Justin Long Shares Why He Still Has 'Deep Affection' For Ex Drew Barrymore
Justin Long’s romantic relationship with Drew Barrymore might’ve ended years ago, but clearly the affection he feels toward her has remained the same.
In an appearance on podcast “Dinner’s on Me with Jesse Tyler Ferguson” posted on Tuesday, Long shared that he still has “deep affection” for Barrymore, whom he dated on and off from 2007 to 2010.
Long was reflecting on his emotional reunion with Barrymore in a 2022 appearance on her show, “The Drew Barrymore Show,” telling host Jesse Tyler Ferguson that being on his ex-girlfriend’s show reminded him of Barrymore’s “wonderful” glow.
“I know her so well, and when I’m with her there’s such a familiarity that I swear to God, Jesse, I forgot the nature of the thing,” he said, explaining that he had momentarily forgotten he was speaking in front of a live audience during his conversation with Barrymore.
“I don’t think love disappears,” he later continued. “I meant that, I mean that about her. When I think of her... I have such deep affection and always root for her. I love her.”
Long, who’s now married to fellow actor Kate Bosworth, then admitted that at the time, he didn’t consider how his exchange with Barrymore would’ve affected his then-girlfriend Bosworth until he heard other people’s reaction to the episode.
“This makes me sound kind of, like, thoughtless, but I didn’t consider that it might be a really weird thing for her (Bosworth) until I heard people’s reaction,” he said. “It was so not weird for her.”
The “Goosebumps” actor said that Bosworth had even sent Barrymore flowers after Long taped the episode.
Barrymore posted a video on Instagram thanking Bosworth for the flowers at the time, calling the “Blue Crush” actor her “hero.”
Long told Barrymore in his 2022 appearance on her daytime show that he will always love her. The two reflected on their past romance during that episode, with Barrymore declaring that they were “hedonistic” and “immature” when they were lovers.
“We would get together, we would break up. There was chaos ― it was hella fun!” she said.
Bosworth appeared on Barrymore’s show months later and told the host that she was “so excited” about Long’s appearance on the show.
“There’s so much love between the two of you,” Bosworth said.
She later added that she was raised to believe that the love between two people in a relationship might later “occupy another space of the heart, but it doesn’t go away.”