There’s nothing wrong with a little public display of affection, or PDA. Holding hands or a giving peck on the cheek can be a great way to let your partner know that you’re happy, secure, and proud to be seen with them. It’s when that small show of caring turns into a hardcore make-out session or full-on fondle that it gets awkward. And celebs aren’t exempt from giving us a little TMI about their physical relationship. Many have put their passion on display with hot and heavy moments.
Take Jessica Simpson. She defended her over-the-top show of affection in a black-and-white Instagram photo she posted for Valentine’s Day 2015. She and shirtless husband Eric Johnson appeared entwined on a couch, Simpson wearing a plunging black blazer with lace stockings. His hand was placed between her legs and his face and hand were very close to her chest. The upload raised a few eyebrows, with Simpson going on to tell “Today” (via Us Weekly), “Those [photos] kinda happen sometimes. I am not shy to be in love with my husband!” Although we like to see our favorite stars loved up, Simpson is hardly the only famous face who’s had an awkward PDA moment we wish we didn’t have to see.
Nick Cannon and Mariah Carey kissed in front of his mom while dressed as firefighters
Seeing celebrities make out in public can feel odd at the best of times, but seeing them kiss in front of a family member while in costume is even stranger. Former couple Nick Cannon and Mariah Carey proved that when they locked lips in front of Cannon’s mom Beth Gardner at a 2018 Halloween party … while wearing firefighter outfits.
Not only did Carey’s sexy, embellished red bra and matching hat look like a costume reserved for the bedroom, their whole kissing pose seemed off. The “Obsessed” singer’s lips weren’t quite pursed enough, so Cannon appeared to put in more effort to get their lips to touch. Six years after packing on the kisses in front of Cannon’s mom, the popstar and the TV host split. But not before they showed off plenty more unashamedly open PDA that had us averting our gaze.
The New Year’s Eve pic of Heidi Klum and Tom Kaulitz left little to the imagination
Heidi Klum and Tom Kaulitz are no strangers to showing their love in public, and they were happy to ring in 2023 that way — and let their followers know. Klum shared a steamy Instagram pic of her and her husband kissing in a hot tub and wearing matching gold party hats. The supermodel wore a red, lingerie-inspired one-piece and the Tokio Hotel musician was shirtless in navy swim shorts.
The show of skin coupled with his hand on her booty made the moment feel incredibly intimate and not something we should have borne witness to. The upload received more than 104,000 likes, but Klum apparently wasn’t interested in hearing what the world had to say, as she disabled comments on the upload.
Klum clearly has no problem kissing Kaulitz no matter who’s watching. In February 2024, the “America’s Got Talent” judge celebrated her anniversary with a cute Instagram video, and the two have also kissed on countless red carpets over the years.
Omer Fedi awkwardly licked Addison Rae’s face on the Grammy red carpet
Addison Rae and Omer Fedi made things awkward on the Grammy red carpet in 2022 when he licked her face as paparazzi and other attendees looked on. Fedi hugged the influencer from behind and put his tongue on her cheek. Rae clearly didn’t mind, as she flashed a big smile and turned around to give her man a kiss — with plenty of tongue, of course. Fedi placed his hands on her booty as they got very close, which made things extra uncomfortable for everyone watching.
Though it was nice to see the loved-up couple so happy, all that mouth action and fondling wasn’t exactly appropriate for the black tie event, and many who saw their PDA found it cringey. On X, formerly known as Twitter, one user called their display “The Cringe Olympics” while another simply stated, “Yuk.”
Olivier Sarkozy kissed Mary-Kate Olsen on the head at a basketball game
Olivier Sarkozy and Mary-Kate Olsen were an unexpected couple, which made their candid 2012 kiss photos feel that much more uncomfortable. Sarkozy planted a peck on the side of Olsen’s head during a New York Knicks game and, though the formerly married couple showed plenty of mutual PDA during their romance, Olsen looked stiff and caught off-guard as Sarkozy pulled her closer. While the couple’s relationship lasted eight years, at that moment, Olsen’s wide eyes and seemingly forced smile made it look like she didn’t want to be there. The uncomfortable look on the retired actor’s face was palpable.
Sarkozy and Olsen were in an age-gap relationship, with Sarkozy 17 years older than the “Full House” star. The duo married in 2015 but divorced six years later, which put an end to their cringeworthy PDA snaps.
Shawn Mendes’ and Camila Cabello’s kiss video was too much … even as satire
Things got super weird on Instagram in 2019 when then-couple Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello jokingly showed us how they lock lips. The video has since been deleted, but lives on via YouTube. In the clip, Mendes told fans, “So we saw on Twitter and stuff you guys saying stuff about the way we were kissing, and how it looks weird, like we kiss like fish.” Cabello playfully added, “Yeah, it really hurt our feelings. And we just really wanted to show you how we kiss.”
The singers proceeded to lick each other’s mouths, bite each other’s lips, and rub their lips together. Though it was somewhat satirical, social media wasn’t on-board. The clip inspired a flurry of GIFs and reactions on X, where one user wrote, “Second-hand embarrassment is a disease and I’m dying from it.” Another wrote, “I never wanna see this video again.”
Mendes gave more context to the spit-swapping clip on “Armchair Expert With Dax Shepard” the following year, admitting they drunkenly filmed it to get people talking. “It just felt like everyone was talking about it and taking photos and there were paparazzi hiding in bushes and it was like, ‘What if we just posted a photo of us licking each others’ faces? Like, no one’s ever even seen us kiss. We’re just gonna go full-on gross,'” he said.
Justin and Hailey Bieber’s wet make out session was a lot to look at
In 2018, Hailey Bieber and her then-fiance Justin Bieber packed on the PDA in a pool. He posted a photo to Instagram that showed Hailey sitting on his lap wearing what appeared to be a strapless bikini with her arms around him. Justin, who wore nothing but swim shorts, placed one hand on her back and the other on her neck. The couple shared a sensual kiss with their hair wet and pushed back, but the water was distorting and made them appear almost nude. Awkward. The skin-baring smooch felt too brazen and intimate for social media and we were also left to wonder who took the photo.
“Left the chat, thank you,” one person commented on the upload. “Definitely trying to be over the top!” another wrote. The backlash from fans didn’t stop these two, though, as they continued to show their affection on red carpets, potentially thanks to their compatible zodiac signs.
We didn’t need to see Miley Cyrus’ hand down Cody Simpson’s pants
In 2019, Cody Simpson posted a photo of himself and his then-girlfriend Miley Cyrus to Instagram that was NSFW and NSFF (not safe for family). It showed Simpson and Cyrus posing in the mirror as she touched his crotch. Cyrus wore a black, sleeveless top and matching bottoms, but Simpson was shirtless. With the lack of clothing, their poses, and the consensual groping, the snap was super uncomfortable. Even more uncomfortable? Cody Simpson’s mom Angie Simpson reposting the photo to her Instagram Stories. She did kind of say what we are all thinking, though, with her caption, “Ummmmm … cheeky buggers” (according to The New Zealand Herald)
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Cody and Cyrus uploaded quite a few personal pictures during their romance, including a photo of Cyrus in the bath on Instagram Stories. Cyrus was forced to defend the uploads amid backlash and wrote on X, “Men (especially successful ones) are rarely slut shamed. They move on from one beautiful woman to the next most times without consequence … I am trying to thrive/survive in a ‘man’s’ world.” She continued, “If we can’t beat ’em, join ’em … Can’t I just have a kiss and a acai bowl?” That was just one of the times Cyrus spoke out about not letting men stand in her way.
A bikini-clad Kourtney Kardashian straddled a shirtless Travis Barker
There are countless Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker PDA moments that got people talking, but the 2021 NSFW Instagram snap she posted of them making out in the desert was one of the most jarring. Kardashian straddled her man while he hugged her booty in a position that looked more like foreplay than a quick, reassuring peck. The reality star wore a barely-there thong and string bikini, while the Blink-182 drummer went shirtless, adding a whole other level of intimacy to the moment we wish we didn’t have to see. “The excessive PDA needs to stop!” one person commented on the upload. “WHY can’t some things just be private,” another asked.
Kardashian and Barker’s love of public smooches is well-documented, so much so that we’ve even seen their kids ask them to tone it down. When their family sat down for dinner during an episode of “The Kardashians,” one of their children let out an “Ew, guys” as they kissed and asked, “Can you guys not kiss in French again?” We love that they found one another, but their super sensual moments are best kept between them.
Machine Gun Kelly licked Megan Fox with a black tongue
Much like their friends Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker, Machine Gun Kelly and Megan Fox are both clearly fans of physical touch in a relationship. And they proved that in a big way at the Billboard Music Awards in 2021. The musician exposed his chest on the red carpet and dramatically licked his girlfriend after dying his tongue black — and she licked back. The moment of saliva swapping caused a stir on social media, where one X user wrote, “Cringe much.” Another reacted to the divisive moment with a GIF that stated, “Oh, that’s just nasty.”
That was hardly the first time these two got close in front of an audience. The couple also didn’t care who was watching that year when Fox straddled her man at one of his gigs. “They probably made out for a solid minute. You can just tell they feed off of each other’s energy,” an onlooker told E! News.
Katharine and David Foster’s make-out session was awkward
Katharine Foster (nee McPhee) shared a series of photos with her husband David Foster on Instagram in 2022, including one of her on tiptoe for a kiss. But this wasn’t any old lip lock. The “American Idol” runner-up proved the couple’s age gap wasn’t ruining their sex life as she intimately lifted her left thigh to his hip and risked a wardrobe malfunction in a miniskirt. Katharine, who is 35 years younger than her husband, put her hand on his face while David got even more handsy by touching her hips. “Poor guy … too bad he doesn’t get very much attention,” Katharine joked in the caption.
