The headlines came fast and furious.
It began Tuesday night, when the New York Post’s Page Six, a paragon of journalistic integrity/accuracy, ran an item about Bill Murray celebrating the premiere of his latest film, Rock the Kasbah, with a “special lady friend,” accompanied by a photo of the legendary actor singing onstage with Jenny Lewis—the acclaimed singer-songwriter behind Rilo Kiley. Using heightened Page Six language, they breathlessly described how Lewis showed up to the film’s afterparty at “the bitter end of the night,” and quoted an anonymous source describing Lewis as Murray’s “special friend” and “current younger love interest” (Lewis is 39 to Murray’s 65).
Indie rock blogs soon took notice, with exclamation point-filled headlines asking whether the two were dating, culminating in a Jezebel post further insinuating that they, in fact, were.
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Sadly, this is not the case.“They’re NOT dating,” said a source in Lewis’s camp. “They’re friends.”
Indeed, they’ve been friends for quite some time. Here they are backstage at a Lewis concert in 2008. And attending a basketball game together in 2010. Here’s Murray spotted at a Lewis concert last year. And here they are in January at the 20th Anniversary Poets House Bridge Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.
Lewis will, however, make a cameo in Murray’s upcoming Netflix special A Very Murray Christmas. The star-studded special, directed by Sofia Coppola, also boasts the likes of George Clooney, Miley Cyrus, Amy Poehler, and Chris Rock.
When I interviewed Lewis last year, she opened up about her acting days. The musician got her start in the Lucille Ball sitcom Life With Lucy, and would later make appearances in a gaggle of teen movies throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s—including the badass Foxfire, where she starred opposite her high school classmate Angelina Jolie.
