In Moby’s new book Then It Fell Apart, he depicted a “brief, innocent, and consensual romantic involvement” with actress Natalie Portman when they first met, stating she was 20 years old at the time. Not only was this factually incorrect—Portman was only 18 in 1999—but Portman contested their relationship ever existing.
“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 when I just had graduated high school,” she said in a recent interview. At first, Moby accused Portman of falsifying her denial regarding their supposed fling and posted “corroborating photo evidence” of the pair together.
However, on Saturday, Moby apologized “to Natalie, as well as the other people I wrote about in Then It Fell Apart without telling them beforehand.” He stated that he had been receiving anonymous threats of violence from her fans. Moby posted the statement to his personal Instagram: “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.”