Photo: Daniel Zuchnik/FilmMagic
Vanessa HudgensandAustin Butlerdated for more than eight years beforethey called it quits in 2020.
The actorswere first linked in 2011, and they went on to share plenty of sweet moments throughout their romance, includingjoint red carpet appearances, Coachella weekends andromantic vacations.
Due to their busy schedules and the demands of both of their respective acting careers, their relationship was often long-distance — something Hudgensspoke candidly about.
“Just communication, communication is key,” the actresstold PEOPLEin 2017 about how she and Butler made it work.
Ultimately, the distance and scheduling concerns proved to be too much and theyparted ways in 2020.
Since their breakup, Butler has been linked to modelKaia Gerber, and Hudgens wed professional baseball playerCole Tuckerin 2023.
From supporting each others' careers to dressing up in iconic Halloween costumes, here is a complete timeline of Vanessa Hudgens and Austin Butler’s relationship.
September 2011: Vanessa Hudgens and Austin Butler are spotted together for the first time
Jerod Harris/Getty
In September 2011, Hudgens wasspotted cozying up to Butlerat a birthday party forAshley Tisdale’s sister, Jennifer. Butler had just recently starred in Disney’sSharpay’s Fabulous Adventurealongside Tisdale.
The potential new relationship came almost one year after Hudgens’breakup with herHigh School Musicalcostar,Zac Efron, and a few months after she was spotted with actorJosh Hutcherson.
January 2012: Vanessa Hudgens and Austin Butler go on a double date
Months later, the pair was seen again, this time at a restaurant in Los Angeles on adouble date with fellow Disney starDanielle Panabakerand her boyfriend.
February 3, 2012: Vanessa Hudgens and Austin Butler hit the red carpet forJourney 2: The Mysterious Island
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The couple made their red carpet debut at the premiere of Hudgens' new film,Journey 2: The Mysterious Island.
April 2012: Vanessa Hudgens and Austin Butler attend Coachella together
Hudgens and Butler attended their first Coachella together later that year, and did not shy away from PDA at the festival. PEOPLE reported that they were seen cozying up together at the Smoke & Mirrors Party at the Guess Hotel in La Quinta, California.
“They held hands the entire afternoon,” a source told PEOPLE. “They were extremely lovey-dovey.”
August 2012: Vanessa Hudgens and Austin Butler attend Outside Lands Festival
May 2013: Vanessa Hudgens and Austin Butler party in Las Vegas
In the spring of 2013, Hudgens and Butler took a trip to Las Vegas to celebrate a friend’s birthday, and PEOPLE reported that they “couldn’t keep their hands off each other.”
“The couple was very cute together,” a source said. “They were seen dancing a lot throughout the night. They were sipping on cocktails and being cuddly and affectionate and were spotted kissing non-stop throughout the evening. They were listening to the Bingo Players, who deejayed that night.”
August 18, 2014: Vanessa Hudgens celebrates Austin Butler’s birthday on Instagram
Vanessa Hudgens Instagram
The pair becameInstagram officialin August 2014 when Hudgens posted a sweet birthday tribute for her beau on Instagram.
September 12, 2014: Vanessa Hudgens supports Austin Butler after his mother passes away
Michael Tran/FilmMagic
Butler lost his mother to cancer in 2014.He posted a heartfelt message on Twitterthat read, “Lori Butler, my mom, my hero, & my best friend passed away this morning. Lets all celebrate her. I love you and will miss you every day Mom.”
Hudgens showed her support andretweeted the message adding, “I miss you already mama. #ripLoriButler #celebrateLori Spread the love for Lori.”
August 30, 2015: Austin Butler opens up about his relationship withVanessa Hudgens
Gregg DeGuire/FilmMagic
“It’s important to put that other person first,” he said. “If you’re constantly looking for ways that you can make them happy, and they’re constantly looking for ways that they can make you happy, then you kind of lift each other up as much as possible and you can’t go wrong.”
January 31, 2016: Vanessa Hudgens’s father passes away and Austin Butler shows his support
In January 2016, just hours before she was set to perform inGrease: Live, Hudgensrevealed that her father had passed awayafter battling stage four cancer. Hudgens then shared that she would be performing the three-hour live telecast in his honor.
Before her performance, the actresstold PEOPLEabout how much the original movie meant to her. “From the first time I saw it, I kind of just remember it being a part of my childhood,” she said.
Butlersupported his girlfriendon Twitter writing, “WOW @VanessaHudgens singing ‘Worst Things’ had me in tears. Just brilliant #GreaseLive.”
February 2016: Vanessa Hudgens and Austin Butler get in trouble in Sedona
Source: Vanessa Hudgens/Instagram
July 2016:Vanessa Hudgens and Austin Butler take a trip to Italy
In July 2016, the pairtook a romantic road trip through Italy, stopping at many scenic travel destinations like Cinque Terre, Portofino and Florence. Hudgens documented the trip on her Instagram, sharing snaps of the couple throughout their travels.
July 2016: Ashley Tisdale talks about double dating with Vanessa Hudgens and Austin Butler
Later that month, Tisdale spoke to PEOPLE about her friendship with Hudgens and Butler, each of whom she was close with before they were a couple.
“I mean, it’s great because Austin was my best friend since way before they got together, so it’s just nice to have your two best friends be in a relationship,” she said. Tisdale added that she andher husband Christopher Frenchoften went on double dates with Hudgens and Butler.
“We do dinner parties,” she shared. “A lot of the time we do dinner parties at one of our houses, and we all cook dinner together and have a bunch of girls over. Sometimes we do a themed night – she loves a good theme. One time we watched the Victoria’s Secret model show and I had onesies for everyone.”
March 23, 2017: Vanessa Hudgens opens up about making long distance work
Earlier that week, Hudgens shared a picture of her and Butler kissing onInstagramwith the caption, “Missing this guy.”
December 2017: Vanessa Hudgens shuts down engagement rumors
After Hudgensposted a photoshowing off a new haircut and a ring on her left hand, rumors began swirling that she and Butler were engaged.
However, the actress quickly shut down the speculation on Twitter, writing, “Guysssss. I’m not engaged! I posted a pic. Not to show off my ring that I happened to throw on that finger after a long day of filming but to show off my haircut Lol.”
July 18, 2018: Vanessa Hudgens shares her favorite photo with Austin Butler
In the summer of 2018,Hudgens sat down with PEOPLEfor a segment of “Inside My Instagram” and looked back at some of her favorite Instagram pictures throughout the years.
For her favorite photo of her and her boyfriend, Hudgens chose asnapof the pair at the opening night ofThe Iceman Cometh, Butler’s Broadway debut.
“The floor is blurry for some reason, I don’t know how that happened, but our faces are in focus,” she said of the photo. “And we’re standing on the stage — his first Broadway stage! I’m just so proud.”
February 14, 2019: Vanessa Hudgens shares a Valentine’s Day tribute to Austin Butler
On Valentine’s Day, Hudgens posted a sweetInstagram tributethat celebrated their seven-year romance. “7 years strong 😍” she captioned a photo of Butler dipping her at a formal event.
April 2019: Vanessa Hudgens and Austin Butler attend Coachella again
Vanessa Hudgens Instagram / Eric Unger
Hudgens and Butler attended another Coachella together in 2019. In anInstagram photofrom the weekend, Hudgens donned a bright orange wig while Butler showed off his newly dyed black hair.
July 15, 2019: Vanessa Hudgens celebrates Austin Butler’s new role
John Lamparski/WireImage
In the summer of 2019, it was announced thatButler would take on the role of Elvis Presleyin Baz Lurhmann’s biopic about the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll. Hudgensshared the news on Instagramand expressed how proud she was of him.
“I AMMMM OVERRRR THE F—— MOOOOOOOOONNNNN. I CAN’T WAIT 😍😍😍😍😍😍 SO PROUD OF MY HONEYYYYY!!!” she wrote.
July 23, 2019: Vanessa Hudgens and Austin Butler attend theOnce Upon a Time in Hollywoodpremiere
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
Later that month, the couple hit the red carpet to celebrate Butler’s role in Quentin Tarantino’s film,Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Hudgensshared a snapof the pair ahead of the event.
“And we’re OFF!!!! To the @onceinhollywood premiere with my man of the hour @austinbutler,” she captioned the post.
August 2019: Vanessa Hudgens celebrates Austin Butler’s 28th birthday
Hudgensposted a sweet birthday tributeon Instagram in honor of Butler’s 28th birthday. “To my love, my other half, my constant inspiration and supporter. My best friend. My everything. 28 is going to be 🔥🔥🔥,” she captioned a photo of the two of them.
October 2019: Vanessa Hudgens posts her and Austin Butler’s throwback Halloween photos
In October 2019, Hudgens posted a handful of the couple’s best Halloween costumes throughout the years, includinga throwbackof them dressed as Jack Skellington and Sally fromTim Burton’sThe Nightmare Before Christmas.
January 2020:Vanessa Hudgens and Austin Butlerbreak up
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic.
After a few quiet months from the couple, asource confirmed to PEOPLEin January 2020 that Hudgens and Butler had split. Fans had started speculating about a breakup when neither of them posted photos celebrating Christmas and New Year’s Eve together.
A source latertold PEOPLEthat the pair had discussed an engagement prior to breaking up. “They really loved each other and have been through some of their toughest life moments together,” the source said. “Busy work schedules and travel definitely put a strain on the relationship. They were a wonderful couple and it’s really sad that it didn’t work out.”
Shortly after news of their split broke, a sourcetold PEOPLEthat Hudgens was embracing the single life.
“The breakup isn’t easy, but she’s not one to sit around and mope,” the source shared. “She’s living it up and having fun. She seems really happy and excited about life, honestly.”
May 2022: Austin Butler is asked about his breakup with Vanessa Hudgens
In an interview withGQahead of the release ofElvis,Butler made a rare comment about his breakup with Hudgens.
When asked about the split, the actor responded, “Life is full of changes, and you’ve got to find a way to constantly be evolving and growing.” While he didn’t directly mention Hudgens, it was the first time he spoke about the couple’s split publicly.
September 12, 2022: Vanessa Hudgens discusses her “life-changing” relationships
In an interview withNYLON, Hudgens opened up about her past relationships and the challenges of navigating breakups in the public eye.
“The public only sees so much. I’ve also been through two very long life-changing relationships, and no one really knows what happened except for me,” she said, seemingly referring (in part) to Butler. “When I write my memoir, it’ll be amazing.”
January 10, 2023: Austin Butler refers to Vanessa Hudgens as a “friend” when retelling story aboutElvisrole
In 2019, while appearing onLive with Kelly and Ryan, Hudgens recounted the time she and Butler were in the car singing along to an Elvis Presley Christmas song.
“He had just dyed his hair dark. He’s a natural blond, and I was looking at him and he was singing along and I was like, ‘Babe, you need to play Elvis,’ " she told the hosts.
“The month before I heard that Baz [Luhrmann] was making the movie, I was going to look at Christmas lights with a friend, and there was an Elvis Christmas song on the radio and I was singing along, and my friend looked over at me and goes, ‘You’ve got to play Elvis.’ I said, ‘Oh, that’s such a long shot,’ " Butler said.
January 19, 2023: Vanessa Hudgens reacts to a joke about Austin Butler
Hudgens shared her thoughts on her ex’s continued use of hisElvis Presleyaccent.
An Instagram user, whom Hudgens follows,posted a screenshot of aPage Sixarticle about Butler. The title read: “Austin Butler’s ‘Elvis’ accent is ‘genuine,’ might remain ‘forever’: voice coach.”
The user paired the image with a caption that said, “He went to theLady Gagaschool of Oscar campaign acting.”
January 24, 2023: Austin Butler credits Vanessa Hudgens for “believing” he could play Elvis
After much backlash, Butler clarified that Hudgens was in fact the “friend” he was referring to duringThe Hollywood Reporter’s Actors Roundtable.
“That’s right. I was with my partner at the time,” he told theLos Angeles Times, making it clear that Hudgens was the one who first suggested he play Elvis.
Butler added: “We’d been together for so long and she had this sort of clairvoyant moment and so I really,I owe her a lot for believing in me.”
March 12, 2023: Austin Butler and Vanessa Hudgens are seen outside the same Oscars afterparty
February 6, 2024: Austin Butler says he has “so much love” for Vanessa Hudgens
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More than a year after referring to Hudgens as a “friend” duringThe Hollywood Reporter’s Actors Roundtable, Butler once again addressed the viral moment that sent the internet into a frenzy.
“Oh, yeah, I learned a lesson with that one,” he said during an interview withEsquire. “I felt that I was respecting her privacy in a way and not wanting to bring up a ton of things that would cause her to have to talk.”
Butler continued: “I have so much love and care for her. It was in no way trying to erase anything. I value my own privacy so much, I didn’t want to give up anybody else’s privacy.”
source: people.com
