Michelle Williams ‘finally at peace’ with new boyfriend Jonathan Safran Foer

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Since Heath Ledger passed away, Michelle Williams has actually had a number of serious boyfriends. This wouldn’t bother me whatsoever, except that the press around Michelle usually makes it seem like she’s lived in a nunnery for six years. Post-Heath, Michelle seriously dated Spike Jonze, Cary Fukunaga, Jason Segel and Dustin Yellin. The thing with Dustin Yellin only ended about three or four months ago and according to Us Weekly, Michelle has a new boyfriend… a boyfriend who split up with his wife last year. Hm.

Turning a new page! Sources reveal in the new issue of Us Weekly that Michelle Williams and author Jonathan Safran Foer are dating.

“They knew each other through mutual friends,” one insider says of the Brooklyn-based pair. “I’m not surprised that Michelle is attracted to him. She loves books. She reads almost every day!”

Indeed, the My Week With Marilyn star, 34, once told Nylon that her love of books was “consuming, or isolating, I guess.” She even admitted she had “walls in my apartment made of books.” Adds the insider: “They’re two people in the same mind-set.”

Safran Foer, 38, who wrote Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, was previously married to fellow author Nicole Krauss, with whom he split in 2014. The former couple share two children. And Williams famously dated Jason Segel, Spike Jonze, and the late Heath Ledger.

The Brokeback Mountain costars welcomed daughter Matilda in 2005. Now 9, the youngster is Williams’ main priority. In March, the actress told Elle UK that she’s “so good at raising a kid” when she’s not working. “I don’t forget anything. I’ve got everything covered.”

According to a second source, everything for Williams is coming full circle. “With Jonathan, Michelle looks finally at peace and genuinely happy.”

[From Us Weekly]

I had to look it up – in June 2014, Foer and Krauss announced their split and said that they had actually been separated for a year. So… there’s nothing shady going on there, at least on Michelle’s end. She met a recently divorced dude (is he divorced though?) and they’re dating. It’s interesting, I guess, to note that Michelle’s taste in men is pretty hipster-y. She likes Cool Guys Who Live In Brooklyn, she likes Artists Who Understand Light, she enjoys A Man With An Ironic Beard. Most of all, she loves Men Who Write Words.

Here are some photos of Foer and Krauss in happier times. They really were the “literary power couple.”

Photos courtesy of WENN, Getty.

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89 Responses to “Michelle Williams ‘finally at peace’ with new boyfriend Jonathan Safran Foer”

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  1. silken_floss says:

    I always get her and Cary Mulligan mixed up. They seem so interchangeable. Bland *shrugs*

    • Franca says:

      I don’t see the similarity. They are both stunning and amazing actresses ( although I find Carey a bit better), but not that similar.

      • Bridget says:

        They share a similar aesthetic and typically both have a very composed look on the red carpet. Personally I never really made the connection before, but I can see it. Though I prefer Carey, especially since I’m not a huge fan of Michelle’s work (her movies tend toward the depressing).

      • Kitten says:

        Oooh Franca! We agree on something 🙂
        *high fives*

      • Franca says:

        Do we usually not agree, Kitten?

        :high fives:

      • Grant says:

        I think Carey is the definition of basic. Michelle, however, is otherworldly and magnificent.

    • Froggy says:

      I thought she was Claire Danes in the header pic.

    • bns says:

      Michelle is more interesting imo

  2. InvaderTak says:

    I wish she’d come to terms with her hair color. Not flattering

  3. Tiffany27 says:

    I didn’t know he and Krauss split. Aww that sucks.

  4. Eleonor says:

    I am over this “poor poor sad widow” pr thing about her…

    • Miller621 says:

      I have never taken it as that, she was already broken up with Heath when he died. I blame the press not her PR team.

      • Lori says:

        Yes, I’d put most of it on the press too and that they have a child together. If it hadn’t been for their daughter I don’t think the press would have taken that tone with her.

      • littlestar says:

        She definitely milked the widow thing, it wasn’t just the press (although the press was a big part of it too). I recall interviews of her where she coyly eluded to being a grieving widow.

      • Eleonor says:

        ” I cut it for the one straight man who has ever liked short hair and I wear it in memorial of somebody who really loved it” that’ s what she used to say in 2011, to me that’s painting herself as the grieving widow.

  5. savu says:

    This is super rude, but I totally expected him to be hotter. Or at least I was hoping for it! Oh well. Girl, you do you.

    • Abbott says:

      Psssh but he’s a literary supernova. If you don’t believe me, just ask him.

      • Kiddo says:

        ^hee hee hee^

      • delphi says:

        *snort* So true. He doth believe-eth his own hype. But “Everything Is Illuminated” is my literary jam…being of Russian/Ukrainian descent, it’s like someone followed members of my family around. So good.

      • belle de jour says:

        You’re not kidding… although you could easily coax a 10,000 word essay from him on the subject.

  6. Kitten says:

    I approve! I love Michelle and I’m happy for her–they’re really cute together.
    Segal always seemed douchey.

    • blue marie says:

      Me too! And whoever scolded me the other day, she does look good with long hair as well, I stand corrected..

    • JKL says:

      You should listen to his recent episode of the WTF podcast. He comes across as a very thoughtful, relaxed man. And it seems the breakup with her led to him becoming sober.

      • Bridget says:

        There’s a lot that I like about Jason Segel, and I really hope he’s cleaned himself up. He went full-LA for a while. You knew it was bad when he was partying with Lindsay Lohan.

      • Kitten says:

        I’ll do that. I’m collecting podcasts like crazy these days and was actually just looking at the WTF podcast this AM since it’s one of the more popular ones.
        Thanks for the rec!

    • Celebwatch says:

      At least Segel was single, and there was a rumor he was willing to adopt her daughter, which I think is a really sweet gesture. This guy JSF who used to write glowingly about his wife with two kids… blech.

  7. Hawkeye says:

    I didn’t know that she dated Cary Fukunaga. That man is, pardon me, the Sex.

    • Kate says:

      +1 agree

    • jammypants says:

      YES!

    • lila fowler says:

      I LOVE HIM. The trailer for his new movie, Beasts of No Nation, hit the web today. Looks amazing.

    • Shambles says:

      I had never heard of this Cary Fukunaga until I googled him 30 seconds ago. No pardoning necessary, because that man is, indeed, the sex. Tbh, I said “holy sh!t” out loud as soon as I saw the first photo, and now my cat is mad at me for disturbing him. But lord, those LIPS. I am a sucker for a manly manly man man with pretty lips.

    • littlestar says:

      Oh gahd yes, Cary Fukunaga is soooo f’ing hot!!!

  8. minx says:

    Hate the platinum hair.

    • Kiddo says:

      It’s a bit much, I give you that, especially with the very very dark brown eyes and pale skin.

      • Kitten says:

        I actually love the contrast. I realize that I’m in the minority but I love dark eyes/very light hair or light eyes/very dark hair.

      • Kiddo says:

        For me, it depends. In her case, mostly, all you see is the hair, which registers as abundantly fake, if that makes sense. It somehow detracts from noticing her features, except where she had much more colorful make-up on in the second photo.

      • MildredFierce says:

        her eyes are green towards hazel green. Not dark brown.

  9. Starrywonder says:

    Am I jerk for laughing when the line said Michelle loves books, she reads every day? Um so do I. Doesn’t mean I am uber intelligent and somehow understand life more deeply than others. She is so try hard it’s sad.

    • PrettyBlueFox says:

      If you’re a jerk then so am I, because I had the same reaction. That was just so random.

    • raptor says:

      ALMOST every day.

    • AmandaPanda says:

      Even better, it was that she reads ALMOST every day.

      that made me giggle. it’s like the lady was being supersarcastic and was about to go on to say “like, she reads the side of milk cartons, and vogue, and the Hollywood reporter. she’s amazing!”

    • WillowS says:

      I had the same thought-it made me laugh. I didn’t know that reading every day (or “almost every day”) was so unique. I read every day so I guess I’m super special lol. Ridiculous.

  10. Shambles says:

    Laughing my ass of over “A Man With An Ironic Beard.” I know a few of those. There’s this guy I see out at the square sometimes (I live in a pretty college-y town), and he looks like the physical embodiment of a Mumford and Sons song.

    As far as Michelle goes, I’m glad she’s happy and at peace. However, I am a die-hard, unapologetic Heath stan. She’s said that he always loved her short hair, so it makes me feel a bit melancholy to see her growing it out. RIP Heath. That said, of course she deserves to move on and grow in her own life, and I wish her all the best.

    • Kitten says:

      I’m continually amazed by how unfair people were to her and continue to be in the wake of Heath’s death. Really disgusting to see. Whether they were together or not at the time of his death is irrelevant, he’s the father of her only child FFS.

      Additionally, it was super-sweet to hear Jake Gylenhall get emotional and pensive about Heath’s passing during his Fresh Air interview. I don’t think I realized how incredibly close those two were and I think Heath’s death really affected him in the sense that Heath was his peer and a very talented actor as well.

      • Shambles says:

        Several weeks ago when we were talking about Jared Leto’s joker, I ended up going on a YouTube spree, and I watched the moment when Heath won best supporting actor post-mortem. Everyone in the room was so obviously emotional, even Angie and Brad, and I ended up crying my eyes out. That lead to me watching a clip of Christian Bale breaking down at an awards show after seeing some footage of Heath as the Joker, and I cried my eyes out some more. It really is touching to see how many of his peers truly loved the man.

      • Bridget says:

        It sounds like filming Brokeback Mountain was an intense experience for all involved – Jake and Heath ended up close enough that he was Matilda’s godfather.

        As for the rest, I have no idea. Heath died just before folks were getting comfortable with quietly trashing Michelle in the wake of their breakup, so the mud wasn’t really slung (though did anyone ever read the Vanity Fair article right around the time he died, interviewing all the Parnassis folks? It was very “poor sad Heath who Michelle won’t fly their kid around the world to see him”) but there were definitely some mud pies at the ready.

      • Jonathan says:

        I’m Australian and we have an irrational national hatred of Michelle for breaking Our Heath’s heart (it doesn’t matter to us if this is not actually what happened).

        I think also Heath & Michelle and their relationship are so closely linked to their characters’ relationship in Brokeback Mountain for a lot of people and Michelle’s character in that movie can be viewed as what kept Ennis and Jack apart in a way, so a lot of people hate Michelle for that, too. Absurd, I know.

      • Georgey Boy says:

        Nah Jonathan….im Australuan mate!! and I lived in Brooklyn. And my wife met Michelle a few times. I don’t hate Michelle. My heart is truly broken for her and for Matilda (as a father myself) who suffered great home-sickness when i was based in NY. The annual plane trip back to Oz to visit the ex In-Laws must be painful as hell for all involved. She can play the widow card all she likes with me. If I was deranged id stalk her and marry her out of sympathy. Regrettably, I’m sane. So I’m not gunna do that….

    • Birdix says:

      I was walking through a hipster part of San Francisco a few winters ago and caught a young, hip guy admiring my sweater, smiling approvingly, the whole nine-yards. It took me a minute to figure out he thought I was wearing it ironically. Norm core was my last great hope of fooling anyone into thinking I’m fashionable.

  11. Dani says:

    I don’t see the hype about her and I don’t get the saint-like persona everyone keeps painting her in. She likes weird hipsters from Williamsburg, basically.

  12. Colette says:

    This is funny when I see the name Michelle Williams, I think of the singer from Destiny’s Child.I never think about this actress.
    That’s all

  13. Lana says:

    I’m so tired of the “poor little wounded white Michelle Williams” narrative.

    And Foer’s books are freaking insufferable.

    • PrettyBlueFox says:

      “Everything is Illuminated” is my go-to example of a movie vastly improving on its source book.

      • Franca says:

        I loved the book too, but Eugene Hutz and Elijah Wood were amazing in the movie.

      • Michelle says:

        I agree Franca. I’m a fan of his books, but I also loved the movie version of “Everything is Illuminated.”

      • minime says:

        really? I loved the book but I could barely watch the movie till the end…there were shifts in the story and most of the little innuendos that made the story big were left out. I really disliked it.

    • meme says:

      ^This

  14. Kiddo says:

    She looks particularly lovely in this photo: http://www.celebitchy.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/wenn22294905.jpg , is it recent? I always think she is very attractive, but not a stand-out in Hollywood, however, in that photo she is captivatingly beautiful. I know that was shallow, but I don’t know her, so who she dates doesn’t matter. None of her men seemed especially horrible, although they had flaws, some serious.

  15. gatinhaXoXO says:

    Weren’t her and Heath already broken up at the time of his death?

    • Starrywonder says:

      yes they were. And it’s ignored by everyone since she acts like she is his widow.

      • Kate says:

        They had a young child together. It’s not like she was just some random ex, his death affected her child’s life and therefore hers.

    • stinky says:

      … not to mention the child looks JUST LIKE DADDY.

  16. OhDear says:

    “She loves books. She reads almost every day!” Hahahahahaha

    This is such a precious and Brooklyn pairing. Hope they’re happy, though.

  17. kai says:

    Ben Affleck is banging the nanny and Michelle Williams dating Jonathan Safran foer… /shrugs.yawns.

  18. Franca says:

    I read Everything is Illuminated and loved it. The movie was also quite good ( I saw it mainly because if Eugene Hutz).

  19. Tiffany says:

    Goes to show while talented, the only thing interesting about her is that she dated and had a child with Heath Ledger.

    She might say that she enjoys her privacy and it above PR, but that is crap. Someone in her camp releases these stories so we are reminded she is around.

    • Bridget says:

      Are we really going to knock Michelle for not being as interesting as her ex that passed away from drug related issues? She seems like a normal, functioning adult. Is that a bad thing?

      • Kitten says:

        +1,000,000

        In addition to being a fantastic and underrated actress, Michelle never liked the spotlight and always tried to keep a low-profile even when she was in a high-profile relationship. But let’s ignore all that and drag her because of the media’s obsession with her relationship with Heath. Tabloid rags created that martyr image of Michelle–she never wanted that or signed up for it. She didn’t even want to talk about Heath in interviews, but begrudgingly did so on a few occasions. She threw the media a bone in hopes of them leaving her alone for a while.

        Let’s not blame Michelle for things she can’t control ok guys?

      • Bridget says:

        In the best way possible, she’s not a particularly interesting celebrity, so I figure that when she does have something big to promote (like My Week With Marilyn) it’s part of the bargaining package to get the covers and interviews to promote. And she’s been around the business for a long, long time and likely understands that. Magazines and blogs first and foremost need to have some sort of hook to get readers, and “Michelle talks about Heath” sounds way more interesting than “Michelle used the Marilyn voice at home with her daughter”. It’s just how stuff works.

  20. minime says:

    I love him!! His books are all kinds of awesome 😀 She’s a lucky lady 🙂

  21. doofus says:

    no comments on that terrible denim dress?

    OK, I’ll be the first. UGGO.

  22. Andrea says:

    I like this pairing and I hope she finds happiness. Underappreciated actress IMO.

  23. Laura says:

    Michelle Williams is gorgeous and seems to be a very private/dignified lady. I think she is classy and immensely talented. Love her!

  24. Michelle says:

    I have no issues with Michelle. The more surprising thing here for me is that Foer and Krauss are divorced.

    I’m a huge fan of Foer’s books, especially “Everything is Illuminated,” and the movie was great also.

  25. Gabriela says:

    I almost died when I read this! hahaha his former wife Nicole Krauss is my cousin’s sister in law!
    Small world after all 🙂

  26. strah says:

    She READS books, he WRITES books! This strikes me as an odd way to frame this relationship. Like, wow, what a rare occurrence.

  27. The New Classic says:

    I live in upstate New York and was in a nearly empty restaurant a few years ago when another dinner party walked in. There was a little girl with the party who was just adorable, and as I looked at her, I thought to myself “OMG, that looks just like Matilda… OMG, that IS Matilda!” So I casually looked around to see if Michelle was there too. She was, and I will never forget how tiny and almost delicate she was, and how GORGEOUS her skin is. Also, it was just me, my aunt and the wait staff there in the restaurant at the time, but the two other people in her party literally had her almost barricaded between them until she sat down in a booth. I’m not the kind of person to ask for an autograph or try to sneak a pic and it just struck me as so sad that they felt they had to take those kinds of measures in a nearly empty restaurant in BumTheFuckville Upstate New York. Every time I see an article about her or a pic of her that’s all I can think of.

    **But seriously though, I almost wish I had gotten over my shyness to try to ask about her skincare regime. When I say she glowed, I mean she freaking GLOWED. I’d gladly pay for whatever expensive product/treatment she shilled.

  28. littlestar says:

    My friend has recently been binge watching Dawson’s Creek and we were both reminiscing about how we loved Michelle Williams on that show. She was somehow more relatable than all the other characters.

  29. elle_gr says:

    immm, this is pretty unexpected couple for me. This guy is pretty famous in my mind, at least in Bucharest there have always been fantastic campaigns for his books and I think he’s a pretty good writer. Good for them

  30. S says:

    Who knew the annoying blonde chick in Dawson’s Creek would turn into this.