Topics: Star Wars, Music, Sex and Relationships
Moby has finally explained the heavily disputed claims he made about his relationship with Natalie Portman, which led to him being labeled as 'creepy' by the film star.
The dominating figure in the electronic music industry, who has sold over 20 million records during his 30-year career, came under fire after the publication of his 2019 memoir Then It Fell Apart, where he claimed to have dated the Black Swan star when she was 18 and he was 33.
This problematic age-gap relationship was an entirely new claim that had not been reported in 1999, the year Portman began to spread her wings in the industry with the Star Wars prequel The Phantom Menace.
But when Portman was asked about the claims in Moby's memoir by Harper's Bazaar, she emphatically denied that any relationship had ever existed and even called the musician 'creepy'.
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Portman said: “I was surprised to hear that he characterized the very short time that I knew him as dating, because my recollection is a much older man being creepy with me."
Adding context about their interaction in 1999, the Black Swan star explained that they met after a concert, and Moby had suggested that they become friends. She said: “He was on tour and I was working shooting a film.
"So we only hung out a handful of times before I realized that this was an older man who was interested in me in a way that felt inappropriate.”
At the time, Moby kept up his claim, responding: “I completely respect Natalie’s possible regret in dating me (to be fair, I would probably regret dating me, too). But it doesn’t alter the actual facts of our brief romantic history.”
In a new interview with The Times, 60-year-old Moby admitted about the dispute that 'it’s hard for me to make sense of it' on reflection, agreeing with the interviewer that it had been 'a sour episode between two people who seem decent.'
After maintaining for several months his claims about their relationship, Moby did eventually issue an apology that he shared on Instagram.
The musician admitted: "As some time has passed I've realized that many of the criticisms leveled at me regarding my inclusion of Natalie in Then It Fell Apart are very valid.
“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.”
Though he did not appear to entirely retract his perception about their relationship at the time, he continued: “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."
Moby also addressed the significant age gap between him and Portman, accepting that he 'absolutely should've acted more responsibly and respectfully when Natalie and I first met almost 20 years ago'.
