Dakota Johnson and Tucker Pillsbury Are Making It Official — and Her Mom’s Two-Word Review Says Everything

In front of photographers who were obviously not surprised, Dakota Johnson kissed Tucker Pillsbury, also known somewhat improbably as Role Model, on a Friday night in early April in a Los Feliz parking lot. She carried a burgundy purse and wore a black jacket over an olive blouse. He wore a ball cap, black pants, and a blue T-shirt. He nuzzled her hair and cheek once. At another, she encircled him from behind with her arms. For a 36-year-old actress who has spent her entire adult life navigating a level of public attention she did not exactly choose, it was all fairly unguarded. She doesn’t appear to be concealing this, whatever it is.

The two have been dating since at least December 2025, when they were seen together at a candlelit dinner with friends. According to sources who spoke with TMZ, they “got very close” during the event. In terms of celebrity sightings, the description of the “Materialists” star as “lying on [Role Model] all cuddled up” sounds less like calculated image management and more like two people who didn’t give the cameras much thought. They entered the popular Beverly Hills restaurant Marvin together in January, and later that month, they were seen holding hands during a different dinner date. The official confirmation of celebrity romances came gradually.

If the two names involved hadn’t been so specifically loaded, this might have received less attention. Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith’s daughter Dakota Johnson had a notoriously private relationship with Coldplay’s Chris Martin for almost eight years. They just appeared together frequently enough and for a long enough period of time that the engagement rumors turned into a kind of ongoing cultural joke. This pairing was never fully confirmed in the traditional sense. According to sources, they broke up in June 2025, citing the age difference and the issue of children as contributing factors. Martin is forty-nine. Dakota is thirty-six. The other well-known connection of 28-year-old Tucker Pillsbury is Emma Chamberlain, a YouTuber and cultural icon who dated him from about 2020 to 2023 before their relationship ended off-camera. Although “Sally When the Wine Runs Out” has found a genuine audience, he has been developing a music career under the stage name Role Model, which seems to land differently depending on who you ask. Now, improbably, he is also the first-ever Sexiest Man Alive centerfold for PEOPLE magazine, which either confirms or strengthens the general perception that Tucker Pillsbury occupies a truly unusual corner of the cultural landscape.
A source told PEOPLE that the relationship is genuine and proceeding at a slow pace. According to the insider, Johnson “does really like” Pillsbury, “but is also taking things slow after her previous long-term relationship.” They are said to be “very much on the same page,” and the source uses a phrase that has a lot of weight when it comes to celebrity coverage: it just feels “easy.” “Easy” is a big word after almost ten years of a relationship that the outside world was rarely permitted to fully comprehend.
Melanie Griffith seems to support her daughter’s current course in life. The actress, who starred in Scarface and Working Girl and has been a major force in Hollywood since the 1970s, was seen in a video uploaded by DeuxMoi simply and joyfully telling a photographer that she thinks Tucker is “fabulous.” At least from one perspective, it’s the kind of parental approval that usually resolves the issue of whether a romance is casual.
Dakota Johnson seems to be in a different chapter than the one she was in for the majority of her thirties, based on the tabloid coverage, the Instagram fan accounts, and the meticulous sourcing from people close to both of them. A source told PEOPLE in March that she was “playing the field.” “Like, not an a–hole?” she said on The Today Show in June of last year, making her dating non-negotiable. There wasn’t much to the bar she mentioned. It was implied that clearing it had not always been simple.
Tucker Pillsbury, whoever he is, appears to be passing it with ease. On Easter Sunday, they were back in Los Angeles, enjoying coffee and strolling together in a way that makes for effortless photos. She carried a $2,450 Barn Red bowling bag while wearing a Shop Doen top, ReDone denim, and The Row velvet ballet flats. He was simply present, which is more important than the attire. Both of them have intriguing futures ahead of them: she has a directorial debut in the works, a career that has always progressed on its own terms, and Verity, which will be released in October with Anne Hathaway and Josh Hartnett. He will soon be introduced to a much wider audience in a romantic comedy on Netflix starring Lena Dunham, Natalie Portman, and Mark Ruffalo.
It’s not too late yet. The sources use language with caution. Although the paparazzi coverage, the mother’s approval, and the Easter Sunday coffee run suggest something more settled than December’s candlelit dinner, no one is actually using the word “serious” out loud. The Los Feliz parking lot had its own narrative.