Nearly two decades after ending her engagement to Ryan Reynolds, singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette is looking back on one of the most difficult periods of her life. The Grammy-winning singer recently revisited the fallout from their 2007 split while discussing a viral 2008 interview with Howard Stern, in which she was repeatedly questioned about her heartbreak and personal life. At the time, Alanis Morissette admitted she was struggling with the breakup and later revealed she attended therapy sessions five times a week as she worked through the emotional aftermath.
Speaking to The Sunday Times Style, Morissette reflected on how she now views the interview that resurfaced on social media years later. “It felt like the ongoing normalization of me being invisible,” she said.
The “Ironic” singer added that she would respond much differently if confronted with similar questions today. “I have a million questions I could ask back that would be equally inappropriate,” Morissette explained. “It just became normalized to hurt women every day, call her a b-tch, tell her she’s a sl-t.”
A Viral Interview Captured The Raw Aftermath Of The Breakup
In clips from the 2008 interview that recently gained traction on TikTok, Morissette discussed how the breakup influenced her music while attempting to avoid commenting extensively on Reynolds.
When Stern brought up reports that she had attended therapy five times a week after the split, Morissette redirected the focus away from her former fiancé. “Therapy’s not about the guy,” she said. “It’s about me. It’s not about the guy.”
She also declined to speculate about Reynolds’ personal life after Stern questioned her about his relationship with Scarlett Johansson, whom he began dating shortly after the engagement ended. “I can’t speak for him, I have no idea,” she responded.
Alanis Morissette And Ryan Reynolds Were Once One Of Hollywood’s Most Talked-About Couples
Before either found lasting relationships with other partners, Morissette and Reynolds were one of Hollywood’s most high-profile couples in the early 2000s. The pair began dating in 2002 and became engaged two years later. They remained together for roughly five years before announcing their split in February 2007, ending a three-year engagement.
Reynolds moved on with actress Scarlett Johansson. The pair married in 2008, announced their separation in 2010, and finalized their divorce the following year. The actor later began dating Blake Lively, whom he met while filming the movie “Green Lantern.” The couple married in 2012 and have since welcomed four children together.
Reynolds has also recently made headlines for a separate controversy involving his wife. The actor became entangled in the highly publicized legal dispute between Lively and her “It Ends With Us” co-star and director, Justin Baldoni. The conflict led to multiple lawsuits, with Baldoni at one point naming both Lively and Reynolds in a $400 million lawsuit that was later dismissed.
Alanis Morissette Found A Different Kind Of Love After The Heartbreak
Morissette eventually found happiness with rapper Souleye, whose real name is Mario Treadway. The pair married in 2010 and now share three children together. Looking back on their relationship, Morissette described her husband as someone who immediately understood and accepted her.
“There are just so many qualities in him that were slam-dunky,” she told the outlet. “If I would talk about something on a date, typically the person would look at me quizzically like I was strange. It was the complete opposite with Souleye. He had zero desire to clip my wings.”
The Grammy Winner Says She Spent Years Learning How To Navigate Her Sensitivity
Elsewhere in the interview, Morissette opened up about identifying as a highly sensitive person and empath, admitting she spent years searching for ways to manage overwhelming emotions. “I tried myriad ways to regulate, whether that was partying or working,” she said. “I was a huge work addict, still in recovery. A lot of love addiction, which also had some sex addiction.”
Despite feeling misunderstood for much of her life, Morissette said she has reached a point where she feels more comfortable with herself and how she relates to others. “All I know is that I made absolutely no sense to most people for a very long time and it was lonely and painful, but I persevered,” she said. “Now I feel myself making more sense to people.”
