How Natasha Lyonne Dealt With Her Fred Armisen Breakup

Everyone handles a relationship falling apart differently. Some people turn to yoga to get over a breakup, and others — like actor, director, and writer Natasha Lyonne — enter a new "era" of life. According to Glamour, Lyonne and Fred Armisen started dating sometime after their mutual friend Maya Rudolph connected them. Armisen and Lyonne's relationship was confirmed in 2014, when an insider that spotted them at a Netflix event said they, "shared kisses and were very cozy together" (via People). 

DailyMail.com shared photos in 2021 of Lyonne with an unidentified man, sparking speculation she and Armisen were through. Lyonne confirmed their split to The Hollywood Reporter in April 2022. She said, "I honestly think we broke up because I wanted a swimming pool. We love each other just about as much as two people can love each other and we're still talking all the time, but Freddy doesn't like a swimming pool." (Lyonne did achieve her goal of having a pool post-breakup.) Shortly after telling the world she and Armisen called it quits, Lyonne told Entertainment Weekly she was in a "divorced dad era."

"I live a pretty no-dependence lifestyle, and I like it that way," the "Russian Doll" actor said. "I just want to do my workaholism and have my weekend — and have some yacht rock and weird parties." Lyonne also mentioned how she doesn't understand people wasting their lives "worrying about the dumbest s*** ever," so it seems that she wasn't too brokenhearted by the breakup. 

Although Fred Armisen and Natasha Lyonne were never married, he was married twice before, first to Sally Timms and then to Elisabeth Moss (via Us Weekly). Armisen admitted he was not a good partner, and Moss even criticized him following their relationship breaking down. However, Lyonne never shared similar statements of her own about Armisen. In fact, she and Armisen seemed to get along just fine following their breakup and worked together afterward. 

When Lyonne hosted "Saturday Night Live" in May 2022, Armisen and Maya Rudolph appeared during Lyonne's opening monologue. The comedians did their best Lyonne impressions — which featured some grumbling and New York accents — before exiting. Lyonne then took the opportunity to playfully make a dig at her and Armisen: "You know, Freddy and I, we dated for seven years. Yeah, we're the only couple that had a sex tape that nobody wanted to buy."

The exes also appeared together in a sketch called "Cigarette Show." Lyonne played a co-host on a pro-smoking show on public access television, and Armisen played one of the tourists from France being interviewed. It proved that Lyonne and Armisen can not only still be friends, they can also still collaborate comedically — which they did while dating when Lyonne acted in a handful of episodes of Armisen's comedy "Portlandia."

Natasha Lyonne doesn't often hold back. When they were together, Lyonne shared her love of Fred Armisen in interviews. While divulging details about a salacious evening that almost took place between her and other actors from Netflix shows, Lyonne commended Armisen for his open-minded attitude about it. "This is an A1 winner boyfriend," Lyonne told Conan O'Brien at the time. "You know what I mean? This is a really top-notch guy" (via YouTube). When O'Brien flashed a panicked-looking photo of Armisen for everyone to see, Lyonne said, "That's my baby!"

Lyonne has moved on, however, as she was seen with that same unidentified man from 2021 again in July 2022 (via DailyMail.com). In an interview from around the time her show "Poker Face" premiered in 2023, Lyonne was candid about the realities of her dating life: "A lot of the guys I'm seeing at the moment are talking to me about marriage and kids and I'm like, 'Calm down, b***h, I'm just sleeping with you!'" (via The Standard). 

There's no confirmation of a new romance for Lyonne since, but according to Just Jared, she was photographed with producer Bryn Mooser at the 2024 Golden Globes. Lyonne and Mooser were photographed at HBO's post-Emmy's party that same year too (via Getty Images). Hopefully, any new love for Lyonne adores a swimming pool as much as she does.