Lena Dunham sat down with the Cut to talk about all things Dunham: her painful hysterectomy, her two year deal with HBO — post Girls — and her breakup with singer Jack Antonoff, and how that impacted her relationship with one of her closest friends, Lorde.
Shortly after their split, Antonoff was linked with the 22-year old “Royals” singer. After collaborating together — Antonoff produced Lorde’s latest album — the two were seen out and about in public a few times, Lorde even sitting on Antonoff’s lap during the Brooklyn leg of her tour. Antonoff quickly took to his Twitter to deny the dating rumors, and Lorde told fans in an Instagram live chat that the two were absolutely not an item.
“Guys: Never. No. Jack and I are not dating. For the last time. But I love him, he’s awesome. But we’re not dating. Please,” Lorde, a former close pal of Dunham, said in the live chat.
Fans were quick to speculate that Lorde and Antonoff had a romantic relationship while he and Dunham were still an item. One fan even went so far as to whip up a PowerPoint presentation citing evidence that the two were actually linked for the entirety of Antonoff and Dunham’s five year relationship. Dunham hasn’t spoken to Lorde, who’s real name is Ella Yelich-O’Connor, since her split from Antonoff.
“It was so embarrassing. It was awful because I felt like a weird — 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,” Dunham confessed to the Cut . Antonoff is now reportedly dating model Carlotta Kohl.
Dunham and Antonoff broke up, mutually and amicably, about a month after her hysterectomy. The hysterectomy came after years of painful endometriosis, which she spoke very publicly about on her social media platforms. Dunham shared photos of her scars from the resulting surgery on her Instagram page.
“Our relationship probably lasted longer than it should have. He’s a very loyal person, so he was not going to bail when the going got tough. He literally held my hand while I got an enema on New Year’s Eve while his family celebrated. But when you’re sick, so much energy goes into making sure the other person is well that you’re not even noticing maybe our schedules aren’t compatible,” Dunham said.