Rare Comments Margaret Qualley Has Made About Her Love Story With Jack Antonoff

Margaret Qualley and Jack Antonoff announced their separation on July 8, 2026, in an exclusive with People. The couple first met in 2021 and married in August 2023 at a star-studded reception in Long Beach Island, New Jersey. Fun fact: Taylor Swift wore an inappropriate dress to Antonoff and Qualley's wedding that she might never live down. Many online felt Swift's dress was too close to a bridal white, but maybe Swift was just manifesting her own wedding, which would happen three years later.

More recently, astute fans noticed signs of trouble between Qualley and Antonoff. Qualley didn't join Antonoff at Swift and Travis Kelce's wedding on July 3, 2026, in New York City, and Antonoff attended the big event with his designer sister, Rachel Antonoff, as his plus one. Other guests arrived at Swift's wedding, many with vintage looks that completely stunned, including Antonoff's ex, Lena Dunham. But Qualley wasn't one of the lucky attendees. Noting more trouble in paradise, fans also noticed that Qualley deleted many of their photos together, particularly their wedding photos, from Instagram. An insider told People that their marriage had been 'rocky,' particularly with Antonoff away on his Bleachers Forever tour and Qualley busy with her horror film, "Possession." But things weren't always bad between them, and Qualley has opened up many times about how she felt about her and Antonoff's love story.

Before meeting Jack Antonoff, Margaret Qualley had a series of high-profile relationships. In 2019, she dated Pete Davidson, and while their relationship was brief, the two remained friendly afterward. Then in December 2020, Qualley connected with Shia LaBeouf, who was married to Mia Goth at the time. Shortly after rumors began about their relationship, FKA Twigs came forward with accusations of abuse from LaBeouf. An insider told Us Weekly that Qualley's mother, Andie MacDowell, was very concerned about the relationship, and Qualley and LaBeouf split shortly after.

Finally, Qualley began dating Antonoff in August 2021, and the relationship took off from there. It was clearly a source of happiness for many years, because as recently as March 2026, Qualley gushed about Antonoff in an interview with Vanity Fair. "I've always been very love-oriented," Qualley said. "I've always been looking for my person, and I met Jack." For a time, at least, something about their bond was fulfilling. 

While Margaret Qualley could be quite reticent about her relationship with Jack Antonoff, she uncharacteristically spilled the beans during an interview with Cosmopolitan in August 2025. It was clear from the get-go that the relationship was different. "Falling in love with Jack was the biggest feeling I've ever felt," Qualley said. She explained that they met just as the COVID-19 lockdown was abating and that their fledgling courtship was made up mostly of walks around the city.

When asked who said "I love you" first, Qualley said that Antonoff did. "I'm very old-school about stuff like this," she went on. "I would never put myself out there first. I never text twice." Qualley joked that once she and Antonoff were married, she texted him all the time, calling him her 'human diary'. But in the early days of their relationship, Qualley followed old-school dating advice. "[B]efore we were together, at the beginning, I would always follow Southern girl etiquette." Touchingly, Qualley admitted that in previous relationships, she had always struggled with loneliness because she wasn't with the right person. Once she found Antonoff, that went away.

For an actor like Margaret Qualley, settling down isn't always the easiest thing. With work all over the world, Qualley didn't have a place to put roots down and was left feeling restless. But when she met Jack Antonoff, the feeling changed. "Until about a month before I met Jack, I never had any furniture," Qualley told Harper's Bazaar in September 2023. "I would always have these shi**y little apartments and move around from one place to another with a mattress on the floor and an Ikea lamp. I never made a home at all. I didn't care; I cared about movies."

Qualley explained that when Antonoff came into her life, she felt a new desire to invest in a home space. "It's really exciting now to be making a home and to have something to care for." When the topic shifted to having children, Qualley said that she was open to it, but wanted to give it time. It's a worthwhile thing to talk about, and luckily, there are options for having kids if a person wants to wait. Of course, Qualley and Antonoff split before they ever got to that point, but the topic of children was certainly something that came up. 

Margaret Qualley admitted to occasionally struggling with confidence on set, and has dealt with these nerves ever since she started acting as a teenager. "I felt like if I was fully myself, women would hate me and men would hurt me. And so that took away some of the tools that come with being a woman because I was scared," Qualley told Vanity Fair in February 2026.

But time and love helped heal that insecurity. Qualley said that she grew into a stronger version of herself as a woman. "I can kind of lean more into the sensual and the feminine," she added, partially crediting Antonoff for this growth. "Jack has helped me for sure, because he has made me feel more confident to explore all the parts of myself," Qualley went on. The right partner can work wonders on the ability to take risks and be bold in one's artistic expression. During the interview, Qualley also waxed poetic about all of the things she loves in her life, and one of the key things was 'anything Jack writes'. Clearly, they were both supportive of each other's careers and, considering their mutual success, that love and encouragement paid dividends.