CULTURE

Lenny Kravitz Is the Chillest Ex in Hollywood

From matching friendship rings to glowing praise of his former flings, Lenny Kravitz is a master of postrelationship etiquette.


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Lenny Kravitz is a bona fide rock star with a relaxed sensibility. (Taking up residence in the Bahamas typically indicates that one is at a point in his life where he is ready to take things easy). He is also the chillest ex in Hollywood that anyone could ever ask for, and his mastery of postrelationship etiquette proves it.

No one seems to handle breakups quite like Kravitz. Many people already know that Kravitz was married to actress Lisa Bonet from 1987 to 1993, and the two share a daughter, Zoë Kravitz. While coparenting from opposite coasts throughout the majority of the ’90s and early 2000s, the two have come to an amicable agreement that not only are they cool with one another (last year Kravitz told Mr. Porter that they have stayed “best friends”), but Kravitz is cool with Bonet’s husband, Jason Momoa, star of Aquaman and Game of Thrones. The musician visited Momoa at 30 Rock while he hosted Saturday Night Live in December, and the actor demonstrated his brotherly love for Kravitz by giving him the gift of a “bone skull ring” designed by a skull carver. Wearing matching friendship rings with your ex-wife’s new man? That’s more than just a sign of maturity—it’s a sign of brotherhood.

While Kravitz’s marriage to Bonet was highly publicized and remains a talking point for both parties on the late-night talk show circuit, he remains silent about his once paparazzi-heavy romance with French musician Vanessa Paradis. (The two were a couple from 1992 to 1997, and he produced her self-titled third album.) Sometimes silence is the most respectful way to handle a relationship after it’s fizzled, especially one that’s been over for more than two decades.

Lenny Kravitz and Vanessa Paradis in Paris.

Bertrand Rindoff Petroff/Getty Images

A lot of people forget about Kravitz’s relationship with Nicole Kidman and the fact that they were once engaged to be married, likely because they managed to keep it somewhat secret at the time. During an appearance on Watch What Happens Live, Kravitz was asked by a caller why his relationship with Kidman didn’t work out back in the day. (The two dated from 2002 to 2003.) “Some things just don’t work, but the wonderful thing is that we’re all friends,” he replied. In a 2007 interview with Vanity Fair, Kidman chalked up the end of that relationship to the fact that they simply “weren’t ready” to get married, and she ended up finding love with Keith Urban in 2006 anyway.

That same caller, however, did ask how Kravitz felt about his daughter appearing on Big Little Lies with Kidman, but really, things aren’t awkward between the two at all. “I thought it was very interesting that they ended up on the same show and Zoë hadn’t seen Nicole since she was younger,” Kravitz said. “It was beautiful that they got to know each other as adults and make this great show together,” he continued.

In 2017, Kidman spoke about her pre-Big Little Lies relationship with Zoë to The Edit, saying, “Well, I knew Zoë because I was engaged to her father. It’s all in the family! I love Lenny; he’s a great guy.” Kravitz has also gone on record to say there was nothing weird about their history together, telling Andy Cohen, “She was always so, so nice to me, and I hadn’t seen her since I was 13 years old, but she was always so, so sweet to me, so it was nice to see her again, and she’s also very professional, so it was not weird,” during her 2017 appearance on Watch What Happens Live.

All really is well with the Kravitzes and the Kidmans because even Keith Urban and the rocker have hugged it out together in public at the 2013 CMT Music Awards.

Lenny Kravitz, Nicole Kidman, and Keith Urban at the 2013 CMT Music Awards.

Kevin Mazur

Considering the glowing praise from his former paramours, it is not surprising that Kravitz has remained friends with his exes. What is the most astonishing aspect of this Hollywood relationship rigmarole is that it all somehow comes back to Aquaman because Kidman stars in both the Marvel superhero film and Big Little Lies, thus being the glue that holds that shared universe together.

Related: Lenny Kravitz Got Into a Very Fancy Fight about Chocolate at a Paris Opera