According to Ali Wong, Bill Hader Is a True Romantic
In her new special, Single Lady, Ali Wong details her experience dating again after getting divorced from Justin Hakuta, her husband of eight years. She jokes about getting sent thirst traps by a 25-year-old, hooking up with a 60-year-old, and breaking up with a “big, fancy movie director.” For all of us romantics, she also tells the story of being wooed by now-boyfriend Bill Hader.
“I didn’t expect the news of my divorce to be so widespread and public,” Wong tells the crowd. “I felt really embarrassed and ashamed, but I didn’t realize that all of these media outlets were acting like Bat-Signal, letting all potentially interested men know that I was suddenly available. I’ve never been pursued this much in my life.”
She doesn’t say his name, but one of those men was Hader (she confirms it’s him at the end of the special). The way Wong tells it, Hader got her phone number from a mutual friend shortly after her divorce went public in 2022.
“Hey, Ali. I just happened to hear the news of your divorce today, and I gotta tell you … I’m excited,” Wong recounts Hader saying. “I am, Ali, because, look, I have had a crush on you forever, and I actually told my best friend years ago that you were my dream girl. And I know this sounds crazy, but, uh, I want you to be my girlfriend.”
This is kind of like when Mr. Darcy (2005 movie version) says, “You have bewitched me, body and soul,” but for girls who read Live From New York in their tween years. However, Wong says she had just spent $250 on an annual subscription to a dating app and wanted to get her money’s worth. She flew to Europe for work and was greeted by a surprise from Hader.
“I arrive in London and discovered that this man had sent me a bouquet of flowers,” she says. Apparently, he proceeded to send her increasingly large bouquets as she traveled to different cities.
“I told all my girlfriends and they were like, ‘Oh my God, that is so sweet. I am so jealous,’” Wong tells the audience before explaining that her male friends had a different outlook on the situation. “They were like, ‘That dude sounds like a psychopath.’ That’s how cheap and lazy men have become — that now when a fellow man commits any act of kindness, any romantic gesture, it must be a symptom of an undiagnosed mental illness.”
Wong, who jokes that “for a woman, 40 is the golden age … to get divorced,” spent some time dating around before returning to Hader. The two reportedly dated just after her divorce, but only briefly. They began dating again in April 2023 and have stayed together this time around. Hader, who was married to filmmaker Maggie Carey for 12 years, fits Wong’s criteria for the kind of man she’s looking to date.
“If you want to be my boyfriend, just to start, you gotta be a divorced dad. You gotta be a divorced dad because I want a man that’s been pre-yelled at,” she jokes. “I want that cast-iron skillet seasoned.”
Wong ends the special on an uplifting note, saying that she has really enjoyed being divorced. So much so that she wants to get married again just so she can get divorced again. “I know that divorce gets a really bad reputation and it can sound really scary and full of acrimony, but then just look at me as an alternate example of how it can be,” she says. “I’m best friends with my ex-husband, and if you can take away anything from what you’ve heard tonight, look how much fun I’m having.”
I mean, who wouldn’t have fun with Bill Hader? He’s funny, he’s hot, and let’s not forget what Rachel Bilson said.