Jack Antonoff reveals how he feels performing songs about ex Margaret Qualley in rare comment about split

Jack Antonoff finds performing songs about his ex Margaret Qualley to be a “really beautiful” experience.

The Grammy winner admitted to The Guardian, in an interview published Sunday, that he was initially “worried” to sing about Qualley, whom he split from earlier this year.

After thinking “long and hard” about tweaking his set list for his Bleachers band’s tour, the frontman decided, “No, this is the deal. The deal I’ve made with my audience is that I’m going to tell you honestly how I feel and I’m going to risk at any moment having to stand behind it for f–king ever.’”

Jack Antonoff plans to continued singing songs about his ex Margaret Qualley (pictured above in April 2022.) Getty Images for The Recording Academy
The singer (pictured above on Oct. 10) told The Guardian over the weekend that singing about the actress while on tour has been a “really beautiful” experience. WireImage

Antonoff, 42, added that there is “great power” to sharing “terrible sadness and pain … anyone can relate to.”

He shared, “It’s actually been really beautiful. I mean, for people to come together, to know what I write a song about, to know how that must feel for me now, to know what that song means to you as an audience member, to just hold it all and sort of celebrate.”

Ultimately, the musician “would rather live through something publicly than even escape it privately.”

The Grammy winner (pictured above on Oct. 10) explained there is “great power” to sharing “terrible sadness and pain … anyone can relate to.” AP Photo/Jack Plunkett
Antonoff, who split from Qualley (pictured above in February 2025) earlier this year, “would rather live through something publicly than even escape it privately.” Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

Antonoff explained, “I don’t rewrite the past, I have no shame about the things I’ve said. My life has been dedicated to making it impossible for me to rewrite the past.

“I’m standing there, singing about how I felt during the good times, so when the bad times hit I can’t look myself in the mirror and pretend that those times didn’t exist,” he concluded.

Qualley’s rep did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment.

News broke in July that Antonoff and the actress, 32, had called it quits after nearly three years of marriage.

The musician (pictured above on Oct. 10) added, “I don’t rewrite the past, I have no shame about the things I’ve said.” AP Photo/Jack Plunkett
He and Qualley (pictured above in November 2025) started dating in 2021. 4CRNS, WCP / BACKGRID

The duo, notably, wed in New Jersey in August 2023 in front of a slew of A-listers.

They started dating two years prior.

Qualley has yet to break her silence on the separation, while Antonoff joked about the breakup during a September performance at the Troubadour.

The duo wed in August 2023 in New Jersey. Page Six
News broke in July that the pair (pictured above in May 2025) had called it quits, and Page Six hears they have “no plans to reconcile.” BACKGRID

When an audience member requested Antonoff play “Let’s Get Married,” the producer cheekily quipped, “Absolutely not. Read the news, brother.”.”

Page Six heard in July that the former couple “have no plans to reconcile.”

However, a source told us, “Although they are done for good, they are still communicating and being respectful of one another.”

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