Julia Fox is sticking to her celibacy with no plans to end it anytime soon, saying that sex doesn’t ever result in anything positive or “good”.
Speaking on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, Fox, 34, opened up about how she felt about sex and why she’s been choosing to abstain from it for the last two-and-a-half years.
“I just think nothing good comes from having sex,” the style icon admitted before joking that this included “having children”.
Recently, her celibacy has become more of a power protest than she thought it would be at the start. She said: “I think with the overturning of Roe v Wade and our rights being stripped away from us, this is a way that I can take back the control. And it just sucks that it has to be in that way, but I just don’t feel comfortable until things change.”
With the June 2022 Supreme Court decision to overturn the ruling in Roe v Wade still in effect, and the decision to ban abortion in nine states, Fox won’t give up her celibacy soon. So long as the constitutional right to abortion for women in the country is ignored and outlawed, the Uncut Gems star isn’t going to have sex.
That said, she didn’t anticipate that her abstinence to continue for more than two years. “It was six months, and then it was a year, and then I’m like, ‘Oh my god, it’s almost two and a half years and it’s still going,’” she told Cohen.
Once Fox hit a certain time mark, her longing for physical intimacy subsided. When Cohen asked her if she “missed” sex, she said: “No.”
“I think it’s just like getting over anything, smoking, drugs, whatever it may be. Eventually, you just forget, and all that energy you were putting toward sex, you can put toward other things,” she remarked.
Fox first opened up about being celibate on TikTok in early May 2024. Under a slide deck of images that exposed Bumble’s dating app billboards that read, “You know full well a vow of celibacy is not the answer,” Fox begged to differ with her honest confession.
She commented: “2.5 years of celibacy and never been better tbh.”
Bumble’s billboards stirred controversy immediately, prompting an internet frenzy that pointed to the concerning issues the message seemed to ignore. However, the company quickly responded, issuing an apology for the lack of consideration they had in promoting this new campaign.
The company took to TikTok to post its mea culpa. “We made a mistake. Our ads referencing celibacy were an attempt to lean into a community frustrated by modern dating, and instead of bringing joy and humor, we unintentionally did the opposite,” Bumble started.
“Some of the perspectives we heard were: from those who shared that celibacy is the only answer when reproductive rights are continuously restricted; from others for whom celibacy is a choice; and from the asexual community, for whom celibacy can have a particular meaning or importance, which should not be diminished,” they continued.
“We are also aware that for many, celibacy may be brought on by harm or trauma,” they added. “For years, Bumble has passionately stood up for women and marginalized communities, and their right to fully exercise personal choice. We didn’t live up to these values with this campaign and we apologize for the harm it caused.”
Additionally, Bumble announced they would be taking down the billboards and donating to the National Domestic Violence Hotline to support victims of abuse.
