Olivia Rodrigo appears to have quietly started a new chapter this summer. The singer has been photographed several times with Julian Croonenberghs, a New York-based private-equity associate, and in late July was seen kissing him on a park date in Brooklyn. It is the first time she has been publicly linked to anyone since her split from Louis Partridge.
The rumours began building in June, when the pair were spotted having dinner together in Brooklyn, and picked up after they were seen travelling through an airport in Iceland and returning to New York. On July 27, E! and Entertainment Tonight ran photos of the two kissing and holding hands. Neither Rodrigo nor Croonenberghs has said anything publicly about the relationship.
Croonenberghs is a change of pace from Rodrigo’s previous, higher-profile partners. According to Hg Capital’s website, he is a member of the firm’s Mercury team in New York, having previously worked on the Financial Institutions Investment Banking team at Goldman Sachs. He graduated from Brown University with a degree in applied mathematics and computer science — a finance guy, in other words, rather than a fellow performer.
There is a musical thread, though: several outlets have noted that his sister, Jade Croonenberghs, is a DJ who works in music and entertainment, and fans spotted Rodrigo liking one of Jade’s Instagram posts. Beyond that, the couple have kept the details — how they met, how serious it is — firmly to themselves, which, for one of pop’s most closely watched stars, is its own kind of statement.
