Chris Evans & Jenny Slate broke up after about seven months, officially

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On Monday, I covered Chris Evans’ attendance at the Super Bowl. Evans is a big Patriots fan, and he was there with his brother and some dude friends. While I wasn’t surprised that Jenny Slate didn’t join them – who even knows if she likes football? – I did say in that post that it feels like we haven’t heard much about them in a few months. I wrote: “does anyone else wonder if Chris and Jenny Slate have cooled off a bit? I’m not sure if they broke up, but it definitely seems like they’ve either gone deep undercover or they’ve just cooled off in general.” Well, I was right. They’re done. We first learned they were together back in May of last year, shortly after she announced her divorce from her husband. Was Chris “the other man” in her marriage? Um, I always thought so. And so from that sketchy beginning came a relationship that didn’t even last one full year (officially).

Chris Evans and Jenny Slate have called it quits less than a year after they started dating, PEOPLE has learned. The former couple met on the set of their upcoming drama Gifted earlier this year, where sources told PEOPLE their connection was undeniable. When they weren’t busy filming, Evans and Slate would spend much of their free time hanging out together.

Evans, 35, is a native of Sudbury, Massachusetts, and Slate, 34, grew up just outside Boston in the suburb of Milton. They stepped out together for the first time back in June at the premiere of her animated movie The Secret Life of Pets.

The Girls star gushed about Evans on the film’s red carpet, telling Entertainment Tonight, “It’s kind of like I got my dream seventh grade boyfriend. We didn’t know each other growing up, but we grew up about a half hour away from each other. We’ve been friends for a while.”

[From People]

That quote about her “dream seventh grade boyfriend” still makes me cringe. Like, best case scenario, Jenny was using Chris to fulfill some kind of childhood fantasy about a “dream boyfriend.” Worst case scenario is that she cheated on her husband and ended her marriage so she could get with a messy dude who seems to move through women pretty quickly. In any case, I’m not surprised that they broke up. Oh, well.

Los Angeles premiere of 'The Lego Batman Movie'

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN.

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86 Responses to “Chris Evans & Jenny Slate broke up after about seven months, officially”

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  1. Shambles says:

    *single, solitary tear for the sketchy relationship*
    How sad.

    In other news, I just woke up from a dream about being in a lesbian relationship. I got dumped. Sad for me.

  2. detritus says:

    Called it! – said absolutely everyone

    Jenny made a dumb move for a cute butt in tight pants. The only person I feel a huge amount of sympathy for is her ex.

    Do her and the ex get back together? I sure hope not, for him, but look at Alicia and Kristin.

    • Kitten says:

      Not me. I thought they were taking it to the altar.

      But seriously, I’m surprised it lasted seven months.

      • Erinn says:

        I expected more of a mess, honestly. I figured it had to go long haul, or implode spectacularly.

        I wonder if she regrets going on about him so much in public – I mean, any attention is good attention to most celebs, but man. I’ve had secondhand embarrassment over this from day one.

      • detritus says:

        I don’t think it did, I honestly think 7 months is PR to salve her ego, in reality I bet it was a non monogamous fling that lasted about 3-4 months.
        I hope she’s at least a touch embarrassed, maybe she’ll learn something, and has apologized profusely to her ex.

    • Esmom says:

      Yeah, even I, with zero interest in either of them, could have predicted this. I also hope the ex wouldn’t consider taking her back. Messy, messy.

      • detritus says:

        They don’t have kids, right?
        And he’s somewhat famous as well, so I’m hoping not. He deserves better, and if she acted out like this, she needs to find herself before she can find happiness.

    • ELX says:

      I guess her “Pretty in Pink” moment didn’t work out. Everyone has to grow up eventually.

      • detritus says:

        I hope this is a learning moment for her, and she can move on to real happiness. I don’t sense much malice, just self interest.

        Whether it’s to get out of an unhappy relationship before cheating, or that lust doesn’t equal longevity, whatever the real story is, I hope she gets it.

    • Lex says:

      Does anyone actually know if she cheated on her ex husband?
      Was their relationship well dead before she started with Chris?
      It’s possible!

    • CCi says:

      I doubt Jenny and her ex will get back together. They don’t have a joint home, or children. They’ve worked on a few projects together but that’s about it. He’s already moved on to a new lady (you know, AFTER the divorce was filed unlike Chris and Jenny). I don’t know much about his new girl but she looks like an upgrade.

  3. Locke Lamora says:

    I don’t know why, but I feel the worst case scenario is more likely.

  4. Christina says:

    Most of the time celebrities announce a divorce it’s been in the works (or even all the way finalized in the case of some celebrity ninjas) for a very long time. We don’t know the behind the scenes timeline- we hypothesize and generalize looking for the most salacious angle- I guess that’s gossip.

    Also, I think people side eye when relationships start because they don’t realize that not everyone takes tons of time to mourn the end of a relationship- or they mourn and date at the same time. Some people move right to the next thing as a distraction- doesn’t mean everything was shady. Life doesn’t stand still because people break up. And a lot of people don’t like to be alone and ruminate over their feelings, period.

    And yes, that 7th grade comment was gross, but we’re assuming that he wasn’t as into her just because he didn’t talk about her. And if we’re going to throw shade, let’s throw it on all sides- I highly doubt she instigated the relationship. So Chris gets his fair amount of shade too.

    • elephant says:

      Except they were on a podcast together in April, and she kept mentioning her husband in a way that made it sound that they were absolutely still together. The podcast was about romantic relationships and about friendships between men and women, where they claimed that they known each other for a short time (since they worked on a film together), but that they are best friends now after filming. Three weeks after the podcast aired she announced the divorce and the new relationship.

    • Ramona says:

      I agree with Christina. Only in extreme circumstances like the Pitt Jolie shenanigans do celebrities publicly announce divorce immediately after break up. So you have the standard few months/years of internal marital collapse, break up, period of gathering oneself and then announcement. I dont see what their podcast disproves. We, internet busybodies, have no idea what phase that marriage was in. Its perfectly natural that she would speak like it was still on during a round of relationship questions even if it was on the outs. Lots of celebs maintain facades to help deal with things outside of the camera glare.

      I do think he was into her though. That was very clear from their Anna Faris interview. Plus if he wasnt into her it wouldnt have progressed into a relationship given that Its Chris Evans… a man with infinite options.

    • Esmom says:

      I hear you but from the little I’ve read about these two (all here), it seems there were red flags to indicate that maybe it wasn’t the healthiest exiting and entering of relationships.

      • Squiggisbig says:

        Not only that but is Jenny Slate really that big of a star where she would be spending months orchestrating her breakup? I personally had never heard of her prior to this relationship.

      • Ramona says:

        She has a small but very devoted hipster following. They actually did follow her marriage via her social media postings and when this story first broke they were all over Jezebel talking about posts from months ago that she had deleted etc.

    • lightpurple says:

      She and her father wrote a book recently about their house, entitled “About the House.” She gave an interview to the Boston Globe about it and made a comment about her marriage, something like how hard it is when you’re in love and then you realize the other person has stopped loving you back. Whether she’s the one who stopped or he was, was not clear.

      • detritus says:

        That’s interesting to note.
        Sometime people can’t leave a ‘decent’ relationship without a push.

    • lyla says:

      didn’t jenny slate and her husband buy house together right before their breakup? And didn’t Anna Farris basically outed Chris & Jenny, saying that they were just like her and her husband – you know who she hooked up when she was still married?

      • OriginallyBlue says:

        That’s what I remember reading. They bought a house in December? went to events together into the end of February and sometime between then and her divorce announcement she had moved in with a friend. A week after the divorce announcement came the news she was dating Chris.

    • Meghan says:

      I started dating a guy almost right after I got out of a messy relationship (my fiancé cheated on me and got a girl pregnant) and said relationship only lasted a few months because I realized I wanted to be young and free and do what I want and not get tied down.

      He and I have been married for 16 months now, because we reconnected and I realized that he really was the one I am meant to be with, though I didn’t know that back in the day.

  5. Trixie says:

    I wonder if this will make promoting their movie together awkward.

    • Irishmilty says:

      Nah. The little girl is his actual co-star and he has far more chemistry with her. They’ll do the rounds. JS only has a small , ten minute sidepiece role. Art/Life.

  6. Valois says:

    If he ever gets married, he’s going to get married to someone who’s happy with being some sort of perfect housewife who stays in Boston with their kids while he does some action movie once in a while and has fun with his bros and girls.

    • Tiffany27 says:

      Yeah that’s the vibe I get too.

    • INeedANap says:

      He’s kind of mentioned it too, that he wants someone who will take care of him. I think he’s enough of a mama’s boy that he basically wants a mother surrogate.

    • Prairiegirl says:

      In interviews he talks about his mother waaay too much for a grown man. It’s clear that’s basically who he’s looking for in a life partner so Valois’ comment is spot on.

    • Valois says:

      Jeez I didn’t even knew he was such a big mummy’s boy but now that I think about it, that’s the vibe I get from him. That and him having a madonna-whore-complex.

      Tiffany, I agree with what you wrote below, I could see him with someone like Blake Lively as well. Or Jessica Biel. Probably more the latter, because I think Blake and Ryan have a more equal relationship than Jessica and Justin where everything revolves around Justin. Chris would be more like Justin 😀

      • Trixie says:

        Chris dated Jessica Biel for several years prior to him getting with Minka and her getting with Justin.

    • Oriane says:

      Jennifer Garner, then!

  7. ell says:

    lol. actually, i probably shouldn’t laugh, but it’s funny when celebs talk so much about their relationship and then split a few months after. that’s why i’m all for the keeping it private thing. even if sometimes they take it to ridiculous lengths, it avoids me the second hand embarrassment when they inevitably split.

  8. Hiccup says:

    I can’t quite pinpoint Chris sometimes he seems like he really has a brain and sometimes he comes across incredibly immature. I think he’s actually a great actor, he’s amazing in Snowpiercer and great as captain America, but then he makes these dumb moves complaining about marvel or taking breaks from acting just when he’s hot… Is he self sabotaging?

    • ELX says:

      He’s an actor. I doubt that you can overestimate the extent to which he is utterly self-involved and yet completely unself-aware.

    • lightpurple says:

      He has mental health issues, anxiety in particular, and has said so.

    • Trixie says:

      I, too, think he’s a really good actor. But he chooses such terrible projects sometimes – like all those shitty romcoms.

    • Lexx says:

      “Chris sometimes he seems like he really has a brain ”

      I am pretty convinced that this is all his publicist, and the fact that we don’t notice it speaks to the brilliance of said publicist.

  9. Adrien says:

    Awww, I want them to be together. I thought Chris has a thing for older women, turns out Jen is younger. Anyway, I love Jenny. She is funny. That is all I got.

  10. justanothergossipgirl says:

    I guess he heard I’m coming soon to the States for a road trip 🙂

  11. Miss V says:

    Umm… fairly certain this was a case of cheating/homewrecking and they got caught, so they tried to date to save a little bit of face. They changed the timeline of their relationship multiple times, and basically got outed by Anna Farris that they started dating well before the PR approved date they pushed. Karma came for these two… and I don’t think she’s done with them yet.

  12. Carey says:

    She may have cheated at the end of her marriage but in my experience the cheating often comes when the marriage is on the rocks anyway. IOW she and her husband were in trouble and going to break up eventually but the cheating put an end to it sooner. And the new boyfriend didn’t last but oh well, now she can spend some time properly working through what happened and figuring out what she wants next.

    • Anon33 says:

      “Cheating often comes when the marriage is on the rocks anyway”

      First of all, not true. Second of all, doesn’t make it ok.

      • S says:

        “Cheating often comes when the marriage is on the rocks anyway”

        Things cheaters say to excuse their skeevy behavior.

    • Anon says:

      Not surprised you got some rude responses, but you’re right. If your significant other is cheating on you, they are not happy in a relationship with you. They are often only still with you because they are afraid of change and/or hurting your feelings. The breakup would be inevitable with or without the cheating.

    • Liz says:

      No excuse for cheating. If things are going bad or “on the rocks”, end the relationship before moving on. Once a cheat always a cheat

    • Irishmilty says:

      Lol, cheaters cheat at any time during a relationship. If a relationship is at an end, good people end it before moving onto someone else. Cheaters are selfish and greedy and want it all for themselves no matter who they hurt.

      She was Evan’s typical on set f#ck for the shoot, but she outplayed him by going public with it. He enjoyed it for awhile, and their PR tried to clean it up,make it look good, but there were rumours months ago he wanted out. Plus, he’s not a monogamous kinda guy, and that’s what her 13 yr old self really wanted. The fairytale prince. He’s got several months of shooting coming up for IW. Amusing that SJ announced her split about the same time that they broke up.

  13. browniecakes says:

    Loved her in Parks and Recs. Love him without a shirt on.

    • Esmom says:

      She was probably my least favorite on Parks and Rec. Not her fault, I just wasn’t a fan of the character.

  14. Loo says:

    I never expected them to last long. I like Chris Evans but he’s a Playboy.

  15. Ebon says:

    I agree with your last paragraph. +1
    That really freaks me out how someone could be in love with you for 10 years and then you find out they’ve been falling out of love.

  16. lyla says:

    they lasted longer than expected…

  17. S says:

    So, yeah, I mean they’re all adults and no kids are involved but, c’mon, anyone who heard these two on the Farris podcast and then, less than a month later, her marriage was “over” and they just happened to, right then, start dating simultaneous announcement and didn’t think they’d been together, at the very least for an on-set fling, and rekindled is … Well, I’d love to you sell you some slightly soggy real estate.

    Also, sad, that they couldn’t even fake it till their movie came out. Because, yeah, that’s sort of the on-set-romance minimum expiration date before you have to admit you just left your marriage for a random hot guy.

    Now, of course, do I blame her? Well, I mean, yeah, she was the one that was married, not him. I think the 7th grade boyfriend comment is super telling because it’s A) self-aware — Chris Evans is many women’s fantasy boyfriend/locker pin-up and B) a fairly telling commentary on the power dynamic of that relationship (as is that she was the only one ever talking it up).

    Seriously, Chris Evans is super hot and every single interview I’ve ever seen him do tells me he’s probably a heck of a lot of fun, but not even slightly serious about settling down because he KNOWS he’s got options, to say the least. He’s the guy you talk to for five minutes and realize, yeah, he’s gonna marry someone half his age someday, but not until he’s way past his prime and wants to feel like he’s re-grasping it. Oh and, such a Mama’s boy, which can be endearing or cloying; often both at different times.

    Honestly, Slate would almost certainly have been better off with the fantasy than she is now. Of course, Evans also seems like someone who returns a lot, so we may see this start and stop quite a few more times, though the public breakup acknowledgement is not really his style, so very well could be a line in the dunzo sand. I know he and Minka went back and forth countless times, but Minka played it REAL cool. Any bets if she’s packing an overnight bag to go to wherever Avengers 3 is filming right now?

  18. lyla says:

    so is going back to minka?

    and is the promo for their new movie gonna be awkward?

  19. Ady says:

    I’m gonna be honest – Chris never gave me proud BF vibes, it seemed like she was more into him but he wasn’t that smitten. I can’t say I feel sorry for them though, relationships that start with cheating never have a happy ending imo.
    PS – Jenny’s ex husband has a new GF according to Tumblr detectives.There was a time when Jenny had both – a husband and a boyfriend and now she has none 🙁 #karma

  20. A says:

    Minka has a boyfriend.

  21. Doodle says:

    So ScarJo divorces and two weeks later Chris sends Slate back home

    Interesting

    • Tiffany27 says:

      That would be hot, but it won’t work. She has no interest in being his mother. He honestly probably needs a Blake Lively type (not her, she’s married) who enjoys baking and babies and does some work OCCASIONALLY.

    • Ady says:

      like he was bothered by Scarlett’s married status and waited till her divorce? Lol that’s not something he would do

    • Prairiegirl says:

      I get the vibe those two hooked up on set years and years ago. Just me?

      • Miss V says:

        No, it’s not just you. I am pretty sure it was confirmed that they did hook up during the filming of the Nanny Diaries.

  22. Miss M says:

    I cannot imagine how hard is to breakup with your dream 7th grade boyfriend so publicly

  23. Elle R. says:

    So only tangentially related, but I went to college with a girl who had a whole theory about how Disneyland / Disneyworld can make or break a relationship in a way that no other theme park can. I won’t go into her entire theory, but I kind of wish we were still in touch because I’d love to hear her comments about this break up. I bet money she would pin it on the Disneyworld trip in December.

    • Valois says:

      Haha, I’d love to hear that theory!

    • Elle R. says:

      The theory is long, involved, and also kind of brilliant in its truth. And I wish I could tell it in her style, because it’s much better than how I’m going to type it, but I’m going to try to mimic her the best I can:

      Going to Disneyland can end a relationship if you’re not careful. Disneyland reveals a lot about a person, which is why you should never go too soon in a relationship. For example, how do you do in lines? That’s potentially a lot of time for small talk, especially if it’s just the two of you. Do you prefer the shuttle or walking? Are you more relaxed, or do you want to rush around the park and do everything you possibly can? How do you handle crowds? Do you have to stay for fireworks? Watch the parade?

      And then there are rides. What are your favorite rides? Are you ride compatible? Is one of you going to whine about how these rides aren’t as scary as Six Flags and how boring they are? Are you both able to go on Mr Toad and appreciate the irony of going to hell at Disneyland? If you get wet on a ride, will you both laugh about it, or is someone going to be upset their hair got messed up (and I’m not just talking about girls here) or their socks are damp?

      And then there’s just general attitude. Are you both cool with being stupid and silly and embracing your inner child, or is it going to be a long day of having to pretend to be cool and not a total nerd? How about food: more expensive sit down? Casual? Snacks?

      And that was just the start. There was some stuff about going with a group that I can’t quite remember and going with children and more on ride compatibility. Basically, it comes down to the fact that, if you like Disneyland, taking a significant other there can tell you a lot about compatibility as far as their ability to enjoy the day and the ridiculous fun that is the Mouse Kingdom.

      Like I said, it’s only barely related to Chris and Jenny, but their break up reminded me of this theory, and I’ll admit I kind of, sort of want Disney-incompatibility to be the case in their break up, for the sheer reason that it would be funny (to me, maybe not to them).

      • Ash says:

        That’s a fascinating theory, Elle. I’ve never been to a Disney park, and that’s by choice. But your friend’s theory gives me something to think about. Lol.

      • omg says:

        This is brilliant.

      • Sylvia says:

        That Disney theory is interesting because these two did go to Disneyworld and the pics that came out were so odd. There was so much distance between them, to the point that they were at this one show / restaurant where the booths are cars, and Chris was sitting alone while Jenny was across from him in a different booth next to his friend. It was so weird, because who does that? But then again, even before that I got the vibe he didn’t like being seen in public with her.

      • Lyla says:

        Interesting theory. Didn’t know that they went Disney world together. I know Chris is a big Disney fan, but dunno about Jenny. One part of the theory that wouldn’t apply to them though is the waiting in long lines.

    • Dee Kay says:

      Omg please share the Disneyland/world Relationship Theory!!!!! Thx in advance!!!!

  24. Dee Kay says:

    What irritates me about this whole relationship (prolonged hook-up?) is that it made me think worse of both of them, and I LIKED both of them before all this. I loved Slate’s persona — cool, smart, funny, not afraid to do comedy that other women shy away from — and I loved Evans’s Captain America, as well as his work in Snowpiercer and one or two earlier films. Now b/c of how this all went down, I see them as both needy, selfish, immature people who can’t get a clue about how to do PR well and protect their public images.

  25. holly hobby says:

    Oh well too bad so sad. She knew what she was getting into when she dumped her ex for him. In other news, that dress is hideous!

  26. Maria Urena says:

    Chris finally woke up and kicked that famewhore 2 the curb!!!