Shakira and her ex Antonio de la Rúa reappear in our lives

BarcelonaThe breakup of Shakira and Piqué was so sensational that many people had almost forgotten that she had a previous ex with whom she also went through a very complicated separation. However, it seems that now the waters have calmed between them, as a photo of the two together, which has gone viral on social media, would show that the relationship is currently better than ever. This ex is Antonio de la Rúa, son of the late Argentine former president Fernando de la Rúa, and in the image in question he is seen sitting with Shakira, with his hand on her shoulder next to the businessman George Nader – who is the one who shared the photo on social media – and Tonino Mebarak, the artist's brother, her road manager and one of her most trusted people.

The slight complicity between them that can be perceived in this image has been enough to raise rumors of reconciliation on social media, an extreme for which there is no proof and about which none of the protagonists have commented. However, what the photo does show is that the bitter end they had and for which they were in court all over the world for three years no longer exists. At least that is what can be inferred from this image taken in the Dominican Republic, which comes after the Colombian artist has closed the American chapter of her tour and while she is preparing to settle in Madrid in an artistic residency that will include twelve massive concerts in a stadium named after her where concert-goers will be able to spend the day.

A decade with an abrupt end

Shakira and Antonio de la Rúa were 23 and 26 years old when they met in 2000. She, who was still brunette, was promoting ¿Dónde están los ladrones?, a very successful album with songs that are still essential to her repertoire today, such as Si te vas, Inevitable or Ciega, sordomuda. Shortly after meeting, De la Rúa joined the artist's team and their romantic relationship progressed in parallel with their professional collaboration. In fact, together they orchestrated Shakira's leap into the Anglo-Saxon market, which occurred with the album Laundry Service.

The relationship lasted more than ten years and, during this time, De la Rúa played an active role in managing various projects linked to the singer. However, in January 2011, both announced their separation through a joint statement published on Shakira's official website. A statement in which, knowing that in the summer of 2010 she had met Gerard Piqué during the World Cup in South Africa, some precautions can be observed. "For almost eleven years we have loved each other deeply, we have taken care of each other and accompanied each other. These have been the most beautiful years of our lives. We understand this temporary distancing as a stage of personal growth and we continue to be a couple in the professional sphere. We continue as partners, developing joint projects and working together", they assured in a text in which they also emphasized that they had put the relationship on hold exactly in August 2010. The statement also arrived two months after Shakira described as "waka-rumors" that she was in a relationship with Gerard Piqué and two months before she – denied herself and – confirmed the relationship with the footballer and presented him as her "sun".

Legal battle

The reality between Shakira and De la Rúa ended up being that that breakup, presented in such a rational and conscious way, was nothing of the sort. Perhaps remaining united professionally was the way she wanted to compensate him for the breakup, giving him prestige and thanking him for that generous statement signed by both. However, the professional relationship lasted as long as a sneeze and the separation ended up moving to the courts even though they never married. Starting in 2012, Antonio de la Rúa judicially claimed in New York a multi-million dollar compensation, considering that he had been a key player in the construction of Shakira's international career. The singer, for her part, denied that there was any business agreement between the two and that, therefore, she had any debt. The litigation dragged on for nearly two years, and the American courts ended up dismissing De la Rúa's main claims.

Shakira was the winner of that lawsuit and, moreover, she began another one in the Bahamas. The lawsuit was filed in 2012 – the content became public in 2013 – before the justice of the island state. The singer accused her ex of having used money and resources linked to her without her authorization. Specifically, as transpired then, the sum was 6.6 million dollars. Obviously, he denied those accusations. An out-of-court settlement, of which no details were disclosed, closed the controversy.

New lives separately

Since that judicial ordeal ended and while Shakira was becoming a mother to her two children with Gerard Piqué, De la Rúa created a family with his new partner: Daniela Ramos, former Miss Bogotá and representative of Colombia at the Miss World 2009 pageant. That same year, 2011, the Argentine and she began a relationship that would end in 2018 with two children in common, Zoe and Mael. As with Shakira, he never married Ramos, who currently lives in Berlin, where she has moved to train as a DJ and to seek an anonymity that her career as a model and her relationship with De la Rúa had taken away from her.

After her, De la Rúa has no other known partners. Just like what happened to Shakira after Piqué. The artist has only been surrounded by unconfirmed rumors. The latest has been with Hollywood actor Manuel García Rulfo, with whom she was caught by the paparazzi and with whom it seemed she didn't want to hide anything, as they kissed at the door of a Los Angeles hotel.

All these intrigues only serve to further increase interest in the star at a crucial moment in her career, as Shakira's Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour is the highest-grossing tour in the history of a Latin artist, with a revenue exceeding 421.6 million dollars in its first 86 concerts and nearly 3.3 million tickets sold. Figures that have earned her a Guinness World Record. It is also the most successful tour ever headlined by a Spanish-speaking artist. This shows that De la Rúa was not precisely essential to her on a professional level. Perhaps in the photo Shakira was just thanking him for leaving the resume to work with her again and kindly telling him they would call him. Spoiler: it won't happen.