When Lukas Gage said that his marriage to celebrity hairstylist Chris Appleton in 2023 was “an act of defiance,” he wasn’t changing the subject. He was being very honest, which is something that most Hollywood stars learn to avoid, especially when talking about something that went badly and was seen by a lot of people.
Take some time to think about the timeline. In February 2023, rumors of a relationship start to spread. March: It’s been said that they are engaged. In April, they get married in Las Vegas. Kim Kardashian officiates, and Shania Twain sings “You’re Still the One.” In November, Chris Appleton files for divorce. The whole process—courtship, engagement, wedding, and breakup—took about eight months from start to finish. I wouldn’t call that a marriage so much as a TV season.
Since the breakup, Gage, who is now 30 years old, has been more open about the relationship. In his memoir and in interviews, he links the events directly to a hypomanic episode that was linked to his diagnosis of borderline personality disorder. He said he did it off the whim, with no stops or hesitations, just the wild excitement of being in love and wanting everyone to see it. You’re very brave to say that out loud. But there’s also something quietly sad about it.
But what’s interesting is what’s going on below the mental health disclosure, which may not get enough attention. Gage has said that the relationship and the fact that it was so public were also a response to claims that he was harassing gay people at the time. Fans and critics of him online were wondering if he was really queer or just acting gay to help his career. At least part of what he did was get louder. To draw attention to the relationship as much as possible. “I went from being very quiet and secretive to being loud and oversharing,” he stated. It wasn’t just a wedding. It was an answer.
That way of putting it changes things a bit. Both of the truths can be true at the same time: Gage was having a mental health crisis and making snap decisions, and those decisions were influenced in real time by pressure from Internet users. Hollywood has always made it possible for private life to be shown to the public. The only difference now is that social media has almost completely erased the space between them. Not only are celebrities watched, but they are also questioned, and this questioning never stops, it’s always real time.
Chris Appleton has kept much quieter about the whole thing. He asked for a divorce, saying that they could no longer get along. The postnuptial agreement made sure that their assets stayed separate. He hasn’t said much about how he feels about the relationship or what made him send Gage a direct message that winter and then move so quickly toward marriage. Gage, on the other hand, said that they aren’t talking to each other anymore. “I wish him well” is the kind of sentence that quietly shuts a door.
What stays with you isn’t really the wedding itself, but the image of Kim Kardashian officiating while Shania Twain sang is really hard to get rid of. It’s a reminder that being seen, which is something that many people in public life are told they need more of, has its own costs. The internet and maybe even Gage himself thought he had something to prove. And the proof he picked was a wedding in Las Vegas where a lot of famous people were invited.
It wouldn’t make sense to try to pull out a clear lesson from this. The marriage happened because of a diagnosis, pressure, an impulse, real feelings, and a very human need to be seen. Gage seems to understand this. A lot of relationships aren’t as clean as they seem. This one looked like it was very, very public.
