beautiful adventure~Happy birthday, my love.”
In September, Cole posted a picture of Lili for her birthday which is also now deleted, captioning it, “Both the birthday and the gift. My little muse, happy birthday my love.”
He also posted this cute photo of them on Instagram and captioned it something about “late nights.”
Also them: mad about people questioning their relationship yet broadcasting it on social media.
In October, they started mocking the fans’ constant questions about their relationship on Instagram.
In November, it was reported that Cole spent part of the holidays with Lili’s family, indicating that they are in a serious relationship.
Then in December, Lili commented something funny on this Instagram post.
“No hoes” lol
Peep Miley Cyrus’ comment. Sis is divorced now.
2019
Fast forward to February 2019 where Cole has an interview with GQ. Speaking about Lili he said, “It’s not something that we hide, or it’s not something that we show off. It’s just something that exists.”
At this point, they still didn’t “confirm” their relationship. Cole is just rambling interviews like Lili because apparently it’s so hard to say “Yes we are dating.” Keep reading because I have a bone to pick with them based on this need for mystery.
On Valentine’s Day, they both posted for each other. The posts are now deleted.
Then in March, they attended Cole’s movie premiere together.
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
Then in May, they attended the Met Gala together for the second time in a row.
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
Fast forward to July and it’s announced that…. THEY’RE BROKEN UP! Well, most of their fans don’t believe this especially since Cole and Lili quickly denied it as they debuted their joint magazine shoot.
Let’s get to the bottom of the kettle pot.
Tea About Their Relationship
On our old ask box, we said that Cole has been cheating on Lili which will most likely lead to a breakup.
And what do you know? In July 22, they are reported to have been broken up earlier on in the summer.
For any Cole and Lili stans that are new to the industry and how it functions, when a “source” is reported in mainstream media, it’s often a legit source from either party’s reps. Whether it’s their publicist, their agent, or even them, it’s someone from their circle and not a random hobo on the street.
Anyways, here’s what that source had to say:
Our Inside Information
So the source that originally told me that Cole is cheating on Lili is one of my friends and when I sent her the article that came out about Cole and Lili’s breakup, she literally said “that’s pretty accurate” in regards to the source that broke the news about their breakup.
She said that they did break up earlier on in the summer which is why I answered that question on ask, in the first week of July because from what I know, the tension was starting to heat up between the duo and I assumed that Lili found out about the cheating or something of that nature.
The source reported, “Things have felt super heavy in the relationship for a while and it got to be too much.” This is 100% true because they were fighting a lot. I don’t know about what, we weren’t there with them. But because they are on a popular show and they are dating on the show, a lot of their friends and people were suspicious of how this would affect their work life.
We’ll get to the cheating in a little bit, but after news broke out about their breakup, the cast of Riverdale had a public appearance at Comic-Con.
At Comic-Con, Lilil seemed a bit off and a body language expert weighed in on how she was acting.
A body language expert claimed that Lili seemed zoned out and sad as she was in deep thought.
She also seemed anxious but trying to be polite to the crowd. Meanwhile, Cole was just chilling and seemed comfortable as he was taking up space on the table, while Lili tried to remain reserved in her space.
Now that’s an interesting take because as Lili is looking at Cole, she does seem to be “protecting” herself “from him” in a way.
Let me know how you guys feel about the body language expert’s thoughts on this. I don’t often read about things like this but it’s definitely worth noting because body language does mean a lot. In this case, there were a lot of interviews were Lili did look uncomfortable at Comic-Con and her cast was kind of side-eyeing the whole thing.
To make this seem fine and okay, Lili posted the following on Instagram.
This goes back to keeping that professionalism considering they are costars.
Denying The Breakup
Cole and Lili were explosive in how they denied this breakup. Not only did they deny it, but they debuted their V Magazine shoot while they were at it.
First, Lili posted this tweet:
This is actually a tweet that many Riverdale stans sent me as they were sending me hate because what I said on my ask box was circling around in the fandom. LOL I mean true, but this is the entertainment industry and all these “sources” are either the celebrity or their team or their inner circle. So….
And fun fact! Celebrities will often have agreements with the media in which the media will “expose” them, but the celebrity will know about it beforehand. To avoid a lawsuit, the celebrity in question will be in agreement with what’s going to be posted, such as “okay fine, you can post about that, but I’ll just deny it.” Often, the media will post the lesser of the two evils in the situation to get the celebrity onboard and the media away from a lawsuit. It’s very interesting how this all works.
Anyways!
Lili and Cole both took to Instagram on July 25, three days after their breakup announcement, to deny the rumors by posting their photoshoot captioned with some satirical approach to their breakup.
I sent all this to my source and I’m going to quote what she said back in July 2019:
“I don’t know if they got back together when they posted this because they broke up earlier in July, but that was a total PR move. The magazine shoot was already coming out. All the promo for Riverdale was finalized. They had to deny it. I think it was Cole’s idea to be that bold about it and Lili followed him in it as she usually does. It’s in his nature to be obnoxious and rather gas-lighting in a way. But there are no reports of them getting back together right now so I call total bullsh-t. It’s always easy to play on the minds of the young fans and rebel against the media. People love that. And it fit the theme of their photoshoot in a way.
Just as we suspected and I think I already said all of this when you guys asked me about it last summer. I told you that it’s a total PR move.
Maybe their fans are still young and haven’t been following up with them or this fake industry as much as my readers have, but it’s pretty obvious.
Here’s a couple of pictures from their shoot because it was rather cool.
Photograph by Steven Klein; Styled Arianne Phillips.
Photograph by Steven Klein; Styled Arianne Phillips.
Photograph by Steven Klein; Styled Arianne Phillips.
In a way, it was mimicking the state of their relationship—dark, broken, damaged, sad.
In an interview with The Coveteur in September 2019, Lili confirmed that both her and Cole are together. She said, “I think I’m leaning in towards a character for Halloween. I think I’m going to do it with my boyfriend, Cole. I don’t want to spoil it if it’s not going to happen, but it’s a TV duo.”
Suddenly… privacy didn’t matter! Anything to squash those breakup rumors huh?
And in November, Lili was back to posting photos of her and Cole (these posts are now deleted).
I asked my source about this and she said:
I reached out to —— and apparenlty they did get back together for real this time and not to put an end to the breakup rumors. ——- said that they both wanted to make it work for the sake of the show and give it another try. Personally, it’s going to go downhill again. I feel like it’s always Lili trying to make it work meanwhile it seems like Cole is interested in enjoying the fame again and being surrounded with pretty girls. He’s always been a flirt at events and like I told you a couple of months ago, he was cheating on her. Making it work for the sake of the show and all the press appearences they’re going to be at isn’t going to work. They’ll breakup again.
— my source, September 2019.
And so they did.
On May 25, 2020, E! reported that the duo has broken up yet again.
However, their costar Skeet Ulrich was on Instagram live with his girlfriend Megan Blake Irwin, and they answered some questions from Riverdale fans. One fan asked, “Do you think that Cole Sprouse and Lili Reinhart are a cute couple?” Skeet responded saying, “I think they were a very cute couple.” Megan chimed in also saying, “They were a very cute couple. They’re both beautiful people.” Past tense.
Even then, fans remained in denial.
However, they were broken up far before May. Riverdale filming had to shut down after some of the staff tested positive for the coronavirus and at this point, everyone was in quarantine. As time went on, guess what happened?
Cole and Lili quarantined separately.
A source told E! News that, "Lili and Cole were in a good place when Riverdale was shut down due to the Coronavirus outbreak, but they isolated separately and distance has never been a good thing for their relationship. When Cole and Lili are around each other often, things are very good. Their relationship is very intimate and affectionate, but things become much more complicated when they're apart."
Why do things become complicated apart? Maybe because one half of the couple doesn’t know how to remain faithful.
Yeah, I’m looking at you Cole.
A lot of my friends have been at several events with Cole and his posse. Whether that was back in 2017 at award shows or random parties in the big cities, one thing has remained constant—Cole is a flirt and was seen flirting and exchanging deets with many girls (according to them obvi). This is something that I’ve heard consistently about Cole since 2017. I only asked my sources aka friends, because Alana and I are huge fans of Riverdale. So of course when you hear that your favorite couple on the show is dating in real life and you have access to some celebrity tea, you’re gonna want to take advantage of it.
At this point in time, I wasn’t even active on this blog and I only came back for two unfortunate topics—Jelena and Jailey (Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, Hailey Baldwin [at the time]). Also, I wanted to give Cole the benefit of the doubt. You know, maybe my friends are reading too much into it. He could be partying with girls that happen to be fans of him.
But no.
As time went on, I would be told the same thing… “Pretty sure he’s cheating on Lili now” or “Word has it that Cole is cheating on Lili” or “I saw him getting these girls’ contact info.” It was always the same story. And the funny part is, I would hear the same thing since 2017.
But in 2017, I would just hear that he’s a flirt. In 2019 is when my sources started spilling more information. At this point, tensions were at an all time high with Cole and Lili and we just assumed that she found out about the cheating.
Another source told E! News that "Distance is never good for their relationship. They decided not to quarantine together and knew off the bat that it wasn't going to work. They both know their communication is better when they are together in person, and it just wasn’t working.”
No one put a gun to either of their heads and said: “quarantine separately.” They had the option to spend it together, but they CHOSE NOT TO. Why? It all goes back to what my source said in September 2019—they got back together for the sake of the show.
I’m lowkey heartbroken too, y’all aint the only ones
There’s something we need to take into consideration here—Cole has been in the industry for far longer and knows how to work himself in the industry more than Lili. So from what I know, Cole would give Lili some pointers on how to deal with being a new celebrity since she is fairly new and has gotten her big break with Riverdale, but I feel like Cole has that controlling nature about him.
P.S. yes Lili has been active since 2010, but her big Hollywood break was only in 2017 with Riverdale.
Both Cole and his twin Dylan, have always felt smarter than their fellow peers because they left the industry to go get a college degree at New York University (wink wink). There’s always that arrogance with them, especially Cole who is a lot sassier than Dylan.
I can totally see Cole controlling the narrative that both him and Lili put out in the media. Saying “no comment” when asked about their relationship. Insisting on privacy yet posting their relationship on social media and teasing the fans. It’s like 2 + 2 = 9???
Maybe he didn’t want to publicize the relationship so much so he can cheat in peace? Who knows? But it surely doesn’t sit right with me that they were both so adamant on NOT CONFIRMING the relationship, yet posting things on social media for their millions of followers. And my opinion here is that it’s something that Cole put Lili up to.
And I love both Cole and Lili, but I’m just not blind to things like this. Do I think Cole is the devil? In comparison to the usual topics I write about, he seems like a saint. However, I do think that Lili being the less famous and fairly newer star here, was easily taken advantage of in some realms.
Lili is insecure when someone else has done more than her. Whether that’s in a relationship where your partner has been more experienced than you or that’s just in general, it’s a huge insecurity of hers. So she’s the type to just go with the flow because “he knows better” and Cole talks a good game. When he’s in the room, he makes you feel as if you’re talking to Einstein but it’s just because he’s talking with some sort of sophistication to him meanwhile he’s spewing BS. Kinda like Jade Pinket Smith on the Red Table Talk.
How’s Lili Now?
Photography by Jory Lee Cordy, Styling by Laura Marciano
Lili has come out as bisexual and I think that the timing reflects a lot on her relationship with Cole. For her to choose to come out as bisexual DAYS AFTER her breakup with him kinda insinuates an idea that she’s taking the narrative back in her control.
Again, what happened to all that “privacy” that they kept preaching about??? Once Cole got out of the picture, it seemed like Lili wanted to share things about her life.
On June 3, 2020, she posted the following on her Instagram story:
In the comment section of my last post about Cole and Lili, some readers were saying that she did this to hop on the next popular bandwagon and claim she’s bi only because it was pride month. I don’t even know what that means, but coming out during pride month isn’t hopping on the bandwagon.
Also, I’ve been known that Lili is bisexual for a long time, it’s just not something that she was comfortable revealing about herself yet. Plus, we have a new code of morality on ESMG where we no longer out people (sorry to kill that part of the entertainment, but I gotta keep some of my morals intact lol).
How’s Cole now?
Cole is chilling and partying it up in LA with some of his cast members. He’s pretty close to KJ Apa. A reader of mine dmed me saying:
“Cole and KJ live at parties during the pandemic, my — lives in Los Angeles and told me that she always sees them at a bar called — ——, but always with drinks, marijuana and a lot of women.”
I’m not using that as a source, but it’s worth mentioning since a lot of people are now on Cole’s case since reportedly, he’s now hooking up with Elisha Herbert whom he stole from her man Emile Hirsch (according to stans, this is a popular theory going on between them because they’ve been connecting the dots).
Elisha Herbert, the girl who’s reportedly hooking up with Cole.
So apparently, Cole went to Tulum with Bazzi and his girlfriend, Renee Herbet aka Elisha’s twin.
The person that’s circled is supposed to be Cole because he is seen in a different picture wearing that jacket. Here’s a closer look at the photos:
Bear with me since these are all new people to me and thank you to all the amazing people that were helping me uncover this story before this post went up.
In Renee’s story, Elisha was seen wearing Cole’s hat.
Elisha wearing Cole’s hat.
Fans believe that Cole broke up Elisha and Emile (who’s an actor) OR that Elisha is cheating on Emile with Cole.
It’s kind of obvious that Elisha and Cole are somewhat ~together, whether that’s hanging out or hooking up, I don’t know, but it’s clear they’re in the same place and Emile isn’t exactly in the picture.
Fans were quick to point out that Elisha posted the same setting on her story proving that she’s at the same place as Cole.
Elisha’s story:
One of the pictures that Cole posted on his Instagram of Barbara Palvin and Dylan:
Fans are upset because they believe that Cole broke up Emile and Elisha’s relationship since Emile and Elisha were seen archiving their old photos yet bringing them back and a whole bunch of weird sh-t.
And Emile was seen following Lili on Instagram and liking her pictures which makes some fans think that he’s trying to get back at Cole for stealing his girlfriend, by getting with his ex-girlfriend.
YIKES.
This whole thing is a MESS.
Honestly from what I see, Cole is probably hooking up with Elisha. It’s a whole couples trip and you think that all these young and hot actors/models together aren’t going to hook up? It’s obvious they’re at the same place. What people are mad about is that Cole apparently broke up Emile and Elisha.
And to be honest, everything that we suspect right now is not far fetched from what I know about Cole. I mean take a look at what my source said about him and Lili.
Think about it, Riverdale was Cole’s big break ever since his childhood fame on Disney. He’s now hotter and older. Girls are throwing themselves at him and he’s arguably more famous than he’s ever been. Guys like Cole don’t seem like they want me to tied down. And even before his breakup with Lili was announced, he was quickly seen hanging out in new groups, partying, and meeting new girls. No one said you can’t have friends of the opposite sex, but it’s pretty obvious that it’s more than that. It doesn’t even seem like he’s the slightest bit upset this his relationship of three-something years is dead.
Back in April he was seen super close with Kaia Gerber before it was even confirmed that him and Lili have broken up.
In June, he attended a protest with Kaia.
Backgrid
The media and the fans were speculating if Cole cheated on Lili with Kaia which prompted him to post the following on his story:
That sound a little gas lighting to anyone? LMAO.
I’m just saying, the data points ain’t looking so good for Cole.
Plus, we do have to once again point out that I called their breakup a few weeks before it was announced. If I was right about the breakup, why wouldn’t I be right about the contents behind the breakup?
This post is long enough. I hope I clarified Cole and Lili’s relationship as well as provided some context to their breakups. The whole thing with Elisha is so weird and I don’t have inside information on that, but we can follow this story together as it develops.
Make sure to leave your thoughts down in the comments below. What else do you think went down between Cole and Lili? Do you want me to write any other posts about Cole or Lili? Let me know by leaving requests down in the comments. You can comment anonymously so take advantage of that! Comment any other questions you have and I’ll be answering!