Moby has cancelled his upcoming UK book tour, only a week after he was branded “creepy” for claiming that he once dated Natalie Portman.
The influential dance producer was due to promote his autobiography Then It Fell Apart with appearances in the coming week at the Hay Literary Festival, London’s EartH, Manchester’s Martin Harris Centre and Dublin’s Liberty Hall Theatre.
But a note on his official website has since confirmed that the tour won’t go ahead. “moby is canceling all upcoming public appearances for the foreseeable future,” the website reads. “we apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. all tickets will be refunded at the point of purchase, and moby is happy to provide signed bookplates to everyone who bought tickets to these events.”
Controversy surrounded the book after an excerpt featuring Moby’s contentious account of his apparent relationship with Portman was shared online.
Moby also posted on his Instagram account yesterday, saying he would “go away for a while”. “But before I do I want to apologise again, and to say clearly that all of this has been my own fault,” he wrote in the post. “I am the one who released the book without showing it to the people I wrote about. I’m the one who posted defensively and arrogantly. I’m the one who behaved inconsiderately and disrespectfully, both in 2019 and in 1999.
“There is obviously no one else to blame but me. Thank you, and I’m sorry. Moby.”
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The book features a section in which the musician recounts taking Natalie Portman for a drink and, later, kissing her while visiting her at Harvard. Portman has since refuted claims that she was involved in a romantic relationship with the star, saying she found it “disturbing” that false stories were being used to promote the book.
Portman said in a statement: “I was surprised to hear that he characterised the very short time that I knew him as dating because my recollection is a much older man being creepy with me when I just had graduated high school.”
In turn, Moby then responded to the actor’s comments, saying: “I recently read a gossip piece wherein Natalie Portman said that we’d never dated. This confused me, as we did, in fact, date. And after briefly dating in 1999 we remained friends for years.
“I like Natalie, and I respect her intelligence and activism. But, to be honest, I can’t figure out why she would actively misrepresent the truth about our (albeit brief) involvement. The story as laid out in my book Then It Fell Apart is accurate, with lots of corroborating photo evidence, etc.”
After days of criticism and reflection, Moby then apologised “to Natalie, as well as the other people I wrote about in Then It Fell Apart without telling them beforehand.”
“I tried to treat everyone I included in Then It Fell Apart with dignity and respect, but nonetheless it was truly inconsiderate for me to not let them know before the book was released,” Moby said in an Instagram post, which accompanied an image featuring the words “from moby, an apology” over a plain white backdrop.
“I have a lot of admiration for Natalie, for her intelligence, creativity, and animal rights activism, and I hate that I might have caused her and her family distress,” Moby said of the actor.
He added: “Also I accept that given the dynamic of our almost 14 year age difference I absolutely should’ve acted more responsibly and respectfully when Natalie and I first met almost 20 years ago.”
The same book also saw him claiming that he once rubbed his penis on Donald Trump at a New York party.