Lena Dunham opens up about the end of her relationship with Jack Antonoff in her new book Famesick, released today (April 14).
Dunham, who was in a relationship with the Bleachers frontman for roughly five years beginning in 2012, shares in the memoir that she was unfaithful during a particularly difficult phase of their relationship. At the same time, the Girls star and creator was also navigating serious health challenges.
According to Dunham, when Antonoff returned from tour, she “tried to calm my sheer terror by telling myself I was finally home from a bad dream,” adding that she had “proved I could be the freaky sexy lively young woman” with whom her partner had originally fallen in love.
Fans may also remember the speculation surrounding Antonoff and Lorde, who collaborated with him on 2017’s Melodrama and 2021’s Solar Power. Despite the rumors, both parties denied any romantic involvement.
“Normally I would never address rumors but I resent having the most important friendships and working relationships in my life reduced to dumb hetero normative gossip,” Antonoff said in a social media post that year. “Those relationships are deeply important and sacred. With that said, I’m not seeing anyone.”
Though Lorde is not directly named in Famesick, which comes after last year’s Netflix launch of Dunham and husband Luis Felber’s Too Much series, there is mention of an unidentified “teen pop star” who referred to her as “Aunt Lena” during their work with Antonoff.
Amid her press tour for the new book, Dunham spoke with David Marchese for The Interview. In the conversation, seen below, Marchese playfully attempted to get Dunham to be more specific by tucking in a pun that nodded to Lorde’s Melodrama track “Green Light” and her debut studio album, Pure Heroine.
Dunham playfully brushed it off, joking that the mystery pop star was actually Connie Francis, who passed away last year.
“How long did you rehearse that for?” Dunham teased. “That was really good. But, it was Connie Francis.”
