Moby Is Still Talking About Natalie Portman Relationship She Says Was A 'Much Older Man Being Creepy With Me'

If you came here for digs at Moby's music, you have come to the wrong place. It's not that I'm a fan of his work, it's that I promised myself before I started writing this that I would let his music speak for itself. 

You can form your own opinion about the trash that is techno music. I won't be getting into it. I'm focused on the back and forth with the musician and actress Natalie Portman over a romantic relationship he says they had.

The Roots, Moby, and Natalie Portman. (Photo by Theo Wargo/WireImage)

Back in 2019, the now-60-year-old claimed in his memoir, Then It Fell Apart, believe it or not, he wrote a memoir, that he dated Portman back in 1999 when he was 33, and she was 18.

Portman had a different account of their brief friendship, for lack of a better word. She responded in 2019 by denying the two were romantically involved.

"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," reports People.

Moby didn’t back down then and responded by saying, "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."

Portman said that she met him when attending one of his concerts as a fan. She said, when asked about Moby's claims during an interview after his memoir came out, "When we met after the show, he said, ‘Let’s be friends.’"

She continued, "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."

Nothing Promotes New Music Like Old Drama

That should have sealed it shut. Were they romantically involved or not? The world may never know. To tell the truth, this is the first time I've even heard about the Moby and Natalie Portman relationship dispute.

I evidently don't know anyone who read Moby's memoir or anyone who is willing to admit that they did. He did an interview with The Times last week and the topic was brought up again.

Why not? It's been almost 30 years since the two of them hung out briefly, and he's got new music to promote. He told The Times, "It's hard for me to make sense of it."

When the situation was described to him as a "sour episode between two people who seem decent," Moby responded, "In so far as I’m capable of perspective on that, I don’t disagree with what you’re saying."

I hope his entire memoir is written like that response.

I don’t know what happened all those years ago between the two of them after meeting at one of his concerts, but I'm leaning towards the creepy, much older guy version of events that Natalie Portman described.