Among the many celebrity relationships that have received widespread attention in recent years, few have reached the caliber of mystery and intrigue than that of singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers and actor Paul Mescal. If it weren’t enough that the singer recently announced a new album with her band boygenius, and the latter was nominated for his first Academy Award for his role in “Aftersun,” the recent publicity the two have earned from a speculated breakup has been enough to inspire a timeline of their history.
These two celebrities have never been particularly forthcoming about the details of their infatuation, so very few facts about their relationship have been confirmed. However, with both of them sporting cult followings, enough information has been pieced together to create this list of events.
During the summer of 2020, Bridgers and Mescal began interacting frequently on social media. It started when Bridgers tweeted about Mescal’s show “Normal People,” and his subsequent freak-out began a series of flirtatious interactions. The two of them participated in an Instagram live on May 23, 2020, which is considered to be their first virtual meeting.
In July 2020, Phoebe took a trip to Mescal’s Irish home, allowing the two to meet in person for the first time. It is assumed that they began dating during that summer since Mescal began mentioning an elusive and unnamed girlfriend in his interviews from that point on. In December of the same year, Bridgers dropped a music video for her song “Savior Complex,” which starred Mescal.
Little was heard about the pair for almost another year until they walked the 2021 LACMA Art + Film Gala red carpet together in November 2021. A month later, their relationship became official on Dec. 10 when Bridgers posted a picture of the two of them on Instagram.
In April 2022, people who ran into the couple at Coachella reported that Bridgers had introduced Mescal as her fiancé, but their engagement was never confirmed. In May, they appeared again together at the Met Gala, looking happier than ever.
On June 24, Bridgers dropped a music video for her song “Sidelines,” which not only featured Mescal once again, but the singer confirmed that the song was about him. While the song sounds similar enough to the rest of her eerie and heart-wrenching discography, the lyrics allude to a happy relationship and undying love.
On Nov. 6, The Guardian published an interview with Mescal that reignited rumors of their engagement. However, when SZA dropped her instantly acclaimed album, “SOS” on Dec. 9, Bridgers’ raw and angered verse in the song “Ghost in the Machine” led people to believe that she had split from Mescal.
To further these suspicions, a photo was posted on Dec. 12 by The 1975’s Matt Healy that featured him kissing Bridgers with beloved comedian Bo Burnham standing behind them. The photo swept the internet and confirmed for fans that the Mescal/Bridgers romance was over.
While the photo may lead people to assume that a relationship between the two singers is underway, recent speculation has led to the belief that Bridgers and Burnham are the new couple. The two were seen boarding a plane together on Jan. 13, and there are many other rumors circulating around Hollywood to boot. However, there has been no confirmation of a breakup between Burnham and his girlfriend of nearly a decade, film director Lorene Scafaria.
It has been determined that Mescal and Bridgers are no longer an item, but a relationship between the singer and the comedian is pure speculation at this point in time. At the very least, fans of the duo have their ears to the ground for not only a relationship between the two, but hopefully someday a musical collaboration. Nothing could be more mind-blowing than Bo Burnham trying to sing “Moon Song” in his comically piercing style.
