Between starring in a hit HBO series and recently making her scream queen debut, it’s safe to say that Hunter Schafer is no stranger to life-changing career experiences. But one personal experience she says “fundamentally changed” her was getting cheated on by Dominic Fike.

Speaking on the Call Her Daddy podcast, Schafer opened up about dating in general as a trans woman before zeroing in one specific negative experience with her Euphoria co-star.

Schafer started out by describing why she was so grateful to have had her first relationship with a trans woman who understood her gender. By contrast, her later experiences with cis women often came with the expectation of a masculine role.

For a while, it didn’t seem like dating cis men was in the cards for her. “Most, if not all of my deeply painful experiences I’ve had in life have been with men,” Schafer said. “And so I really came into this complex of, I never want to let a man back close to me in my life. I don’t see a world in which it’s possible.”

Before she started dating Fike, Schafer decided to let those walls down. The two ultimately met on the set of Euphoria and publicly announced their relationship in 2022.

Schafer was surprised to discover that immediate mutual understanding in a relationship a cis man. Not only did he see her for who she is, he proudly dated her in the public eye. “This is a straight guy who is in the music scene, too,” she said. “And we are in a public relationship.”

“He’s dating a trans woman, and he’s completely straight,” Schafer continued. “He’s only dated cis women before, and he’s toting me around, happy to be my boyfriend in front of the world. And people are saying horrible, nasty sh*t because it’s like, ‘Oh, you’re so gay.’ He didn’t care at all.”

But the relationship came to an end in 2023. Though Fike has referenced why the relationship ended in songs, Schafer wanted to give her own perspective in getting “cheated on for the first time.” Because she already “kinda knew,” she confirmed her suspicions by going through his phone. “Which I’m not proud of,” she was quick to add.

“That fundamentally changed me as a person,” she explained. “It was this whole process of realizing that cheating has nothing to do with you. It has everything to do with [the other] person, and whatever kind of pain they’re in… it’s all that. But it’s so hard.”

Even as she’s opening up about the breakup now, that’s only because it’s her truth. Schafer was clear that she does not want the public to weigh in. And at the end of the day, she still looks back fondly on the relationship. “It was one of the cleaner breakups I’ve had,” she said. “We both recognized that ‘This is not working and we can’t do this. We gotta go our own separate ways.’ It was so hard. We loved each other. He was a really special person.”

Related
Hunter Schafer talked about tucking and now the internet loves her even more
Hunter Schafer and Rosalía were a secret queer power couple

Help make sure LGBTQ+ stories are being told...

We can't rely on mainstream media to tell our stories. That's why we don't lock our articles behind a paywall. Will you support our mission with a contribution today?

Once Monthly Annually

Cancel anytime · Proudly LGBTQ+ owned and operated