Paul Mescal has spoken out for the first time since speculation began about his and Phoebe Bridgers’ alleged split, telling the world that his relationship status will stay “private”.
The 27-year-old actor addressed the questions regarding if he’s single during a recent interview with Vanity Fair. His comments come months after he and Bridgers’ rumoured engagement shifted into rumours that they split.
Mescal confessed to the publication that while he’s felt the “temptation” to discuss the “status of his whatever,” he doesn’t think that’s “a wise thing” for him to do.
“When Normal People came out, I was very forthright in interviews, and it didn’t actually serve me,” he said. “But the temptation still exists to be like: ‘Shut the f*** up. This is my life. This is what’s going on. Or this is what’s not going on.’”
He then explained how speaking publicly about his relationship wouldn’t benefit to him.
“But moving forward as much as I can, that’s going to be my life that is private. That’s a difficult thing to achieve. But giving strangers an answer about my life doesn’t actually help me,” he continued. “It’s like a quick boost of serotonin, being like: ‘I’ve said what I need to say.’ And then it’s just Twitter fodder.”
Mescal and Bridgers first started dating in 2020, and rumours of their engagement first sparked in April 2022. During Mescal’s interview with The Guardian in November, the publication wrote that he and Bridgers “are reported to be engaged”. However, the magazine later retracted the claim which sparked rumours that the pair had split.
In December 2022, Bridgers was spotted with Bo Burnham, which further fueled the breakup speculation. Bridgers has not publicly commented about where she stands with Mescal, but confirmed she wasn’t engaged during an interview with The Rolling Stone in January.
Amid the relationship rumours in December, Bridgers lightly touched on the subject of “heartbreak” when asked if she had “any tips for getting over” it during an appearance on Amelia Dimoldenberg’s “Chicken Shop Date” YouTube series.
“You just have to do it,” the artist said. “You just have to do it, and it’s going to end at some point, but you can’t make it end. That’s my thing.”
When asked what heartbreak taught her, the “Motion Sickness” singer responded: “I think if I had figured that out, I wouldn’t be making music still.”
Elsewhere in his interview with Vanity Fair, Mescal shared how “mad” and “upset” he’s gotten when people pry into his personal life. He also said that he understands that this is something he’ll continue to experience, as an actor in Hollywood.
“People are going to write and say things because there’s a certain interest with any person who’s in the public eye in how that person lives their life, and who they’re living up with, and what they’re doing and how they’re going about doing it,” the Aftersun star added. “And look, a lot of the time people are really kind about their support for me. That’s my predominant experience.”
