PDA WEEK

The Gushiest, Corniest, Most Over-the-Top Celebrity Valentine’s Day Instagrams

Celebrity lovers both new and old went over the top on Instagram this Valentine’s Day.

by Brooke Marine

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Photo by @haileybieber.

If you thought Ciara and Russell Wilson’s Insta-declarations of love were the gushiest Valentine’s Day content you’d have to see famous couples post on social media today, then you definitely thought wrong.

It would appear that everyone from Kim Kardashian West to LeBron James jumped on the love train this February and shared their corniest, gushiest, most over-the-top photos and videos dedicated to celebrating their significant others.

Some celebrities did not shy away from worshipping at the altar of their romantic partner—just look at Hailey Bieber’s photo of herself kissing her husband on the beach; Lili Reinhart’s declaration that her Riverdale costar and boyfriend, Cole Sprouse, makes her “very happy,” followed by his announcement that his girlfriend is the only thing keeping him “sane” right now; or Nicole Kidman’s Moulin Rouge! quote directed toward Keith Urban.

Others focused on loving themselves and posted commemorative photos and videos to celebrate their single status this year. There was also the occasional Valentine’s Day troll—like Jake Gyllenhaal, for example—who made a mockery out of the barrage of lovey-dovey social media posts for the day.

Lady Gaga celebrated the couples’ holiday by getting a tattoo inspired by “La Vie En Rose.”

For those wondering what to get for the significant other who has everything, Travis Scott and Kylie Jenner serve as the ultimate over-the-top gift-giving inspiration, as it would appear that the rapper gifted his girlfriend a heart-filled Instagram backdrop for the occasion.

However, Scott’s gift to Jenner pales in comparison to Kanye West’s V-Day present to his wife—a solo performance from none other than Kenny G., which Kim Kardashian West memorialized on Instagram Stories.

Kim Kardashian/Instagram Stories

And as cynical as one can be on this holiday, some of these posts are cute enough to warm even the iciest of hearts. For example, even the biggest haters couldn’t say something rude about Barack Obama wishing Michelle Obama a Happy Valentine’s Day on Instagram and doing that dad thing of reminding us all that “she does get down to Motown” in the caption of a photo of the former first lady mid dance.

Let’s just be thankful that most of these Instagram dedication posts are tame and wholesome compared to some of the paparazzi snapshots over the years of these very same couples caught in the throes of passion while in public.

A Visual History of Gross Celebrity PDA That We Can Never Unsee

If you factor in the ups and downs of the relationship between Offset and Cardi B (who are seemingly back in the “on-again” phase of things), it doesn’t make looking at this image of the two touching tongues at the 2019 Grammys any less gross.

Steve Granitz/Getty Images

Perhaps the originators of the celebrity PDA game, Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson once had a symbiotic relationship between themselves, their tongues, and the paparazzi.

James Aylott/Getty Images

Perhaps the most PDA Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield ever displayed happened to occur on live television when they both appeared on Saturday Night Live to spoof their own Spider-Man characters.

Photo courtesy of NBC/Saturday Night Live

When your husband is known for sticking his tongue out abnormally far, then maybe this sort of red carpet PDA moment should be expected.

Steve Granitz/Getty Images

Kissing your wife in the middle of a Halloween party is one thing, but to make out with her while your mom is mere inches away? That just seems wrong.

Johnny Nunez/Getty Images

The psychosexual game the Kiss Cam asks its subjects to play in front of an arena full of spectators is nothing to be scoffed at, but this moment between Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel captured at the Staples Center in 2012 is just plain awkward.

Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

Looking at Nicole Kidman bend down to kiss Keith Urban on the Paddington red carpet feels about as awkward as accidentally sneaking a peek at your mom and dad smooching. At least this romantic gesture was nowhere near as grand and sweeping as the one that convinced Kidman to marry Urban (he showed up on her New York City stoop and swept her upstate on his motorcycle).

Fred Duval

PDA caught on camera is certainly not excluded to smooches—just look at Kanye West’s hand placement on his wife Kim Kardashian .

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Though she may be a bit camera shy now, Angelina Jolie and her then-husband Billy-Bob Thornton, were the talk of the town as far as Hollywood smooches go, all the way back in 2000.

Frank Trapper/Getty Images

This is a tame display of affection for these two, but it’s not exactly the kiss between Behati Prinsloo and Adam Levine that makes this photograph awkward—it’s her inexplicable hand position.

Noel Vasquez/Getty Images

Turning a paparazzi shot of yourself and your wife kissing into minor album promo is nothing short of gauche, but what else do you expect from Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag?

Philip Ramey Photography, LLC/Getty Images

By the time September 2018 rolled around, everyone was already used to Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin making out everywhere in public (most notably, all around New York and Brooklyn). But this particular smooch caught on camera happened the same week Bieber whipped out his guitar on the street in London and began serenading his then-fiancée with Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car,” which is actually the corniest public gesture he could have pulled.

Mark R. Milan/Getty Images

Adjusting your man’s sweater while seated next to one another at a sporting event may seem innocuous, but when you remember that age difference (roughly 23 years), catching this action on camera just feels dark.

FRANCK FIFE

Bella Hadid and The Weeknd could barely make it across the street before making out in front of their bodyguard last fall.

Raymond Hall/Getty Images

When Justin Long and Drew Barrymore dated from 2007 to 2010, one smooch in Central Park was caught on camera to immortalize the relationship.

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Not even Lindsey Vonn could resist laughing at Jason Biggs and Jenny Mollen hamming it up for the kiss cam at the U.S. Open in 2015.

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The pair meant it as a joke, but we still can’t unsee it.

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A Visual History of Gross Celebrity PDA That We Can Never Unsee

Related: Russell Wilson and Ciara’s Valentine’s Love Fest on Instagram Is Something to Behold