Are Bradley Cooper and Huma Abedin Still Dating or What??

Early last month, seemingly out of nowhere, a new odd (yet in its own way, perfectly sensible) couple dropped: Bradley Cooper and Huma Abedin had reportedly been dating for a few months by July. “They are dating but it’s not a full-speed-ahead type thing yet,” a source told People.

About a month later, it’s now no longer clear where that… situationship (??) stands. On Monday, Cooper’s ex Irina Shayk shared a carousel of pretty romantic vacation photos, a couple of which included Cooper. In the photos, we see Shayk lounging around with a giant pig, wading through clear beach waters with slightly smaller pigs, and alas, leaning her head on Cooper’s shoulder as the two appear to feed pigs in a hut. Lots of pigs!! Another photo in the carousel shows Shayk lying in the middle of a giant heart drawn in the sand; in another, the ex—or perhaps current—lovers’ legs are clearly brushing against each other as they stand on a dock surrounded by baby sharks.

Since Cooper and Shayk began dating in 2015, had a daughter in 2017, and formally split in 2019, they’ve been pretty notoriously on-and-off. Shortly after their 2019 split, they seemingly attended the 2020 BAFTA Awards afterparty together and posed for photos at the event. Within a year, Shayk reportedly began a short-lived relationship with Kanye West (Ye) in the spring of 2021, months after his split from Kim Kardashian. And before reports about Cooper and Abedin, the actor was linked with Dianna Agron.

All of this is to say, Shayk and Cooper—who were said to be “better off as friends” after their first split—seem to have a history of breaking up and possibly getting back together, or at least staying close. These latest vacation photos could mean the co-parents are back on, but also, given their whole “better off as friends” thing, perhaps their romantic Bahamas get-away was actually platonic??

In any case, I now have questions about where this leaves Cooper’s relationship with Abedin. About a week after a source confirmed to People that the couple had been quietly seeing each other for months, they were reportedly spotted getting bagels at 6 a.m. in the Hamptons. By July, they’d apparently been “casually” dating for some time, even apparently attending the Met Gala together in May.

News about the possible couple has been quiet ever since the alleged Hamptons spotting, and their relationship status is now more confusing than ever following Cooper’s vacation with Shayk. If you’re wondering how Abedin and Cooper got together in the first place, again, we can thank Anna Wintour for that. In July, Page Six reported that Wintour had set the two up. As Abedin revealed to The Cut last year, in the fallout of her divorce from disgraced former congressman and sex offender Anthony Weiner, with whom Abedin shares one child, Abedin said Wintour had been one of her most supportive friends and that they frequently went on “movie dates.” Wintour apparently saw more in common between Cooper and Abedin than you’d assume on the surface, and others agreed—one source told Page Six of the (possible) couple, “They are perfect for each other. They’re both into power and politics and human affairs.” Flash-forward to today: I wonder if Wintour has seen Cooper and Shayk’s vacation pics yet?

It seems we may have to wait for more clues as to Cooper, Abedin, and Shayk’s relationship statuses. In the meantime, whatever is really going on, I do take some solace in the fact that even a highly accomplished woman, who served as an aide to Hillary Clinton for over 25 years, can still find herself in a situationship with a clearly very confused adult man. Comforting!! And also… deeply frustrating.