A Complete Timeline of Meryl Streep and Martin Short’s Friendship

Only Murders in the Building co-stars Meryl Streep and Martin Short have been friends for years, though the internet has been recently wishing that they were something more. While Short has clarified that he and Streep are genuinely just pals, their relationship is still really sweet.

Both Short and Streep are single. Short was married to his late wife, actress Nancy Dolman, for 30 years before she passed away in 2010 from ovarian cancer. Streep married sculptor Don Gummer in September 1978, and they were together for 40 years before they separated in 2018.

Short and Streep have spent decades professionally at the top of their industry—and have spent the last nine years being friends in the spotlight.

Ahead, a timeline of the actors’ history, including all the recent moments that led to the dating rumors.

February 2015

Streep supported Short on Broadway. The stars posed backstage at It’s Only a Play at the Jacobs Theater on Feb. 3, 2015. Short joined the cast on January 7 that year to play James Wicker.

June 2017

Short and Streep sat next to each other at the AFI’s 45th Life Achievement Award Gala Tribute to Diane Keaton on June 17.

February 2023

Streep, Short, and Steve Martin partied together on February 9. Specifically, they attended the opening night after-party for the Broadway debut of Pictures From Home, and documented it with a photo.

August–October 2023

Short and Streep co-starred in the hit series Only Murders in the Building, where they played on-screen lovers. Viewers loved their chemistry in the show, leading fans to believe that maybe their relationship wasn’t only fictional.

August 29

In an interview with The Wrap, the series’ showrunner, John Hoffman, shared that Streep was particularly grateful to have an on-screen romance with Short. “It’s pretty unexpected to imagine a pairing of Meryl Streep with Martin Short and watch them find this incredible connection together and, as Meryl said, to not have it be twee or about the age or about any of that,” he said. “It’s just a beautiful romance that you buy, I think because of who these two characters are. But then you see Marty step up in ways that are incredible and nobody works harder at it, comes in with more intelligence to the work and then to watch him have these scenes that break your heart and have to be played with such dramatic poignancy, riding the line of keeping it comedic, keeping it mysterious…I’m amazed.”

January 2024

January 28

Short spoke on the Club Random with Bill Maher podcast and cleared up any confusion on where he stands with Streep.

“We’re not a couple. We are just very close friends,” he said.

January 12

Streep and Short attended the AFI Awards together, where OMITB won TV Program of the Year, and some adorable photos of them sitting together were captured.

Fellow co-stars Selena Gomez and Steve Martin were also at the award ceremony, and the cast reunited on the red carpet.

January 7

Streep and Short were seated next to each other at the 2024 Golden Globe Awards, and the internet loved to see the two laughing together and having fun. However, a rep for Short quickly confirmed with People that they “are just very good friends, nothing more.”

February 2024

February 21

In some photos obtained by People on Wednesday, Streep and Short were spotted getting dinner together at Giorgio Baldi in Santa Monica with a group of friends.