'Divorce-tok' fills social media as creators find audiences — and support — by sharing heartbreak

On Instagram feeds that are often teeming with curated, contrived content, a recent post from Monette Wagner stood out for her disarming openness.

Looking into the camera, Wagner, a 36-year-old mother of three, said in the video: “Divorce can feel like a death.”

In what resembles a digital journal, Wagner has posted videos in real time about the emotions and life changes that have come with her recent divorce. Developing financial independence, getting used to co-parenting, and moving on from heartbreak are frequent themes of her Instagram posts.

A growing number of people, the majority of them women, are sharing unvarnished divorce stories, both offering and seeking advice on social media. Moving beyond a stigma around discussing marital breakdowns, the content provides a space for the creators to heal, and for their followers to relate and reflect on their own experiences and emotions.

A professional photographer in Indianapolis, Wagner already had a platform on Instagram to share and promote her work. But she recently took the page in this more vulnerable direction.

Alongside posts about the heavier moments, she also shares lessons learned and more optimistic musings. She has posted about wanting to reconnect with the confident, curious person she was more than a decade ago — before she met her now-former husband. She's revisiting passions she had as a teen, including skateboarding and learning to DJ.

“I wanted to show my kids that you can still be strong even through these hard days. I wanted to show them how strong hope is,” she said. “I feel more confident. I feel resilient. I feel like I faced my fears of showing up scared, of putting myself out there as my authentic self.”

On TikTok, where niche categories of content sometimes earn a nickname, content that delves into marital woes has been dubbed “divorce-tok.”

The level of detail creators choose to divulge about their divorce and marriage varies widely. Some, like Wagner, do not post about their ex-partners. Others provide detailed accounts of issues in their marriage and the sometimes messy and lengthy process of finalizing their divorce.

The voyeuristic world of social media tends to love story-time-style videos where creators talk as if they’re chatting on the phone with a friend, sparing no details. Some creators post one-off videos, while others make it the focus on their platforms. Trends related to divorce also periodically pop up online, like this season’s “hot divorcée summer” videos and clips showing people’s post-divorce “glow-ups,” or physical, and in many cases, emotional, transformations. The #divorce hashtag has millions of posts on both TikTok and Instagram.

Jen Hamilton, a labor and delivery nurse with more than 5 million TikTok followers, recently has been sharing the “nitty-gritty” details behind her divorce, as she said in one video. Hamilton has explained how her husband led what she called a “double life” with another partner, and has shared videos of herself crying, cracking jokes and generally processing the news while maintaining her signature optimism.

In a more celebratory post, Hamilton shared photos and videos from what would have been her 14th wedding anniversary, recognizing the occasion with what she called a “Jendependence Day” party. More than a dozen friends and co-workers joined her at her North Carolina home as she burned her bedsheets and toasted to her future beyond her marriage.

“I feel like if I share my pain with you, I don’t feel so alone, because there’s so many other people going through the exact same thing,” she said in a video in July. She added that her followers then, in turn, feel less alone too.

Some men have posted content along these lines, but women make up the vast majority of creators posting about divorce.

Many of these creators say they’re not sharing their stories in hopes of gaining pity or sympathy, but rather are hoping to develop a sense of community online with people who have gone through similar experiences.

Alex Daly, a 41-year-old creator in Philadelphia, started posting about her divorce around three years after she went through it. Once she found that she had processed her emotions around the divorce, she was eager to talk about it. She aims to reach people who are “still in the thick of it, because it’s a really hard place to be,” she said.

“It can feel very lonely and isolating. It can feel like you’re the only person going through it,” Daly said. Followers have thanked her and told her she's saying what they’ve been thinking and feeling. “You’re making me feel normal,” she said some people message her.

It seems paradoxical that a topic that can be difficult or awkward to discuss with family and friends is also one some feel comfortable sharing with potentially millions of strangers online. But it can be much easier to forge digital connections than in-person ones, according to Tasha R. Dunn, an associate professor at the University of Toledo. Dunn researches the relationship between lived experiences and media, including how we present our lives on social media.

“There are few divorce support groups in a given community, but you have something at the tip of your fingers on your phone or computer where you can find people who’ve literally shared your same experience,” Dunn said.

“People maybe feel a little bit safer to put that content out there rather than to have a physical town hall and say, ’Everybody come, I’m going to share my experience.'”

The candor that makes divorce-related content so popular could also be detrimental for those posting if they’re in the midst of legal proceedings.

Jackie Combs, a matrimonial and family law attorney in Los Angeles, said she does not recommend that people share anything related to their divorce, especially personal grievances or intimate details, publicly online.

“Every single reel that you put out there, every piece of content that’s related to it, you have to presume that somebody is watching and is going to use it as evidence, if needed,” she said.

On social media, Combs herself often shares content about divorce, speaking about the importance of financial independence and prenuptial agreements. She said she sees social media as a key part of the “destigmatization” of divorce to show people it's “not the end, it’s just a pivot.”

Creators like Wagner and Daly also can be the subject of intense trolling and negativity.

Daly said she's received comments and messages from people saying she's “ruining people’s lives” or that she doesn't have morals. She said she tries not to let those comments or interactions get to her because those people don't know what happened in the privacy of her marriage or who she truly is.

The negativity is “just proving that there is still a stigma and a taboo around divorce,” Daly said. So it keeps her motivated to “share about how divorce just doesn’t have to be the end of your life and how it can actually be an amazing beginning.”

Monette Wagner cuts strawberries as she prepares an after-school snack for her children at her home in Indianapolis, Ind., Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Monette Wagner poses with her children, Vivienne, 12, top left, Ellie, 9, left, and Xavier, 7, at her home her home in Indianapolis, Ind., Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Monette Wagner poses for a portrait at her home in Indianapolis, Ind., Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Monette Wagner poses for a portrait at her home in Indianapolis, Ind., Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

NEW YORK (AP) — After missing more than three months, Aaron Judge is ready to return to the New York Yankees.

The three-time MVP was reinstated from the 60-day injured list Monday night, an off day for the Yankees. They open a three-game series at home Tuesday night against the Colorado Rockies.

Judge hasn't played since May 31 because of a broken right rib, but the slugger traveled with the Yankees on their recent trip to the West Coast. He took batting practice on the field multiple times last weekend in San Diego and ran the bases as he worked toward his return.

The 34-year-old outfielder will rejoin New York's active roster without going on a minor league rehab assignment first. Throughout his absence, Judge said he wouldn't need a stint in the minors to get ready.

“If I tell them I’m ready to go play, I think we’re ready to go play,” Judge said on Aug. 27. “I’m not a pitcher. I’m a position player. I can get my reps down here in the cage. I’m in every game. I’m sitting there in the dugout watching every game, feeling the environment, feeling the energy, so I don’t think there’s going to be much of a difference.”

With 19 games remaining in the regular season, the Yankees (81-62) trail first-place Tampa Bay by four games in the AL East. They are two games ahead of rival Boston (80-65) for the top American League wild card and hold a potential tiebreaker between the teams after winning the season series.

The higher seed plays at home throughout every best-of-three Wild Card Series.

New York was 36-23 after Judge last played on May 31 and went 45-39 in the 84 games he missed since.

The offense, however, was obviously affected. The Yankees batted .243 with 86 homers in 59 games through May 31 but hit only .227 with 107 homers in 84 games while Judge was out.

Their batting average during that stretch ranked 29th among the 30 major league teams, ahead of only Seattle (.225).

New York had a .770 OPS through May 31, but it was .681 in his absence.

Judge is hitting .248 with 17 homers and 38 RBIs. He was initially injured attempting to avoid second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. on a diving catch in Houston on April 26 and batted .263 with seven homers and 20 RBIs in 31 games before being sidelined.

The captain's only homer in the final 18 games before he went on the injured list was a game-ending, two-run shot to beat Tampa Bay 2-0 on May 24 that snapped an 11-game drought without an RBI, the longest of his career.

Judge won a batting title last season when he hit a career-high .331 with 53 homers and 114 RBIs in 152 games. He missed 10 games from July 26 to Aug. 4 with a flexor strain in his right elbow that he sustained on a throw to home plate July 22 in Toronto. He underwent a plasma-rich platelet injection and did not require offseason surgery.

Judge skipped a rehab assignment in 2023 when he missed 42 games with a fractured right big toe after crashing into the right-field fence at Dodger Stadium. In 2019, he appeared in five minor league games for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre when he missed two months with a strained left oblique.

To make room on the 40-man roster for Judge, right-hander Chase Hampton was designated for assignment Monday night.

New York optioned right-hander Elmer Rodríguez to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after Sunday's loss in San Diego.

This story has been corrected to show Judge is 34 years old, not 35.

AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum contributed to this report.

See AP’s full MLB coverage here

New York Yankees' Aaron Judge, right, gives autographs to fans before a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels, Monday}, Aug. 31, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Wally Skalij)

New York Yankees' Aaron Judge talks to third base/outfield coach Luis Rojas before a baseball game against the Houston Astros Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

New York Yankees' Ben Rice, left, Spencer Jones, center, and Aaron Judge, right, lean on the dugout rail in the first inning during a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Corey Sipkin)

New York Yankees' Aaron Judge smiles towards fans during a baseball game against the Houston Astros, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)