Rachel Bilson later clarified that she was not saying the breakup itself was worse than giving birth. She was describing the isolation and difficult circumstances around a pandemic-era split: she was caring for her child, unable to connect with other people, and had fallen into a depression. The original 2022 headline compressed that wider experience into a comparison with childbirth.
What did Rachel Bilson mean by “harder than childbirth”?
Bilson spoke about the breakup on Broad Ideas, in a conversation with Mandy Moore. She described being unable to leave her house and having to sit with and process what had happened in isolation. Vanity Fair’s June 17, 2022, report quoted her saying: “If you actually face it, you can come out of it and be like, ‘OK, I did that and I’m ready for the next thing.’” Vanity Fair’s report
In a 2024 Call Her Daddy appearance, Bilson revisited the widely repeated comparison and supplied more context. She said she was alone, caring for her child, isolated from other people, and unable to help herself; she had also gotten into a depression. In her clarification, the childbirth comparison referred to facing all those circumstances during the pandemic—not to ranking the breakup itself against childbirth. The transcript of Bilson’s 2024 appearance
When did Bilson and Hader date?
Us Weekly’s retrospective says the pair were first linked in fall 2019. They appeared together publicly at the Golden Globes in January 2020, and reports placed their split in July 2020. Vanity Fair also noted their Golden Globes appearance and that they had broken up by July. Us Weekly’s relationship timeline · Vanity Fair’s report
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Bilson confirmed in a June 2022 episode of Broad Ideas with Aubrey Plaza that she and Hader had dated, and that she went to the Golden Globes with him. Apple Podcasts lists her later Call Her Daddy appearance as episode 333, published February 23, 2024. Apple Podcasts episode listing
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What is known about the breakup—and what is not?
The public timeline establishes that their relationship was reported to have lasted only several months, and Bilson’s comments describe how she experienced that period. They do not establish why the couple separated. The pandemic explains the isolation she described; it is not evidence of the couple’s private reasons for ending the relationship.
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