Who Is Kate McKinnon Dating? She Doesn't Say
Kate McKinnon does not publicly discuss her dating life. The two-time Emmy winner - one of the most celebrated cast members in Saturday Night Live history - has maintained a near-total blackout on her romantic relationships throughout her fame. No red-carpet dates, no social media announcements, no talk-show anecdotes about dating. It's a discipline few stars of her magnitude maintain.
The one relationship on the public record: photographer and actress Jackie Abbott, whom McKinnon dated from 2016 to 2019. Beyond that three-year window, documented by occasional sightings and McKinnon's own rare acknowledgments, her love life is a blank page.
This privacy is deliberate and long-standing. McKinnon came up through Chicago improv and New York comedy - worlds where the work matters more than the persona - and she has carried that ethos into stardom. The characters are public; the person is not.
Jackie Abbott: The Known Relationship (2016-2019)
Jackie Abbott is a photographer and actress who was McKinnon's partner from 2016 to 2019. The relationship coincided with McKinnon's peak SNL years - her Emmy wins came in 2016 and 2017 - and Abbott occasionally accompanied her to industry events, providing the paparazzi with rare couple photos.
Little else is publicly known: no joint interviews, no social media documentation, no public statements about the split. The relationship ended in 2019, quietly, the way it had been conducted. Abbott has continued her photography career; McKinnon has never discussed the breakup.
The restraint is characteristic. Where other celebrities turn breakups into content, McKinnon simply moved on - privately, as she does everything.
Who Is Kate McKinnon?
Kate McKinnon Berthold, born January 6, 1984, in Sea Cliff, New York, is one of the defining comedians of her generation. A Columbia University graduate, she came up through the Upright Citizens Brigade and Logo's The Big Gay Sketch Show before joining SNL in 2012.
Her decade on SNL (2012-2022) made her a legend: her Hillary Clinton (including the devastating post-election "Hallelujah"), her Jeff Sessions, her Ruth Bader Ginsburg, her alien-abductee Colleen Rafferty - characters of such specificity they transcended impression into art. She won the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2016 and 2017, from ten nominations.
Post-SNL, she has starred in Ghostbusters (2016), Bombshell (2019), Barbie (2023) as Weird Barbie - a scene-stealing turn - and voiced characters in animated films. She published the children's book The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science (2024). At 42, she is that rare thing: a comedy star famous purely for being funny.
An LGBTQ Icon Who Owes Nothing
McKinnon is one of the most prominent out lesbians in entertainment - and her handling of that identity is instructive. She has never hidden it (her SNL characters included explicitly gay roles; her 2017 Emmy speech thanked her partner), but she has never commodified it either. No coming-out cover story, no brand built on identity - just an artist who happens to be gay, doing the work.
This matters because the question "who is Kate McKinnon dating" often carries an extra charge for LGBTQ celebrities - a sense of entitlement to the details. McKinnon's answer, across her entire career, has been a polite no. Her sexuality is public; her relationships are not. The distinction is hers to draw.
Her fans - particularly young queer fans who grew up watching her on SNL - have largely respected the boundary, celebrating the representation without demanding the receipts.
The Privacy Doctrine
McKinnon's privacy extends beyond dating: she gives few interviews, has minimal social media presence, and is rarely photographed outside work events. Colleagues describe her as warm, hilarious, and intensely private - a combination that shouldn't be rare but is.
In an era when celebrities narrate their lives in real time, McKinnon is a throwback to an older model: the performer whose mystique is the work itself. You know her characters intimately - the Clinton, the alien abductee, Weird Barbie - and you know nothing about her mornings. That's the deal, and it's non-negotiable.
So who is Kate McKinnon dating? Whoever she wants, privately. The rest is none of our business - which is exactly how she likes it.
What's Next
At 42, McKinnon is in her post-SNL prime: selective film roles, voice work, writing, and the freedom to choose. Her love life will remain what it has always been - hers.
The most interesting thing about the question may be the answer's consistency: for over a decade of fame, Kate McKinnon has dated privately, split privately, and lived publicly only through her art. In 2026, that's not evasion - it's integrity.
Post-SNL: Barbie, Books, and Beyond
McKinnon's post-SNL career (she left in 2022 after ten seasons) has been characteristically selective. Her turn as Weird Barbie in Greta Gerwig's Barbie (2023), the split-legged, marker-faced doll, was a scene-stealing triumph, proving her film comedy chops beyond sketch. Bombshell (2019) had already shown her dramatic range.
She has also become an author: The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science (2024), her children's book, was a bestseller, whimsical, strange, and very McKinnon. Voice work continues (The Magic School Bus Rides Again as Fiona Frizzle, various animated films), leveraging the vocal versatility that made her SNL impressions legendary.
At 42, she is in the enviable position of choosing: film roles that interest her, books she wants to write, and a personal life that remains entirely her own. The Jackie Abbott years (2016-2019) are the only public chapter; everything since is unwritten, or rather, written in a diary no one will ever read. That is not secrecy; that is self-possession.
The SNL Legacy: Ten Seasons of Genius
McKinnon's Saturday Night Live tenure (2012-2022) was one of the great runs in the show's history: two Emmy wins (2016, 2017), ten seasons, and a gallery of characters (the alien abductee Ms. Rafferty, the hapless Barbara DeDrew) and impressions (Hillary Clinton, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Ellen DeGeneres) that defined an era.
Her Clinton impression, earnest, singing, slightly unhinged, became the show's emotional center during the 2016 election. Her Ginsburg, the Notorious RBG doing push-ups, was a tribute that became iconic. She was the cast's utility star: the one who could play anything, save any sketch, and make it look effortless.
She left in 2022, at 38, with nothing left to prove. The Jackie Abbott relationship (2016-2019) overlapped with the peak SNL years; the privacy that followed has held ever since. At 42, McKinnon is the rare sketch star who became a film actress, an author, and a legend, all while keeping her personal life entirely her own.
Post-SNL: Barbie, Books, and Beyond
McKinnon's post-SNL career (she left in 2022 after ten seasons) has been characteristically selective. Her turn as Weird Barbie in Greta Gerwig's Barbie (2023), the split-legged, marker-faced doll, was a scene-stealing triumph, proving her film comedy chops beyond sketch. Bombshell (2019) had already shown her dramatic range.
She has also become an author: The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science (2024), her children's book, was a bestseller, whimsical, strange, and very McKinnon. Voice work continues (The Magic School Bus Rides Again as Fiona Frizzle, various animated films), leveraging the vocal versatility that made her SNL impressions legendary.
At 42, she is in the enviable position of choosing: film roles that interest her, books she wants to write, and a personal life that remains entirely her own. The Jackie Abbott years (2016-2019) are the only public chapter; everything since is unwritten, or rather, written in a diary no one will ever read. That is not secrecy; that is self-possession.
The SNL Legacy: Ten Seasons of Genius
McKinnon's Saturday Night Live tenure (2012-2022) was one of the great runs in the show's history: two Emmy wins (2016, 2017), ten seasons, and a gallery of characters (the alien abductee Ms. Rafferty, the hapless Barbara DeDrew) and impressions (Hillary Clinton, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Ellen DeGeneres) that defined an era.
Her Clinton impression, earnest, singing, slightly unhinged, became the show's emotional center during the 2016 election. Her Ginsburg, the Notorious RBG doing push-ups, was a tribute that became iconic. She was the cast's utility star: the one who could play anything, save any sketch, and make it look effortless.
She left in 2022, at 38, with nothing left to prove. The Jackie Abbott relationship (2016-2019) overlapped with the peak SNL years; the privacy that followed has held ever since. At 42, McKinnon is the rare sketch star who became a film actress, an author, and a legend, all while keeping her personal life entirely her own.
The Voice: Animation's Secret Weapon
McKinnon's voice is an industry unto itself. She has voiced Fiona Frizzle in The Magic School Bus Rides Again, characters in Finding Dory, The Angry Birds Movie, Ferdinand, and DC League of Super-Pets (as Lulu the guinea pig). Animation directors call her the secret weapon: the voice that can be anyone.
The skill comes from SNL: a decade of impressions (Hillary, RBG, Ellen, Angela Merkel) trained the most versatile voice in comedy. She can do accents, ages, species. The voice work pays well, takes days not months, and lets her be a chameleon.
At 42, the voice career runs parallel to the film career: the actress you see and the voices you hear. The SNL years were the training; the animation booth is the stage. And through it all, the personal life stays silent: the most public voice in comedy, the most private life in Hollywood.
Post-SNL: Barbie, Books, and Beyond
McKinnon's post-SNL career (she left in 2022 after ten seasons) has been characteristically selective. Her turn as Weird Barbie in Greta Gerwig's Barbie (2023), the split-legged, marker-faced doll, was a scene-stealing triumph, proving her film comedy chops beyond sketch. Bombshell (2019) had already shown her dramatic range.
She has also become an author: The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science (2024), her children's book, was a bestseller, whimsical, strange, and very McKinnon. Voice work continues (The Magic School Bus Rides Again as Fiona Frizzle, various animated films), leveraging the vocal versatility that made her SNL impressions legendary.
At 42, she is in the enviable position of choosing: film roles that interest her, books she wants to write, and a personal life that remains entirely her own. The Jackie Abbott years (2016-2019) are the only public chapter; everything since is unwritten, or rather, written in a diary no one will ever read. That is not secrecy; that is self-possession.
The SNL Legacy: Ten Seasons of Genius
McKinnon's Saturday Night Live tenure (2012-2022) was one of the great runs in the show's history: two Emmy wins (2016, 2017), ten seasons, and a gallery of characters (the alien abductee Ms. Rafferty, the hapless Barbara DeDrew) and impressions (Hillary Clinton, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Ellen DeGeneres) that defined an era.
Her Clinton impression, earnest, singing, slightly unhinged, became the show's emotional center during the 2016 election. Her Ginsburg, the Notorious RBG doing push-ups, was a tribute that became iconic. She was the cast's utility star: the one who could play anything, save any sketch, and make it look effortless.
She left in 2022, at 38, with nothing left to prove. The Jackie Abbott relationship (2016-2019) overlapped with the peak SNL years; the privacy that followed has held ever since. At 42, McKinnon is the rare sketch star who became a film actress, an author, and a legend, all while keeping her personal life entirely her own.
Post-SNL: Barbie, Books, and Beyond
McKinnon's post-SNL career (she left in 2022 after ten seasons) has been characteristically selective. Her turn as Weird Barbie in Greta Gerwig's Barbie (2023), the split-legged, marker-faced doll, was a scene-stealing triumph, proving her film comedy chops beyond sketch. Bombshell (2019) had already shown her dramatic range.
She has also become an author: The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science (2024), her children's book, was a bestseller, whimsical, strange, and very McKinnon. Voice work continues (The Magic School Bus Rides Again as Fiona Frizzle, various animated films), leveraging the vocal versatility that made her SNL impressions legendary.
At 42, she is in the enviable position of choosing: film roles that interest her, books she wants to write, and a personal life that remains entirely her own. The Jackie Abbott years (2016-2019) are the only public chapter; everything since is unwritten, or rather, written in a diary no one will ever read. That is not secrecy; that is self-possession.
The SNL Legacy: Ten Seasons of Genius
McKinnon's Saturday Night Live tenure (2012-2022) was one of the great runs in the show's history: two Emmy wins (2016, 2017), ten seasons, and a gallery of characters (the alien abductee Ms. Rafferty, the hapless Barbara DeDrew) and impressions (Hillary Clinton, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Ellen DeGeneres) that defined an era.
Her Clinton impression, earnest, singing, slightly unhinged, became the show's emotional center during the 2016 election. Her Ginsburg, the Notorious RBG doing push-ups, was a tribute that became iconic. She was the cast's utility star: the one who could play anything, save any sketch, and make it look effortless.
She left in 2022, at 38, with nothing left to prove. The Jackie Abbott relationship (2016-2019) overlapped with the peak SNL years; the privacy that followed has held ever since. At 42, McKinnon is the rare sketch star who became a film actress, an author, and a legend, all while keeping her personal life entirely her own.
The Voice: Animation's Secret Weapon
McKinnon's voice is an industry unto itself. She has voiced Fiona Frizzle in The Magic School Bus Rides Again, characters in Finding Dory, The Angry Birds Movie, Ferdinand, and DC League of Super-Pets (as Lulu the guinea pig). Animation directors call her the secret weapon: the voice that can be anyone.
The skill comes from SNL: a decade of impressions (Hillary, RBG, Ellen, Angela Merkel) trained the most versatile voice in comedy. She can do accents, ages, species. The voice work pays well, takes days not months, and lets her be a chameleon.
At 42, the voice career runs parallel to the film career: the actress you see and the voices you hear. The SNL years were the training; the animation booth is the stage. And through it all, the personal life stays silent: the most public voice in comedy, the most private life in Hollywood.
The Film Career: Scene-Stealer on the Big Screen
McKinnon's film career is a masterclass in stealing scenes. After The Big Gay Sketch Show (2007-2010) on Logo, she joined Saturday Night Live in 2012 and stayed a decade, through 2022, earning ten Primetime Emmy nominations, winning Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2016 and 2017.
The films piled up alongside: Sisters (2015), Office Christmas Party (2016), Rough Night (2017), The Spy Who Dumped Me (2018), Yesterday (2019), Bombshell (2019), The Bubble (2022), Barbie (2023), The Roses (2025), and In the Blink of an Eye (2026). She played Carole Baskin in the Peacock miniseries Joe vs. Carole (2022), a dramatic turn that surprised everyone who only knew the impressions.
The voice work runs parallel: lead roles in the PBS Kids series Nature Cat (2015-2025) and Netflix's The Magic School Bus Rides Again (2017-2021). She even wrote a book, the Millicent Quibb series, adding author to comedian, actress, and voice artist. The most private person in comedy has the most public resume in it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Kate McKinnon dating?
Her current dating life is private - she has no publicly confirmed partner.
Who did Kate McKinnon date?
Photographer and actress Jackie Abbott, from 2016 to 2019 - her only publicly documented relationship.
Is Kate McKinnon married?
She has never confirmed being married. Her relationship status is private.
Is Kate McKinnon gay?
Yes - she is one of entertainment's most prominent out lesbians, though she keeps her relationships private.
How old is Kate McKinnon?
She was born January 6, 1984 - 42 years old in 2026.
What is Kate McKinnon famous for?
A decade on SNL (2012-2022), two Emmy wins, and roles in Ghostbusters, Bombshell, and Barbie.
Why did Kate McKinnon leave SNL?
She departed in 2022 after ten seasons to pursue film and other projects.
Does Kate McKinnon have social media?
Minimal presence - she is famously private and rarely posts personally.