Shakira Struggled When Gerard Pique Dated Clara Chia Marti After Their Split

2022 was certainly a wild rollercoaster ride for Latin pop music sensation Shakira. Not only did she find herself facing an indictment for tax evasion by the Spanish taxman, she also had to grapple with the very public unraveling of her 11-year relationship with former professional soccer player Gerard Pique, all the while nursing her ailing father back to health.

But that wasn’t the end of it. Mere months after the split, Pique sparked dating rumors with Clara Chia Marti, a college student nearly three decades his junior. Predictably, the unfortunate turn of events took an immense toll on Shakira, as is evident from the career-boosting, albeit extremely shady songs she released post-split. Over a year later, has the ‘Waka Waka’ singer recovered from the messy aftermath of the split?

Gerard Piqué Started Dating Clara Chia Marti Almost Immediately After His Split From Shakira
Columbian singer Shakira first crossed paths with soccer player Gerard Piqué while filming the music video for her 2010 hit single, ‘Waka Waka,’ igniting a decade-long romance that would see them welcome two kids: Milan and Sasha Piqué Mebarak.

Despite keeping a relatively low profile for most of their marriage, the duo’s eventual split would be responsible for some of the most scandalous headlines of 2022.

From cheating allegations to reports that Shakira had discovered Pique’s infidelity through a jar of strawberry jam, the split saw the most intimate details of the once-reclusive couple’s life put on public display.

Things took an even messier turn when, mere months after the split, Pique sparked dating rumors with 23-year-old Clara Chia Marti, leaving Shakira reeling with heartbreak.

“Everything happened at once,” Shakira would later say of the split in an October 2023 interview with People en Español. “My home was falling apart. I was finding out through the press that I had been betrayed while my dad was in the ICU.”

Gerard Piqué’s Highly Publicized Relationship With Clara Chia Marti Took A Toll On Shakira
Speaking to Elle in September 2022, Shakira opened up about how she’d been handling her separation from Pique and its messy aftermath.

“Because I’m in the public eye and because our separation is not like a regular separation,” she told the outlet. “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,” she continued. “And there’s not a place where I can hide from them with my kids, except for my own house.”

But beyond the heartbreak and the relentless pursuit of paparazzi, the Columbian singer had to contend with an avalanche of scandalous tabloid headlines. “And what’s also real is the disappointment to see something as sacred and as special as I thought was the relationship I had with my kids’ father and see that turned into something vulgarized and cheapened by the media,” she said.

The aftermath of the split also saw Shakira release some pretty explosive singles, most of which referenced her split from Pique and his subsequent romance with Chia Marti.

The most explosive of these is arguably, ‘BZRP Music Session #53,’ a collaboration with Argentine hit maker Bizarrap which has racked up a whopping 635 million views on YouTube and broken an astounding 14 Guinness World Records since September 2022.

In the song, Shakira indirectly references her split from the famed soccer player, slamming him for everything from being a “disappointment” to giving her “the worst version” of himself.

“Sorry baby I should have thrown you out a while ago,” she sang. “A she-wolf like me is not for rookies/ A she-wolf like me is not for guys like you/ For guys like you/ I’m too good for you and that’s why you’re with someone just like you.”

Did Shakira Recover From Her Split From Gerard Piqué?
The months that followed the dissolution of her 11-year relationship with Pique saw Shakira battling some pretty complex emotions.

“I have gone through denial, anger, pain, acceptance, mourning, hope, disappointment, hope again, illusion,’ she shared with People en Español.

“So many emotions and feelings that at times seemed that they could not coexist at the same time within me.”

With the new music came overwhelming support from fans around the world, which reminded the pop star that she wasn’t completely alone in her trials.

“After we put out this song, I really felt like I don’t even have fans out there,” she shared during a May 2022 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. “I have a sisterhood of women who have been through the same things that I have been through, who think the way I think, who feel the way I feel, who had to put up with so much cr*p the way I had to.”

However, after the rollercoaster year that was 2022, Shakira was more than ready for a fresh start. Nearly a year after the split, the Colombian singer announced to the world that she and her sons were relocating to Miami, where more of her family is based.

“I settled in Barcelona to give my children a stability which we are now looking for in another corner of the world alongside family, friends and the sea,” she shared via Instagram. “Today we begin a new chapter in pursuit of their happiness.”