A lot of fans can't remember the gross thing that Jerry Seinfeld did decades ago... and that's his relationship with Shoshanna Lonstein. Like many extremely wealthy celebrities, Jerry chose a much younger woman to date in the mid-1990s. However, it's not just that Shoshanna was young, it's that she was 17 years old when he first got her number. Eventually, Jerry moved on and started a family with his current wife, Jessica and the world forgot about Shoshanna.
Shoshanna left the public eye by the late-1990s, and she is now enjoying her life in peace. She's a career woman with an entire life beyond her brief romance with the creator of NBC's Seinfeld. Here's what Shoshanna Lonstein is doing now.
Updated on April 21, 2022: Shoshanna Lonstein Gruss continues to live in New York, raising her three children that she shares with her ex-husband Joshua Gruss. She is a successful fashion designer and writer, and she has made several appearances on talk shows and reality television programs.
Her website where she sells her fashion designs is up-to-date with several collections, including spring, summer, and fall collections for 2022. Her work has recently been featured in publications like Forbes, Hello, and Vogue. According to her website, famous fans of Shoshanna's work include Mindy Kaling, Isla Fisher, Kelly Ripa, and Meghan Markle.
Shoshanna Lonstein's Relationship With Jerry Seinfeld
Firstly, it's Shoshanna Lonstein Gruss now. But back when she first became relevant, she was still Shoshanna Lonstein. Unfortunately (or fortunately) for Shoshanna, she will forever be associated with Jerry Seinfeld due to their controversial relationships. She was just 17 years old when she started dating the iconic comedian, who was then 38. Yeah, that's a pretty eyebrow-raising age gap.
Not only was it brutally noticeable when the two would stand side-by-side at events, but the fact that Shoshanna was below the age of 18 when they first started corresponding really got the attention of the press. However, according to Gawker, many news sources tried to brush their relationship off, claiming that everyone should be accepting of it. While both parties were consenting and appeared to genuinely like each other, the topic of whether their relationship was acceptable or not is debatable.
Jerry first met Shoshanna in Central Park. He was already an Emmy winner, and she was still in high school... According to People, Jerry approached the private school girl in the park. The pair flirted and she gave him her number. From there, they built a romance for a few years until she graduated from UCLA in 1997.
At the time, Jerry knew that people were suspicious of his relationship with the woman 21 years his junior. He even went on The Howard Stern Show twice to attempt to smooth things over. In the first of the two interviews, in 1994, he attempted to make light of it with comedy. In the second, just a couple of months later, Jerry seemed a bit more apologetic:
"I didn’t realize she was so young,” he said. “This is the only girl I ever went out with who was that young. I wasn’t dating her. We just went to a restaurant, and that was it."
For years, Jerry maintained that he and Shoshanna didn't start their romantic relationship until she turned 18. This is something that even Jerry's Seinfeld colleagues have maintained. In a 1998 interview with New York Mag, Julia Louis-Dreyfus said, "No, it didn’t make me cringe. When he was in that relationship, it was a happy one for him. And she’s a terribly nice person, so I was in favor of it. Come on — who cares? There wasn’t anything wrong with it. I thought it was great."
While the world made a huge deal about their relationship, whether they supported it or were vehemently against it, Shoshanna Lonstein was soon forgotten after their breakup. So, where did she end up?
What Happened To Shoshanna Lonstein Gruss?
Even though one of the reasons why Shoshanna ended her relationship with Jerry was due to the pressure of being in the public eye, she pursued a career that brought her more than a little attention... fashion. With the help of her father, Zach Lonstein, Shoshanna started her very own clothing company called "Shoshanna". A few years later, she married the CEO of Round Hill Music, Joshua Gruss, and had three kids together, Sienna, Angelica, and Joseph. However, Shoshanna and Joshua ended up getting divorced, but she kept his last name.
Shoshanna is currently extremely active running her clothing line, as well as being the Style Director for Elizabeth Arden's company, while being a mom on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. She has built an extraordinary life for herself and her family, who are all pursuing their own dreams thanks to their mother and father. Shoshanna is also extremely involved with activism, including several Jewish charities, and sits on the associate committee of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
A quick look at Shoshanna's Instagram will tell you that her family comes first. While she's a very accomplished businesswoman, her relationships with her kids and extended family are the most important thing in her life. It's clear that she's far beyond her past romances with celebrities.