Barbie star and Saturday Night Live alumna Kate McKinnon shares very, very little about her private life, despite being one of the most well-known faces from the venerable sketch show institution. Though she is the first openly gay female SNL cast member, she rarely says much about her actual dating life.
It is believed that McKinnon has been in a relationship since at least 2016, dating fellow comedian Jackie Abbott. The alleged couple has scarcely ever been seen together, but there have been a few hints that Abbott and McKinnon are quite serious about one another.
Here’s everything to know about the supposed relationship between Kate McKinnon and Jackie Abbott.
Who is Jackie Abbott?
Like McKinnon, Abbott is a performer, appearing in a few short films and doing voice-over work, per their IMDb page. They have also been seen at the People’s Improv Theater (PIT), Upright Citizens Brigade, and hold a BA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. But Abbott’s career goes beyond the stage. They also work as a photographer and have a very professionally-focused Instagram account that acts as a portfolio. It is noted in Abbott’s Insta bio that they use she/they pronouns.
How long have McKinnon and Abbott been together?
The pair were seen together at a public event for the first time in April 2016, according to People, while attending the Broadway show Fun/Home. They’ve never commented on their relationship, so they could have been a couple much longer. In 2018, McKinnon told GQ that getting cast on SNL in 2012 gave her motivation to lock down her privacy.
“I get criticized by people who know me the best for not sharing enough details about my day or my life. I am just quite an insular person, I guess,” she said. “I decided in my mid-20s that I didn’t feel comfortable sharing personal details like I had in the previous few years. And I just have run with that ever since.”
Where have McKinnon and Abbott been seen together?
The sightings are scarce. Aside from Broadway, Abbott was by McKinnon’s side when the latter won her Emmy in 2017 for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. During her speech, McKinnon did say, “Thank you, Jack, I love you.”
It’s not confirmed, but “Jack” is a name that Abbott appears to use around their photography, so some fans assumed she was shouting out her partner in the audience. Abbott can be briefly glimpsed embracing McKinnon after she returns to her seat.
The biggest moment of them together came shortly after when Michelle Visage posted a pic of herself, RuPaul, Ross Matthews, Carson Kressley, McKinnon, and Abbott to celebrate the SNL star’s win and basically shout out her secret relationship.
“I have SUCH a crush on #KATEMCKINNON SO HAPPY SHE WON!!! Her girlfriend Jackie was just as lovely as she is!!” Visage wrote in the caption.
Abbott appeared on a podcast in April 2022 and did not mention anyone specific when claiming to be “a romantic.”
The group jokes that Abbott has “famously” always been into older women and McKinnon is 38, a few years older than Abbott is assumed to be.
“I want someone who has a little bit more oomph, who has a little bit more bite,” they responded.
They seem to have the same cat.
Both McKinnon and Abbott have mentioned a cat that sure seems to be the same cat, which they share. McKinnon calls her tuxedo cat Nino Positano, and has referred to “we” when discussing Nino’s health.
“We put him on a small diet—‘we’ being me,” she says in the video below.
In an interview with Cosmo in 2020, Abbott also referred to a cat matching Nino’s description when saying how they’d celebrate quarantine Pride.
“I’ll be on the couch with my tuxedo cat and a glass of wine, watching the newest lesbian love story documentary, A Secret Love,” Abbott said. “Throw in finishing my fourth Jeanette Winterson book of quarantine and you have possibly the most lez Sunday plan.”
Aimée Lutkin is the weekend editor at ELLE.com. Her writing has appeared in Jezebel, Glamour, Marie Claire and more. Her first book, The Lonely Hunter, will be released by Dial Press in February 2022.