Editor’s note: The original October 2023 version of this article was lost. The Lee Daily Register rebuilt it in October 2026 from the sources cited below, and added what happened afterward. The original version said Dacus dressed as Ariana Grande and Baker as Pete Davidson; published coverage of the costume lists the roles the other way around, and this version has been corrected. Passages that speculated about the pair’s relationship have been removed.
A Halloween costume put Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker back at the center of fan speculation this week. The two musicians, who make up boygenius with Phoebe Bridgers, recreated a well-known paparazzi photo of Pete Davidson and Ariana Grande. The Fader included the look in its roundup of musicians’ Halloween costumes on Oct. 30, captioning it as Dacus and Baker dressed as Davidson and Grande.
In the recreation, Dacus wore a hoodie and plaid shirt while Baker wore an oversized sweater and boots, both holding lollipops, as BuzzFeed later described the photos.
No public confirmation, as of fall 2023
At the time, Dacus had not publicly confirmed a relationship with Baker. She did so for the first time in March 2025, PinkNews reported, after fans had long suspected the two were more than friends.
This article treats only the musicians’ own public statements, as reported by established outlets, as answers to that question. A costume is not one of them.
What happened next
On March 17, 2025, Dacus confirmed the relationship in a New Yorker profile by Amanda Petrusich, published ahead of her fourth solo album, “Forever Is a Feeling.” The profile described the two as being in a committed relationship, Consequence reported.
In the profile, Dacus said fans had mostly respected the couple’s wish to keep things private, though a small number of intrusions could make the relationship feel fragile. She said much of the new album was about falling in love with Baker, and that she wanted to protect what mattered to her while still making honest art, Stereogum reported. Stereogum also noted that the two live together in Los Angeles.
Dacus repeated the confirmation in an interview with People days later. “I can confirm we are dating. We are together. People are right,” she said, as Pedestrian.TV reported on March 19, 2025. She said the couple had talked through what they might lose by going public and had decided to be protective of the relationship.
“Forever Is a Feeling” was released March 28, 2025. Baker’s collaborative album with TORRES, “Send a Prayer My Way,” followed on April 18, according to Consequence. The coverage reviewed for this rebuild did not include a public statement from Baker about the relationship; the confirmation came from Dacus. Boygenius is on hiatus following its Grammy-winning album “the record” and the EP “the rest,” PinkNews noted.
