Amy Poehler's Private Romance With Joel Lovell Is No Longer a Secret

Elle

2 days ago

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In March 2025, Amy Poehler and editor Joel Lovell made their red carpet debut at the the 2025 Vanity Fair Oscar party following almost a year of low-key dating.
In October 2024, People reported the pair had begun seeing one another that summer, with a source saying they were 'enjoying spending time together.'
The Parks & Recreation star has been previously linked to John Stamos, Nick Kroll, and Benjamin Graf, but her most well-known relationship was with her ex-husband, Will Arnett. The pair was married for 13 years before divorcing in 2016. They share two sons, 16-year-old Archie and 14-year-old Abel.
Here's everything to know about Poehler and her connection with Joel Lovell so far.
Joel Lovell grew up in upstate New York, then went to college at Cornell University, according to an interview with the University of Michigan's alumni newsletter in 2016. He wanted to go to medical school but discovered a love for literature and writing. He went to University of Michigan for his MFA. After graduating, he taught undergraduate fiction writing at Michigan before making a big career change.
'I kind of lucked into a magazine job at Harper's,' said Lovell. 'My friend had applied for a job at the magazine but decided not to take it, so he recommended me. I literally just got a call one day from an editor asking if I'd be interested in applying for an editing job. That was 20 years ago.'
From Harper's, he went to the New York Times Magazine and GQ, where he wrote a very popular profile of Stephen Colbert in 2015, which connected him to the comedy world. He then became deputy editor of the New York Times Magazine. According to People, Lovell left the publication to start working in podcasting. He is now the executive editor at Pineapple Street Studios, which is owned by Audacy, the producers of Poehler's 2023 scripted comedy podcast, Say More with Dr? Sheila. On his company's website, Lovell is credited for editing the podcasts Missing Richard Simmons, Winds of Change, and 9/12. Before that, he worked as the executive editor at This American Life and on the first two seasons of hit true crime show Serial.
In his University of Michigan interview, Lovell shared a bit about his editing philosophy.
'You have to look at what's working in the story, but also, in a less intellectual sense, you look at the way in which things are said,' said Lovell. 'You start paying a crazy amount of attention to the sound of things, such as, 'Oh, there's an intake of breath here that makes the next thing she says difficult to understand.''
Like Poehler, Lovell has children from a previous relationship: Addie, 23, Tess, 21, and Julia, 17.
After going red carpet official at the 2025 Academy Awards, Poehler referenced her date in an interview at the Vanity Fair Oscar party.
'I had the trifecta tonight, which never happens,' she said of her experience that evening. 'I'm just gonna say, I liked how I looked, which never happens—you know what, I want to be one of the greatest! I want to be the Michael Jordan of this party. I liked how I looked, I had fun with my date, and my feet don't hurt.'
But she added, laughing, 'I cannot wait to leave. I cannot wait to get in there so I can do a lap and leave.'