On Thursday, the day after Natalie Portman strenuously denied a claim made by Moby in his new memoir that the two once had a brief romantic relationship, the DJ and musician once again asserted that he and Portman were involved — and shared photographs in an effort to bolster his assertion.
In an Instagram post, the “Play” musician wrote, “In my memoir Then It Fell Apart I respectfully and honestly describe the brief, innocent, and consensual romantic involvement I had with Natalie Portman in 1999. But she’s denying that we ever dated, even though in the past she’s publicly discussed our involvement, and there’s ample photographic evidence that we briefly dated and then were friends(some pictures included in this post).”
Adding that he’s been “receiving anonymous threats of violence from her fans,” Moby continued, “So what should I do? What do you do when people believe lies and accusations and not actual photographs and evidence? I want to take the high road, but I honestly don’t know what to do. It’s one thing to be lied about, and entirely another when someone’s lies result in physical threats from complete strangers.”
Moby included a trio photos depicting himself with his arm around the actress.
Of course, physical contact between a man and a woman does not necessarily indicate a romantic relationship, as a certain current presidential candidate would surely attest.
In Moby’s upcoming memoir “Then It Fell Apart,” the musician says that he dated Portman when she was 20 and he was 33. Portman disputed the account, saying she was only 18 at the time, and that Moby was a “much older man being creepy with me.”
“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,” Portman told Harpers Bazaar on Tuesday. “He said I was 20; I definitely wasn’t. I was a teenager. I had just turned 18. There was no fact checking from him or his publisher — it almost feels deliberate. That he used this story to sell his book was very disturbing to me. It wasn’t the case. There are many factual errors and inventions. I would have liked him or his publisher to reach out to fact check.”
The book’s publisher, Faber & Faber, and Moby’s manager did not respond to TheWrap’s request for comment on Wednesday.
See Moby try to make his case below.