Here is a salacious detail cherry-picked from Allison P. Davis’s lengthy and temperate profile of Lena Dunham on The Cut today: Dunham says she and onetime friend Lorde haven’t spoken since Dunham’s breakup with ex-boyfriend Jack Antonoff almost a year ago. That’s notable because—as Dunham seems well aware—rumors about Lorde and Antonoff flew thick and fast during much of 2017, particularly around the rollout of Lorde’s album Melodrama, which Antonoff co-produced. (Dunham and Antonoff’s breakup was first reported in January 2018, though apparently it was a long time coming; in the new piece, Dunham acknowledges the “relationship probably lasted longer than it should have.”)
Dunham says she’s still friendly with Antonoff, so why don’t she and Lorde talk anymore? It’s something to do with Antonoff, though based on what Dunham told The Cut, she doesn’t sound entirely sure herself:
“I don’t think anything happened between them. I can never know someone else’s life. I have never spoken to Ella [Lorde] about it. We haven’t talked since Jack and I broke up. It was awful, and I couldn’t do anything about it except trust that what he was saying to me was true.”
There is another option here, which is that Lena could just ask Lorde about it, friend to friend. But I guess they really don’t talk anymore!
If you’ve followed this trio’s micro-melodrama at all in the past year, you’re probably aware of the existence of a 29-page viral slide presentation that breaks down some pretty damning circumstantial evidence. Perhaps surprisingly, Dunham is a fan of the PowerPoint: “Actually, I completely respect this girl, because she did a very good job and she was very funny,” she said of the presentation’s author, even though it was “so embarrassing.” (Congratulations to Lena Dunham on finding a way to appreciate public humiliation.)
The balance of the new profile addresses Dunham’s past scandals, her recent semi-removal from the spotlight, and her efforts to heal from several ongoing health conditions: an elective hysterectomy, loss of fertility, fibromyalgia, a connective-tissue disorder, PTSD, and recovery from benzodiazepine addiction. Read the full piece at The Cut.
