Jenny Slate: I was ‘naïve’ to overshare about Chris Evans & the breakup

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Jenny Slate has had a weird year, I think. While it was probably strange for her to date Captain America for about a year, the post-breakup stuff has been even odder. Like, she’s giving confessional interviews and oversharing about blind dates. She looked absolutely pained when she was forced to stand next to Chris Evans while they were promoting their movie, post-split. She seems to be out-of-sorts and trying to figure out her next step in every sense. And she’s currently promoting Landline, which is like a throw-back ‘90s movie about relationships. Which is how she did this long interview with Marie Claire’s September issue – you can read the full piece here at marieclaire.com. Some highlights:

On L.A.’s obsession with perfection, particularly through plastic surgery: “It’s saying, ‘I’ve given up. I’m too afraid that imperfection is going to make me feel excluded from the community, so I’m buying in rather than opting out.’…It plays into a deep fear put in place by the patriarchy. We live in a system in which our president can be the most heightened misogynist and chauvinist, who is always making it his business to comment on women’s appearances. It’s repulsive. But it also creates a culture of fear in which we think, Even if I don’t want it to, my physicality is going to be called out, and I’m going to be vulnerable.”

On her candid interview with New York magazine about her relationship with Chris Evans, which went viral: “It seems so naïve: You’re just talking to a nice person, and you have a really honest, beautiful conversation, and she writes about it in an honest, beautiful way. But then, it goes through all these other outlets and gets distilled. And then it can be made to seem like you were being cheap.…I didn’t mean to do that. Especially not with an experience that was so precious to me. So precious.”

Whether she’s good at breakups/divorces/professional splits: “A divorce moves at the speed of complete deadening silence, or that’s how it feels. When we got divorced, I felt like I was in outer space. But I think we at least had the foresight, even amidst all that pain, to say, ‘If we don’t do this now, we will never be able to be together at all in any way. We will never be able to work together or be friends.’ You know, just because something didn’t work out in its original form doesn’t mean you have to denigrate it and say it was worth nothing.”

On grappling with the high-speed, voracious nature of celebrity culture: “There’s so much more teeth out there, so many invisible claws out on the internet. It’s one thing to be, like, Cloris Leachman in 1979, saying, ‘I f–ked Gene Hackman,’ or whatever. It’s going to be in one article, and if people want to find it, they’re going to have to go to the library and use the microfiche. But I enjoy putting myself out there much more than I fear the consequences. I do have to learn to make sure that I’m taking that risk alone, and not dragging anyone else into it.”

On her natural instinct to overshare: “You know, I was in the bathroom thinking, ‘I did it again.’ Overspoke. I feel so compelled to give a detailed answer to everything. People tell me over and over, ‘Jenny, you don’t have to say everything.’ But I straight-up forget, and I’m not sure how to change without completely silencing myself.”

On the importance of therapy: “You know what’s weird about reality shows? Everything. A lot of the time, the ladies say to each other as an insult that they should go to therapy. Like, ‘You really need help, honey. I wish you well. You need to go to therapy.’ But every person needs to have someone to talk to. Therapy is beautiful.”

[From Marie Claire]

At first I was like “she needs to own the fact that she overshares” but… she is owning it. Of course, she’s making it sound like she’s a victim of her own oversharing, and that she’s too cool/clever/old-school/hipster to understand that duh, when you give an interview where you talk on and on and on about your breakup, of course people are going to say “whoa, that’s a little bit much.” Her interview with New York Magazine was a serious and epic overshare, the likes of which we rarely see from someone not on a reality show. But I can’t really slam her: I’m sort of the same way. Only in my day it was just called “being a gossip.”

New York premiere of 'The Dark Tower' - Arrivals

Photos courtesy of Katie McCurdy/MarieClaire.com.

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60 Responses to “Jenny Slate: I was ‘naïve’ to overshare about Chris Evans & the breakup”

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  1. FLORC says:

    Sounds like she’s owning her oversharing and excusing herself for future oversharing.

    • angie0717 says:

      She’s owning it by… oversharing again. And I don’t understand most of what she’s saying either. She’s exhausting.

      • Esmom says:

        Lol. Baby steps, I guess. She seems like a good person, albeit a bit needy, and these photos are lovely.

      • slowsnow says:

        Really @angie? Funny you should say that you don’t understand her LOL.
        I love the way she talks, she is cultured and uses the proper term for what she means. That’s quite rare nowadays where “like” is the default word for everyone. There is nothing wrong with being analytical – which is what I think she is, really. And she puts it to good use, she needs this ability for her comedies and her acting.
        Besides, she is an entertainer, of course she is going to be a bit up her **rse. She’s a bit extra, but I do appreciate the way she expresses herself.

      • Valois says:

        @Slowsnow that’s funny because I recently listened to Marc Maron’s podcast with her (I always like it when they talk about SNL) and her constant use of like after every third word seemed super annoying to me.

        I’m pretty sure the interview is edited.

      • slowsnow says:

        @Valois, LoL… You know, as long as she talks properly with more than 10 words to describe whatever it is she wants to say, I’m fine with “like”. I use it as well… but not exclusively.

      • FLORC says:

        She does feel needy… or maybe unsure of herself? Some people strike me as types to give their heart and soul to the nearest.
        She doesn’t strike me as very self aware or confident.

        Her manner of speaking bothers me too. Her use of words though.. very good.

    • Wilma says:

      Somehow I really like her. She’s nothing like me, but I could listen to her for hours.

  2. T.Fanty says:

    All I can think of, while reading this, is she and Captain Neurotic must have absolutely exhausting when they were together. She seems very nice, but man, that’s a lot of navel-gazing.

  3. Ratsy Pomona says:

    These photos of her are really lovely

    • Danielle says:

      I thought the same.

      • CCi says:

        I would think they were lovely had she not just slut shamed other actresses for showing cleavage. You don’t call someone out for showing their chest and then wear a dress that’s one bad move away from a nip slip.

  4. Lily says:

    LOL the photoshop skills over at Marie Claire are epic. They did her many favors.

    So she recognizes that she overshares, but then continues to go on about him even after saying she doesn’t want to discuss that? The big ol’ movie star she spent months with is her #1 talking point.

    Her short association to Chris is the only thing that got her some attention so she’s trying to milk that until it’s last breath but she looks desperate & hungry for fame, which she’s proven to be.
    Stop trying to sell a situation that no one really cared about & is long forgotten like her films.

    • Ariel says:

      You hit the nail on the head. Jenny’s hypocrisy is quite astounding. She goes on in interviews about how she wants to be known for her work and not who she dates…but can’t seem to shut her mouth about Chris and then that’s all the interviewers ask her about. “I was naive to overshare.” Well, maybe you should have thought about that before you opened your big mouth. You even SAID in that interview you KNOW how private Chris is, and you still blathered on about your relationship with him anyway. In this particular MC interview, she was talking about how it’s gross the way Trump makes comments about women’s looks (which, okay, valid) but then in the same breath she complains about women who get plastic surgery. The basic vibe I get from her is “I want to be able to do whatever I want and not have to face any consequences that might come my way.”

      • FLORC says:

        She doesn’t appear to be very self aware and does appear to open up to anyone she feels comfortable with like it will stay private. When come on… She knows it wont.

  5. anna says:

    it’s quite endearing. don’t ever change, jenny!

    • Missy says:

      I think it’s endearing, too. She’s a smart, introspective woman. I don’t mind hearing her thoughts on things. However, I do think she’ll learn to reel it in a bit once she gets a handle on the media.

    • ImAlreadyGone says:

      I also find her endearing. It’s clear to me that whatever happened with her relationship with one of the Chris’s hurt her very deeply and that she is always being asked to speak to that and she does.

      I don’t think she slams anyone. She strikes me as someone who thinks about things, and her place within and in relation to those things. I don’t find that exhausting, I find it refreshing.

      But I also don’t follow her, other than reading the occasional article.

  6. rachel says:

    I like her honesty, then again I’m not the subject of her oversharing ways so…

  7. CityGirl says:

    I tend to overshare…..I get where she’s coming from

    • The Old KC says:

      I do too…do you have “vulnerability hangovers” (I think that’s what Dr. Brene Brown calls them)? I overshare in the moment and think everything’s going really well, based on the facial expressions, body language and general connectedness I get with the person with whom I’m talking…then later it hits me: I probably said waaaaaay too much. It’s like I get caught up in the moment of connecting with that person and don’t leave anything unsaid.

      • poorlittlerichgirl says:

        @TheOldDKC I can relate. I rarely overshare but when I do, it’s bad. As soon as it’s over I completely back away from the person and eventually cut them out completely. I know it’s a b**ch move but I can’t control it. I’ve left many people wondering what they did to deserve being cutoff. I guess it’s self protection on my part and I’m working on it. The “vulnerability hangover” is a perfect description of it.

      • detritus says:

        This is me. I share too much trying to connect and then freak out over it later in private.

    • Miss S says:

      I also get where she comes from. It’s just how my mind/heart works. Sometimes, if I feel like I’m not explaining something really well then… I’m phony, fake, it doesn’t sit well with me. As a consequence, I’m much more detached in general, which isn’t a good way to be, but when being candid is used against you is very hard not to be defensive. I’m just much more selective.

      But at the same time, she is talking to a journalist and she is an adult, she MUST protect herself. She must learn how to balance things out if she wants to last and not be dragged into the wild wild west of social media/digital media/click bait articles and so on…

  8. JenB says:

    These are stunning pictures of Jenny and just looking at the headshot strongly reminded me of late 70s styling.

  9. Adele Dazeem says:

    I really want to like her but for some reason she just grates on me.

    • CynicalAnn says:

      Ditto. I don’t know that I’ve even seen her in anything-what I know is from here.

  10. Ann says:

    Love her but she’s a comedian. Do we need all the “sexy” shots of her?

    • CCi says:

      I found it ironic and hypocritical that she did “sexy” shots after slut shaming other famous women for wearing sexy clothing or posing sexy.

  11. The Old KC says:

    As an aging woman, even though I am in no way in any sort of limelight, I appreciate the way Jenny describes the vulnerability that comes with putting our aging, imperfect selves “out there” in the world, whether it’s in a community of other parents (like me), in your career, or in Hollywood. I can easily pick myself apart – my jawline is sagging, I have marionette lines, I could go on and on about my imperfections. Choosing to leave things as they are definitely does, as Jenny says, cause me to feel vulnerable. But for me, it would be like giving up, to just book that appointment with a surgeon and plunk down the money and say “fix this, and this, and this.” Instead I want to go out into the community with my imperfections glaring in peoples’ faces and proclaim, This is Me, and I have so much more to offer than a surgically made-over face. I totally understand why surgery is important for some folks and I don’t judge them for it – it’s a personal choice. Jenny just nails why it can be tough to stay au naturel. And her photos here are really beautiful, IMHO.

    • LA Elle says:

      Old KC: I’m with you. Aging While Female is brutal.

      I’d buy more into Jenny’s stuff about aging if she wasn’t so critical of other women. Her comments about people judging her – it’s totally OK for her to judge other people in the name of “comedy.” Her Twitter account is full of judge-y stuff about other women’s weight, plastic surgery, etc.

      To me, she’s on par with Lena Dunham: there’s one set of rules for her, and another set of rules for everyone else and how she gets to judge the world, and that’s not OK.

      (Full disclosure: I haven’t been a fan of hers since her god-awful guest starring stint on Parks and Rec.)

      • CCi says:

        LA Elle you nailed it! She just slut shamed women who dress or post “sexy” in an article right before this one. Yet she poses in a dress that’s one bad move away from a nip slip. She’s constantly bad mouthing other women and their choices on social media. Can she get more hypocritical?

    • detritus says:

      I thought that point was really powerful too.

  12. Esmom says:

    I completely agree with her that therapy shouldn’t be looked at with horror or shame. It just continues to stigmatize those struggling with mental illnesses. Therapy can truly be lifesaving. It’s worked for me and many of my friends over the years. Most recently, a friend of mine was suicidal, really really depressed. I was so scared for him. He got himself into therapy a couple times a week and a few months later I am astonished at how great he looks and seems. Such a relief.

  13. lala says:

    I can’t help it, I find her so endearing. As a chronic chatterbox I feel her pain…

    • Shijel says:

      Ahh, me too. I also talk too much. It IS embarrassing, but I can relate to people who recognise it, and still keep doing it because honestly it’s not easy to curb.

      You ever get those moments where you remember that one time you let your mouth run and you just freeze in the middle of the street hoping the earth would swallow you whole to save you from the sudden feeling of embarrassment? I bet she gets it a lot. I definitely do.

      • Miss S says:

        Oh I do. And also looking into the past and remembering people with whom I shared personal stuff and regretting it deeply just because now there are parts of me and my story that they own without any guarantee of respect. How do they remember me? Do they think about that story and how fragile I was? It really makes feel uncomfortable:/

      • lala says:

        haha yes to both of you! It’s in my nature to be like this…trying to control it and minimize it seems dis-ingenuous almost?

  14. Anilehcim says:

    I kind of wish she would just stop talking about it. She came off as kind of desperate when she did the oversharing, and now I feel like she’s continuing to overshare by still talking about it. Just move on. She probably has, so I don’t mean any shade, but by still talking about it, she still comes off as extremely hung up on the situation.

    • CCi says:

      She has to constantly talk about Chris Evans to remain relevant. Not many people knew who she was prior to them dating. She isn’t about to let go of all that attention she gained from that relationship. It’s the only reason why she continues to talk about him. She says she wants to be known for her work and not who she dates, but she does interviews that are supposed to be promos for her movies and ONLY talk about her relationships even when she isn’t asked about them. If she truly wanted to only discuss her work, she would.

    • Shirurusu says:

      Me too, I don’t know her as an actress but I feel kind of bad for her, she’s still gushing about the relationship with Chris Evans (so precious) and I doubt he really deserves that… It’s like she’s going over it in her mind over and over to explain what happened to her captain fantastic and she’s not really … putting a stop to it herself… her girlfriends should shut her down now and set her straight, it’s been a year. Maybe he was a jerk.

      • CCi says:

        I think it has less to do with him and more with her. She cheated on her husband with Chris. I’m sure she thought they would last longer than they did for her to throw her marriage away for him and that’s where her true problem stems from. She had a loving husband, cheated on him with the hot eye candy, and now she has nothing. I’m sure that’s a tough pill to swallow.

  15. Alexandria says:

    Does she have South Asian or Persian heritage? She looks like Archie Panjabi’s or Amal’s or Nazanin Boniadi’s cousin. Love Archie btw.

  16. Freddy Spaghetti says:

    I like that she’s honest about her overstating. Yes, she’s still doing it, but at least she owns it. And those pics are stunning.

  17. Shijel says:

    She seems earnest and sweet but I also wish she’d stop talking about it. I don’t know, I love her. she’s a cool actress and a great voice actress and I want things to go well for her. But I just kind of want to semi-discreetly whisk her away whenever she starts talking. I do believe that she’s aware of that flaw. I also think that she’s not able to contain it.

  18. lexx says:

    it sounds like she needs a good publicist to whip her into shape. She’s trying to join the big leagues and she needs to act like it.

  19. Lamby says:

    I can’t with this chick. Back and forth all the time. She wants to preserve what’s “precious,” but exploits it to sell herself while promoting her projects. She wants to stop oversharing, but also complains about feeling oppressed and silenced when she has to stop oversharing, and people talk about what she shares. She wants to be as open as possible, which includes talking about her relationships, but doesn’t want anyone to comment on it. She doesn’t want to be known as the woman who dated so and so, and yet, here she is, giving yet another interview where she talks about talking about her precious so and so. She’s not naive. She spent at least a year with precious so and so, she was fully aware of the scrutiny she had endured at that time which included accusations of infidelity to her husband. She just decided since they were over and the muzzle of respecting his privacy was off, she could make an entire profile about him, and say what she couldn’t say while she was with him. She chose to take press for a 10 minute appearance in a movie with precious so and so, and turn it into publicity for herself. Smart. She made it all about him and now complains that all anyone wants to talk about is him. Now she’s the victim of the patriarchy because she’s a loudmouth? These interviews are a joke. She’s basically saying she knows she overshares, while she overshares again, and says she wants to share everything but not use names like we won’t know. She desperately needs media training but then, her talking about precious so and so has really done wonders for her relevancy. They’re not even in this movie together and it’s been 8 mos since they split. When is the “GUYSSS!!! I totally dated Captain America!” press tour going to end? I’m guessing from the comments here, and how she’s still talking about that one time she dropped an F bomb on SNL (which btw she also says she doesn’t want to be known for but still keeps bringing up), she will keep oversharing for as long as someone gives her a platform to speak. She has a Marcel the Shell movie coming up with her ex husband. Can’t wait until she goes off like a college student trying to fill a page requirement in the press about how voicing this shell somehow relates to her dating Chris Evans or some personal epiphany she’s reached about dating Chris Evans. So very endearing.

    • Rita says:

      I don’t usually post a comment here, so this is somewhat a first. Let me tell you, this is awesome; and perfectly describes her recent shenanigans.

  20. Urs says:

    I feel for Chris Evans. I think he’s been exploited by her. She milked their relationship, got herself a publicist, did a podcast with him and came out as a couple at premiere’s and then after they split she continues to talk about him.

    I don’t think he’s ever discussed a relationship in the press. He must hate this.

    • LA Elle says:

      This.

      When I was in my early 20s, I had a super ugly break up with a guy I thought I was going to marry. The ex was a total ass about the whole thing (he tried to argue that I should reimburse him for times when he paid for my dry cleaning!).

      While the dust was still settling, I ran into a co-worker of his who didn’t know we had broken up. Something in me snapped, and I ended up telling her way, way more than she needed to know about my ex. In the moment, it felt cathartic, but a couple hours later, it hit me what I had done, and I felt awful. I had claimed to love the guy, knew how much he valued his privacy and how hard he worked at his professional reputation, and I had just given a co-worker loads of ammunition. Didn’t matter how much of a jerk he had been to me: I was completely and totally in the wrong. What happened in our personal lives had no bearing on his professional life, and there’s no justification for what I did.

      Chris might have taken a page from my ex’s playbook and been a total jerk at the end of their relationship. Still doesn’t justify Jenny’s “oversharing” – she’s not 22 or new to Hollywood. This wasn’t a random meeting out running errands but an interview. She wants attention and continues to want attention, and to me, it feels like her caring for Chris extended only as far as it helped her career.

  21. Lightpurple says:

    She and her father have written a book about the house she grew up in in Milton, MA. LOTS of oversharing.

  22. Unoriginal Commenter says:

    I loved her in Obvious Child and her cameo on Drunk History. That’s all I’ve got.

  23. bella says:

    I think she is still not over her break up with Chris and is still hurt. She is exactly like that girl who can’t stop thinking/talking about her ex. I saw Gifted and I loved both of them in it! She was darling in it and I look forward to seeing her in more movies

  24. Maria Urena says:

    So, the saga of diarrhea of the Jenny-mouth-Slate continues.

  25. Maria Urena says:

    Did she get a nose job?

  26. Tat says:

    She talks more about her ex bf who she dated for months than about her ex husband with who she was for 10 years. But wait, her ex husband is a director nobody knows. She is not just being candid or honest. She is using her ex bf name to call attention for herself. The MC interview was posted in many sites mentioning her quotes about Evans. The same for the Vulture interview and others. Her name is everywhere as soon as she mentions his. She knows what she is doing and is using him to cave more space in the media and she wants to do whatever she wants and not be criticized about it. Not that i fell bad for Evans. That’s what happens when you decide to f*ck a costar who can’t shut her month.