Once upon a time, an alt-pop icon with a problematic past and a prophecy of becoming a Waffle House waitress took an airboat tour down Lousiana's Bayou des Allemands. Her guide was a camouflaged local, weathered by the sun and years of speeding from the gullets of gators. He let her be the captain. She let him in her Instagram post. They left prop wash trails over the swamp. The rest, as they say, was history.
No, I'm not telling on myself. I'm referring to how Lana Del Rey met her reported new beau.
This week, Del Rey's fans discovered that the man currently following her around the U.K. isn't her bodyguard, but, in fact, her boyfriend and the very guide who—as social media confirms—took the Grammy-winner on an airboat tour down the bayou back in 2019. That's right. In true Lana Del Rey fashion, she's now dating Jeremy Dufrene, aka a reported father of two, suspected hunter of alligators and lover of Bass Pro Shop, and proud employee of Arthur's Air Boat Tours. This is just like that time my aunt didn't come back from a Caribbean cruise because she'd fallen in love with a steel drum player...
If you’re in line to be Lana Del Rey’s new ugly boyfriend, STAY IN LINE!!! https://t.co/17LiX9WGbH
— Diego Lopez (@thisdiegolopez) August 28, 2024
Recently, the pair were spotted holding hands backstage before Del Rey headlined the Reading Festival, and then again in London, sitting at a bar in Harrods. Still skeptical? They're even dressing alike (read: wearing their sunglasses on the bills of their baseball hats).
So, let's get back to how these two met. In 2019, Del Rey and some of her team took a boat tour with Dufrene down in True Detective's season one territory. Alongside a photo series she posted to her Facebook and Instagram accounts, she wrote: "Jeremy lemme be captain at Arthur’s Air Boat Tours x" Clearly! Del Rey, however, isn't Dufrene's only celebrity guest. His now-private Instagram account showed he's also captained boats for Glen Powell and Emma Roberts.
More recently, Del Rey tagged Dufrene in the caption of a photo in which she and two others pose in what very much looks like airboat gear. "Family w my guy @jeremy.dufrene ???? @codyjay," she wrote in May. Looks like they both made quite an impression on each other!
What else do we know about this guy? According to his bio on Arthur's Airboat Tour website, Dufrene once worked "7 days a week" at a chemical plant but had an epiphany that it was "not his calling." OK! Very self-aware. Very environmental justice king. After "a little convincing by his family," Dufrene obtained his captain's license and began running tours. He's now much happier and "loves interacting with wildlife & customers." Obviously. However, things got really weird when a Twitter user purporting to be Dufrene's estranged daughter all-caps tweeted that she had no idea her father was dating the singer and that he'd only recently left her mother.
he just texted our family group chat and asked how i found out. he doesn’t understand social media im in tears. this is not fucking real. everyone is fighting, my mom is threatening to sue him. i can’t believe this is happening right now.
— xae (@strnrtn) August 28, 2024
“I can’t believe this is how I found out about this," the user, who identifies themself as "Xae," wrote. "Please stop DMing for Lana stuff. I barely even talk to my dad." Hours later, the user pivoted to tweeting about Ariana Grande and Sabrina Carpenter...
Del Rey nor Dufrene have publicly commented on the matter, so stay tuned, but at least he's not a cop!
