Dating Chris Evans Was No Fairy Tale: Jenny Slate Reveals What Really Happened

Quick catch-up: Jenny Slate once described dating Chris Evans as a nightmare. Not because he is a monster, but because being with Captain America is not exactly low-key. Here is how that played out, where Evans went romantically before settling down, and why his name is back in the gossip churn courtesy of an old photo and some new whispers.

Jenny Slate and Chris Evans: fast, intense, and not made to last

Slate (now 43) talked in 2017 about how her brief relationship with Evans sped out of her comfort zone. They met in September 2015 doing a chemistry read for Gifted, clicked as friends, and only started dating after she separated from her husband. They went public the next summer, walking the red carpet together at The Secret Life of Pets premiere in July 2016.

Then the fame-versus-normal-life clash kicked in. They broke up in February 2017, tried again that November, and split for good four months later in early 2018.

'Chris is a very, very famous person... I have more freedom because I'm not Captain America.'

Slate remembered liking him as a person right away, saying he promised they would be close friends. But she also felt his social energy ran on a different frequency than hers. Think game nights and sports-guy enthusiasm versus someone who literally likes to wave at neighbors from the window. In the end, she said choosing to be alone for a while was how she reset and felt normal again. And for what it is worth, she also praised him as straightforward and unpretentious.

Who Evans dated before Alba Baptista

Evans has a long dating history that ranges from decade-long on-and-offs to quick rumored flings, with a throughline of him saying he wanted a family one day. (Back in 2017, right after he and Slate split, he said he definitely wanted kids but did not want to rush it.) Here is the timeline highlights, from early 2000s to now:

• Jessica Biel (2001–2006): They dated for years, worked together on London and Cellular, and at one point she publicly said they talked about marriage and kids.
• Kate Bosworth (around 2000): Reported sparks after shooting The Newcomers.
• Emmy Rossum (2007): Spotted together; she later said they were just friends.
• Christina Ricci (2007): Briefly linked around Met Gala appearances.
• Kristin Cavallari (2008, and rumor resurfaced in 2025): She denied it both times.
• Amy Smart and Dianna Agron (2010–2011): Short-lived flings.
• Sandra Bullock (2014): Rumors they both mostly laughed off.
• Lily Collins (early 2015): Met around an Oscars party and were seen out a few times.
• Minka Kelly (on and off 2007–2014): A long-running, stop-start relationship.
• Jenny Slate (2016–2018): Met on Gifted in 2015, dated publicly in 2016, and ended it for good in early 2018.
• Lily James (2020): Photographed together in London that summer.
• Alba Baptista (confirmed 2023): They went official, married later that year, and welcomed their first child in October 2025.

The current noise: blind items and a resurfaced 'bomb' photo

Cut to now: just weeks after their baby arrived, Evans got hit with two overlapping waves of online chatter.

First, anonymous blind-item posts claimed he was seen at a bar with a woman who was not his wife. As of this writing, none of that has been backed up by a credible outlet, a named witness, or a photo. Evans and Baptista tend to keep their personal life private, and they have not fed the rumor mill.

Second, an old photo from a 2016 USO tour bubbled back up in 2024, showing Evans signing what looks like a bomb. The internet did its thing, but the context is not mysterious: Reuters traced the image to the Flickr account for the U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The official caption says it was taken December 5, 2016, at Incirlik Air Base in Adana, Turkey, and the item he signed was a decommissioned training device, not a live weapon.

People are split. Some point to his long track record of charity and advocacy and say this pile-on is nonsense. Others argue that once a certain kind of photo resurfaces alongside fresh gossip, public perception shifts whether it should or not.

Where this leaves him

Evans has clearly reached the part of celebrity where any grain of rumor becomes a beach. The marriage, the baby, the old-tour-photo context — all of it is true at once, and the internet will still pick the noisiest version. Fair or overblown? You tell me in the comments.