How did Sarah Paulson and Holland Taylor meet? Relationship explored as actress pays romantic birthday tribute to partner

On Sunday, January 14, 2024, Holland Taylor celebrated her 81st birthday. In her honor, her girlfriend Sarah Paulson shared a romantic birthday post on Instagram. It contained a series of pictures and small clips of the couple’s intimate moments, along with a couple of images where they are seen spending time with family and friends.

Here’s what Sarah Paulson wrote in the post's caption in tribute to Holland Taylor:

“My phone made this. And I like it. Happy Birthday to my one and only love. You are, quite simply – my world. I love you @hollandvtaylor (don’t be mad about the second to last picture, I didn’t know how to take it out, plus there are pictures of me with no eyebrows, so-).”

Apart from the sweet disclaimer, which referred to one of the pictures with Taylor’s eyes shut, Sarah Paulson’s post had the song Seasons by Needtobreathe playing in the background. The video was titled “HOLLAND MEEEEE & Me: Over The Years.” Notably, the pair first met at a party in 2005.

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Exploring the timeline of Sarah Paulson and Holland Taylor’s relationship

According to People, the 49-year-old Sarah Paulson first came across the 81-year-old Holland Taylor in 2005 during an industry party. However, back then, they were both dating other people.

Fast forward to early 2015, they reconnected via Twitter (now X), directly messaged each other, went out to dinner, and fell in love. Soon, they began dating, which was confirmed by People magazine in December of that year. In January 2016, the couple with a 32-year age gap made their red carpet debut at the Critics Choice Awards.

Before that, in November 2015, Holland Taylor said during a WNYC radio interview that she was in a relationship with a younger woman and that most of her relationships till then were with the same s*x.

Meanwhile, Sarah Paulson, during a March 2016 interview with the New York Times, said that she “was absolutely in love with Holland Taylor” and thought that she was “the most exquisitely beautiful woman” she’d ever met.

During an interview with The View in November 2023, Sarah Paulson boasted of her eight-year strong relationship with the Two and a Half Men star.

"I feel very lucky to be with a person who is smarter, wiser, wittier than I, and that just makes my life better in every possible way. She also makes me feel seen, which I think is the most important gift you can give to any person," she said.

Around the same time, the Appropriate star told Page Six that the secret behind her successful relationship with Paulson was that they each followed their paths yet returned to each other at the end of the day.

While the names of Holland Taylor’s previous partners remain unknown, in August 2020, she told during the LGBTQ&A podcast that she identified as gay.

In contrast, Sarah Paulson has dated both men and women in the past. She was in a seven-year-long relationship with actress Cherry Jones, who was 18 years her senior, since 2004. Likewise, she was engaged to actor and playwright Tracy Letts, who was nine years older than her.

Speaking about her s*xuality, she told the New York Times in 2016 that it was “fluid” in nature and that she was attracted to older people than herself due to a complicated family life.