2 months ago
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Fred Armisen and Natasha Lyonne dated for seven years, from 2014 until they broke up in 2022. They went under the radar for so long that I honestly had either forgotten or had no idea in the first place that they were dating until I read Hecate’s post about their break-up. As you may or may not recall, Fred and Natasha broke up over a swimming pool. She wanted one so that she could keep swimming laps during the pandemic and he did not.
Fred appeared on the July 9 episode of my boo David Duchvony’s Fail Better podcast. The premise of Fail Better is for David and his guests to really dissect some of their failures and how those failures shaped who they are today. Fred brought up his relationship with Natasha, saying that even though their relationship was over, he considered it to be a “successful relationship” because it “ended well.” In fact, he looks back at it with a “peaceful happiness” and is glad that they are still friends.
“I had a girlfriend for seven years recently, Natasha, and I was with her for a long time,” Armisen, 57, said on the Tuesday, July 9, episode of David Duchovny’s “Fail Better” podcast with Lemonade Media. “I felt like it was a successful relationship.”
Armisen explained that he “liked the feeling” of his and Lyonne’s relationship and how their dynamic was different compared to his past connections. While the pair called it quits in 2022, the Saturday Night Live alum shared that ending on good terms with Lyonne, 45, showed signs of growth and maturity.
“That ended well and, like, we’re still friends. It made me feel like it was part of getting older that I could approach being in a relationship in a different way,” he reflected. “I can look back at that relationship with a sort of peaceful happiness, and that’s how it was.”
While Armisen is aware many people wouldn’t consider a relationship ending in a breakup to be an accomplishment, he views it differently since everyone’s situation is unique.
“As I get older I see so many couples I know break up. I don’t mean that in a negative or a cynical way,” he noted. “It makes me go, life is like this, there’s different versions of relationships and different versions of success. What’s great is that it just calms everything down.”
Lyonne and Armisen began dating in 2014 after being introduced by mutual pal Maya Rudolph. The pair went on to date until 2022 when the Russian Doll actress announced their breakup.
“I had been [in Los Angeles] living with Fred and during COVID. I honestly think we broke up because I wanted a swimming pool,” Lyonne, told The Hollywood Reporter in an April 2022 profile. “We love each other just about as much as two people can love each other and we’re still talking all the time, but Freddy doesn’t like a swimming pool.”
She continued: “It might seem like a mundane reason for a breakup, but during that pandemic, you’ve got to get your laps — I’m like Burt Lancaster in The Swimmer. So, I got myself a house with a pool out in Los Angeles. So that’s the real scandal. I guess I finally am an actual bicoastal.”
Despite their split, the twosome remain friends. When Lyonne hosted SNL for the first time in May 2022, Arimsen was by her side for the monologue.
“You know, Freddie and I, we dated for seven years,” Lyonne joked to the audience. “Yeah, we’re the only couple who had a sex tape nobody wanted to buy.”
Hey, it’s great that they’re both so amicable about their breakup. So, I don’t know if I’m alone in this or not, but Fred’s love life has always sort of intrigued me. His breakup with Natasha is the complete opposite of the end of his very short-lived marriage to Elisabeth Moss, which ended acrimoniously in 2010. Moss has described it as “traumatic and awful and horrible.” In 2016, Fred told Marc Maron that their sudden divorce was related to his own infidelity and “intimacy issues.” If that was the case, I make zero excuses for Fred’s behavior and don’t fault Elisabeth for being so angry because I would have been hurt and pissed, too. Perhaps Fred and Natasha were a better match (which absolutely does not make it Moss’ fault for his cheating!) or maybe he just had a moment of growth. Either way, good for the two of them for being so mature about something that seems to have naturally come to its conclusion. Most importantly, though, I’m glad that Natasha prioritized herself and got that swimming pool! Some things, you don’t compromise on.
Photos credit: Peter West/ACE Pictures / Bang Showbiz / Avalon, Joe Sutter, PacificCoastNews / Avalon, Getty and via Instagram/Natasha Lyonne
