Days after Natalie Portman questioned claims from Moby that the pair dated, the musician has issued an apology to the actress, noting he was “inconsiderate” in statements made in his recent memoir.
Earlier this month, Moby released his memoir, Then It Fell Apart. While it details a number of events in his life you’ve likely heard of, it also included some previously unheard tales, including a romance with a pre-fame Lana Del Rey, and the questionable story of rubbing his genitals on Donald Trump.
Interestingly, it also included a tale of how he supposedly dated actress Natalie Portman, describing himself as a “bald binge drinker” who was stunned to see “a beautiful movie star” like Portman “flirting” with him.
While Moby’s interesting life certainly wouldn’t make many people question claims he did in face date Portman, the actress herself soon hit back at the musician, noting the memoir included “factual errors and inventions.”
“I was surprised to hear that he characterised the very short time that I knew him as dating because my recollection is a much older man being creepy with me when I just had graduated high school,” Portman explained to Harper’s Bazaar.
“He said I was 20; I definitely wasn’t. I was a teenager. I had just turned 18. There was no fact checking from him or his publisher – it almost feels deliberate,” she added. “That he used this story to sell his book was very disturbing to me. It wasn’t the case.”
Check out Moby’s ‘Porcelain’:
Moby soon shared his side of the situation, explaining in a since-deleted Instagram post that he was “confused” as to why Natalie Portman would deny the existence of their supposed relationship.
“I like Natalie, and I respect her intelligence and activism,” he wrote. “But, to be honest, I can’t figure out why she would actively misrepresent the truth about our (albeit brief) involvement.”
“The story as laid out in my book Then It Fell Apart is accurate, with lots of corroborating photo evidence, etc.”
“Ps I completely respect Natalie’s possible regret in dating me (to be fair, I would probably regret dating me, too),” he added. “But it doesn’t alter the actual facts of our brief romantic history.”
Now, the 53-year-old musician has taken to Instagram again, this time to apologise to Natalie Portman for the claims made in Then It Fell Apart.
“As some time has passed I’ve realized that many of the criticisms leveled [sic] at me regarding my inclusion of Natalie in Then It Fell Apart are very valid,” he began.
“I also fully recognize that it was truly inconsiderate of me to not let her know about her inclusion in the book beforehand, and equally inconsiderate for me to not fully respect her reaction.”
“I have a lot of admiration for Natalie, for her intelligence, creativity, and animal rights activism, and I hate that I might have caused her and her family distress,” he continued. “I tried to treat everyone I included in Then It Fell Apart with dignity and respect, but nonetheless it was truly inconsiderate for me to not let them know before the book was released.”
“So for that I apologize, to Natalie, as well as the other people I wrote about in Then It Fell Apart without telling them beforehand,” he concluded. “Also I accept that given the dynamic of our almost 14 year age difference I absolutely should’ve acted more responsibly and respectfully when Natalie and I first met almost 20 years ago.”
While Natalie Portman hasn’t publicly responded to Moby’s apology as yet, it is definitely making some people question the validity of other stories in the artist’s memoir.
Check out ‘Bodyrock’ by Moby:
