8 Stars Who Have Opened Up About Toxic Relationships

Find out what these stars had to say about their toxic relationships…

1. Lily Collins

Lily Collins says she was once in a toxic relationship where she faced "verbal and emotional abuse" that made her feel "very small." Looking back, Lily says her then-boyfriend silenced her feelings and even fueled emotions of "panic" and "anxiety" -- and it's something that still affects her even though she’s now in a healthy relationship.

"He would call me 'Little Lily'…and he'd use awful words about me in terms of what I was wearing and would call me a whore and all these things," she said on the "We Can Do Hard Things" podcast. "There were awful words and then there were belittling words. I became quite silent and comfortable in silence and feeling like I had to make myself small to feel super safe."

2. Bella Hadid

Bella Hadid has broken a cycle of toxic and abusive relationships. She says that because of her people-pleasing tendencies, she often let relationships in all aspects of her life become unhealthy. Reflecting on the situation, she believes it stems from growing up around men who made her feel that her "voice was less important than their voice."

"I constantly went back to men -- and also, women -- that had abused me, and that's where the people-pleasing came in," Hadid said on the Victoria's Secret podcast, "VS Voices."  "I started to not have boundaries, not only sexually, physically, emotionally, but then it went into my work space….I began to be a people-pleaser with my job and it was everyone else's opinion of me that mattered except for my own, because I essentially was putting my worth into the hands of everyone else and that was the detriment of it."

Bella was eventually able to break the cycle through therapy, meditation, and getting off of social media -- cultivating a life that felt "true" to her.

3. Billie Eilish

Billie Eilish admits that one of the times she felt most trapped in her life was when she was "in a relationship that was very emotionally abusive." She even penned her song "Your Power" about the situation, telling British Vogue that lyrics are "an open letter to people who take advantage -- mostly men."

"I would like people to listen to me. And not just try to figure out who I'm talking about, because it's not about that. It's really not at all about one person. You might think, 'It's because she's in the music industry' -- no, dude. It's everywhere," she explained. "I don’t know one girl or woman who hasn't had a weird experience, or a really bad experience. And men, too -- young boys are taken advantage of constantly."

4. Debby Ryan

Debby Ryan has dealt with a toxic relationship in the past -- although it was with a friend instead of a romantic partner. She says that over time, the friendship became "more and more destructive, and getting emotionally and mentally abusive." The friend would call her up to 40 times when they weren't together and threatened to harm himself when she didn’t spend time with him.

"I was like, 'I'm a powerful woman and I'm a producer.' I never thought that this was happening to me, and it was absolutely happening to me. It was kind of late in the game by the time I realized that this was not healthy, that this was not a good situation and that I was in a relationship that in nature was abusive," Debby shared.

5. Reese Witherspoon

When Reese Witherspoon was a teenager, she found herself in a toxic relationship that had worn away at her self-esteem. While it was difficult, she says she finally made the choice to walk away before it affected her any further.

"A line got drawn in the sand, and it got crossed, and my brain just switched, and I knew it was going to be very difficult, but I just couldn't go any further," Reese said on OWN’s Super Soul Conversations. "I was a different person too. It changed who I was on a cellular level, the fact that I stood up for myself…Leaving those situations [isn't] easy because it's wrought with self-doubt, particularly if someone damages your self-esteem…I didn't have self-esteem, you know? And I'm a different person now."

6. Tyra Banks

Tyra Banks once found herself in a toxic relationship where she and her partner would repeatedly break up and get back together. Looking back, she says they probably "broke up 14 to 15 times," and "there were things that he said" that made her feel that she "had to go back" after they split. Through it all, she says her ex knew the power he had over her.

"He told me that that is what he does. That he knows how to break a woman down. And it took so many different friends and family for me to finally say goodbye to him," she shared on TV One's "Uncensored."

7. Nicki Minaj

Looking back on a past relationship, Nicki Minaj spoke out about helping women who are in toxic relationships. While encouraging her fans to "root" for women to learn their worth instead of tearing them down, she opened up about her own past unhealthy relationship.

"I rlly used to think love had to hurt…A man should make you feel safe, not afraid," Nicki wrote on Twitter. "A man who loves you does not: 1. Humiliate you on social media, 2. Beat you, 3. Cheat on you, 4. Call you out of your name/put you down to lower your self esteem due to his own insecurities, 5. Hide his phone, passwords, where abouts, etc."

8. Olivia Culpo

On Olivia Culpo's show "The Culpo Sisters," she opened up about a toxic past relationship where her partner did "really horrible, horrible things." She says she was "made to feel like a less-than human in every sense of the word." Looking back on her decision to open up about the unhealthy partnership, Olivia says she didn’t anticipate discussing it.

"The floodgates somehow opened and it just spewed out and I am proud for talking about that," she told E! News. "I'm hoping that I can help other people who are in similar situations. You have to just thank terrible experiences like that. They make you stronger. They make you better and make you appreciate what you have now and never make the same mistakes twice."