AceShowbiz - Moby has opened up about the long-standing disagreement between himself and Natalie Portman regarding their past interactions in 1999. The controversy stems from his 2019 memoir Then It Fell Apart, where he claimed to have briefly dated the actress when he was 33 and she was 18. Portman strongly denied this, describing their connection very differently.

In the memoir, Moby described a short-lived relationship, but Natalie Portman publicly refuted this version soon after. In a 2019 interview with Harper’s Bazaar UK, she said she was surprised by his claim, recalling instead that he acted in a way that felt inappropriate due to their age difference. She stated that their acquaintance began after one of his concerts, where he proposed they could be friends. Portman emphasized that they only spent a few occasions together before she distanced herself because she felt uncomfortable with his advances.

Reflecting on the situation in a February 2024 interview with The Times, Moby admitted, "It's hard for me to make sense of it." When asked if their dispute had become a "sour episode between two people who seem decent," he responded that he did not disagree with that characterization, demonstrating a more tempered perspective than in the past.

Following Portman’s denial, Moby publicly apologized via Instagram. He acknowledged that including her in his memoir without prior notice was inconsiderate and that he failed to respect her reaction. He expressed admiration for her intelligence, creativity, and activism, and regretted any distress caused to her or her family.

He also addressed their 14-year age gap, admitting that he should have behaved more responsibly and respectfully when they first met nearly 20 years earlier. Despite these acknowledgments, Moby maintained in a 2021 interview with The Guardian that he would not describe his behavior as "creepy," though he conceded he was an out-of-control alcoholic and drug addict at the time, which contributed to selfish and inconsiderate actions.