Singer Moby said Saturday the “many of the criticisms” leveled against him for his description of his relationship with actress Natalie Portman are “very valid.” Moby set off a social media firestorm earlier this week when an excerpt of his memior “Then It Fell Apart” alleged he dated the then18-year-old actress when he was 33 years old — a claim the actress denied.
“As some time has passed I’ve realized that many of the criticisms leveled at me regarding my inclusion of Natalie in ‘Then It Fell Apart’ are very valid,” he posted on Instagram.
He expressed regret for not having approached her ahead of the release of his book, but not for claiming they dated. Portman told Harper’s Bazaar she was “suprised” at his description of the relationship.
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“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.
“I also fully recognize that it was truly inconsiderate of me to not let her know about her inclusion in the book beforehand, and equally inconsiderate for me to not fully respect her reaction,” Moby wrote.
Moby also addressed his lack of respect for Portman at the time and notes the age difference between them as a problem.
“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,” Moby wrote. “So for that I apologize, to Natalie, as well as the other people I wrote about in Then It Fell Apart without telling them beforehand.
In Moby‘s new memoir “Then It Fell Apart,” released in May, he claims to have dated Portman. Moby also alleges in the memoir that Portman was 20 years old at the time but Portman insists she had just turned 18, according to Harper’s Bazaar.
“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, ” Portman said in an interview with Harper’s Bazaar.
Moby had initially remained firm on his claim since the release of his memoir.
