Is Amy Poehler gay? Russian Doll a ‘love letter’ from Natasha Lyonne

During a joint interview with TODAY’s Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager yesterday, Natasha Lyonne described Russian doll as a “love letter” to Amy Poehler – is Poehler gay, or was it meant simply as an expression of their longstanding friendship?

Is Amy Poehler gay?

No – at least, she doesn’t appear to be. Canadian actress, comedian, writer, director and producer Amy Poehler spent 13 years married to fellow comedy actor (and Canadian) Will Arnett. They met in 1996 and started dating four years later.

They separated in 2012, although they didn’t formally divorce until 2016. Meanwhile, Poehler dated another comedian, Nick Kroll, from 2013 to 2015.

Poehler and Arnett have two sons, Archie and Abel, born 2008 and 2010 respectively. They live in Los Angeles. 

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Amy Poehler is also unabashedly feminist. The Hollywood Reporter wrote in 2019 that she was “building a Hollywood empire with subversive feminist hits”. 

The piece also quotes Tina Fey as saying, of Poehler, that she is “taking the work of the women of early SNL […] to the next natural progression of being proactively, actively feminist in her work”.

But she has talked about having a ‘soft butch’ aesthetic and is outspoken in her support for LGBTQ people

Amy Poehler co-founded Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls with producer Meredith Walker. The organisation strives to help young people “cultivate their authentic selves”. Read more here.

She also joked, during a “gay wine buddies” conversation with Rachel Dratch, about having a “soft butch” aesthetic. Read a transcript of their interview here.

Finally, Amy Poehler drew praise from LGBTQ people for what the San Francisco Chronicle called her “gayest” set at Clusterfest 2019. 

Audience members celebrated Poehler “using her headline set to showcase gay and trans female comics”.

Another tweeted that she gave most of her platform to LGBT women and women of colour, and “spoke and sang about women’s reproductive rights”.

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What did Natasha Lyonne say that made people wonder about Amy Poehler’s sexuality?

Natasha Lyonne co-created Russian doll with Leslye Leadland and Amy Poehler. 

During a TV interview with TODAY’s Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager yesterday (20 April 2022), Lyonne described Russian Doll as a “love letter” to Poehler.

“I know that it sounds weird”, she said. “But I mean more on an emotional level. We’ve created this show together – of course, co-created. … I want us to feel proud of it, so as we’re making it, I’m always just so blown away and moved that you believed enough in me and in us that we could make this thing.”

“Amy is such a deep dive human being”, Lyonne continued. “So yeah, I just want to live up to that.”

So, her heartfelt tribute to her longstanding friend and writing partner refers to them building show together, and cultivating their friendship, rather than any sort of romantic relationship.

Watch the full segment below.

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Bruno Cooke

Bruno is a novelist, amateur screenwriter and journalist with interests in digital media, storytelling, film and politics. He’s lived in France, China, Sri Lanka and the Philippines, but returned to the UK for a degree (and because of the pandemic) in 2020. His articles have appeared in Groundviews, Forge Press and The Friday Poem, and most are readable on Medium or onurbicycle.com.