Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Make a Passover gift and support Jewish journalism. DONATE NOW
The Schmooze

Lena Dunham’s Jewish Boyfriend

Lena Dunham, creator of ‘Girls,’ is canoodling with Jack Antonoff, the Jewish guitarist for Fun. According to an upcoming issue of US Weekly, leaked to the New York Post, the two are trying to keep it a secret. “They have a good time when they can get together,” a source told the magazine.

Antonoff is a rising indie darling; his band is best known for its anthem “We Are Young.” According to an interview with HEEB, he attended the Solomon Schechter Day School until the 8th grade, and then transferred to public school where he was teased mercilessly for being gay (he’s not), an experience that made him a vocal supporter of gay rights.

“I think all the stereotypes about us are true,” Antonoff said of being Jewish. “I think there’s a Jewish perspective on life that’s rather unique, which I find fairly beautiful and some people find completely annoying…it’s like an in-built skepticism. I’m also looking at scenarios from just about every angle and sometimes thinking about how things could go wrong.”

That Dunham would date an indie rocker is no surprise; her ‘Girls’ character, Hanna Horvath — a caricature of Dunham — has a penchant for moody artist types. But Dunham with Antonoff? There’s no cooler couple to sell the youngsters on Jewish continuity.

(For a glimpse of Antonoff in his pre-Dunham days, check out this photo of Fiona Apple kissing him. What’s with that bleached hair?)

This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.

We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.

This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.

With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.

The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:

  • Credit the Forward
  • Retain our pixel
  • Preserve our canonical link in Google search
  • Add a noindex tag in Google search

See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.