Marc Maron Pays Emotional Tribute to Lynn Shelton

By Mackenzie Nichols

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Marc Maron paid an emotional tribute to Lynn Shelton, his late girlfriend and creative collaborator who died Saturday from an unidentified blood disorder at the age of 54. On Maron’s popular podcast, “WTF With Marc Maron,” the comedian detailed his relationship with the beloved filmmaker.

“She was my partner. She was my girlfriend. She was my friend. And I loved her. A lot. And she loved me, and I knew that,” Maron said, tearfully. “I don’t know that I had ever felt what I felt with her before. I do know, actually. I did not. I have not. I was getting used to love in the way of being able to accept it and show it properly in an intimate relationship.”

Maron met Shelton in 2015 when she appeared on his podcast for the first time. He recalled being “nervous” to meet her, but said they instantly connected and later worked together on Shelton’s 2019 film “Sword of Trust.”

“I was so comfortable with this person, with Lynn Shelton. And I’m not really that comfortable emotionally or otherwise, but I was able to exist in a place of self-acceptance because of her love for me,” Maron said. “I made her laugh all the time. She made me laugh. We were happy.”

Maron struggled to hold back tears as he recounted Shelton’s sudden illness. At first, they thought she had strep throat. She was then tested for COVID-19, which came back negative. On Thursday, the couple consulted a doctor, who recommended she seek medical attention because of her fever. Maron said he urged Shelton to go to the doctor the following day to get a blood test.

“In the middle of the night I heard her collapse in the hallway on her way to the bathroom and I got up and she was on the floor and she couldn’t move. She was conscious but delirious a bit. I called 9-1-1, they came and got her, and that was the last time I saw her alive was on the floor being taken away,” said Maron.

When she arrived at the hospital, Maron said that she was anemic, had low blood pressure and internal bleeding. They went to two hospitals, but was eventually taken off of life support. She died Saturday at 12: 45 a.m.

“She was an amazing woman. She was an inspiration to some people. so many people loved her, she was a very determined artist who just needed to put her expression out into the world in any way. Tremendous love for people, for her friends, for her son, Milo,” said Maron. “My relationship with her, I can’t even explain it. But I gotta tell you, nobody’s got anything bad to say about Lynn Shelton, that’s for f—ing sure. She was amazing, her movies were amazing, they are amazing. Everyone who’s worked with her loved her.”

The rest of Maron’s podcast episode was a rebroadcast of his 2015 interview with Shelton, the first time they met.

“It was undeniable that we connected. My connection with her is almost seamless. I have no self-consciousness when I’m with her,” he said. “I’m totally comfortable even in my infantile ridiculousness, the whole arch of me, infantile ridiculousness, to cranky s—iness. I was definitely a better person when I was engaged with her, as a guitar player, as a lover, as a human, as everything. I was better in Lynn Shelton’s gaze.”