Sky Ferreira has built a career around music, fashion and acting, but her personal life has also attracted considerable attention. Among her past relationships, none received more scrutiny than her romance with Zachary Cole Smith, the DIIV frontman she dated during the height of her early music career.
Ferreira and Smith were together from roughly 2012 to 2015, becoming one of the better-known couples in New York’s alternative music scene. Their relationship combined music, touring and creative collaboration, while also placing Ferreira in the middle of intense media coverage following a 2013 drug arrest.
Zachary Cole Smith
Zachary Cole Smith is best known as the singer, guitarist and principal creative force behind DIIV, the Brooklyn-based indie rock band formerly known as Dive.
Ferreira and Smith began dating around 2012, when both were developing increasingly visible careers. Their relationship quickly became part of the wider indie-music conversation, particularly because Ferreira was preparing for the release of her long-awaited debut album, Night Time, My Time.
The pair were also connected creatively. Smith directed Ferreira’s music video for “Omanko,” released in 2015, and they appeared together in live musical settings.
Their romance ultimately ended around 2015, after several years together.
The 2013 Arrest
The most difficult chapter of their relationship came in September 2013.
Ferreira and Smith were stopped by police in Saugerties, New York. Authorities reported finding ecstasy associated with Ferreira and heroin in the vehicle Smith was driving. Both faced drug-related charges.
The incident generated enormous publicity because it happened close to the release of Ferreira’s debut album. Instead of being discussed solely for her music, she suddenly found herself at the center of tabloid and entertainment coverage.
Ferreira later discussed the experience in interviews and pushed back against assumptions that the incident accurately represented her own relationship with drugs.
Life After the Headlines
The arrest became a defining piece of public history surrounding the couple, but it was not the whole story of their relationship.
Ferreira continued developing her career as a singer, songwriter, model and actress. Her 2013 debut, Night Time, My Time, eventually gained a strong cult following and became particularly influential among alternative-pop listeners.
Smith, meanwhile, continued working with DIIV. His own struggles with substance abuse became an important part of his later personal and creative story, including his efforts toward sobriety.
Looking back, the relationship is therefore better understood as one period in both artists’ lives rather than simply through the events surrounding the arrest.
Their Music Connection
Music was central to Ferreira and Smith’s relationship.
Smith’s involvement in “Omanko” gave the pair a direct professional connection beyond their personal lives. Ferreira also performed with Smith on occasion, including a live rendition of Hole’s “Asking for It.”
That overlap made their relationship particularly interesting to fans. They were not simply two musicians dating; they were also artists working within overlapping alternative-music circles.
Ferreira’s aesthetic during this period—dark electronic production, grunge influences and deliberately unconventional imagery—also fit naturally into the independent music world where Smith was established.
Other Relationships
Smith remains Ferreira’s most extensively discussed former partner, but he was not her only relationship within the indie-music community.
Before Smith, Ferreira was linked to Nick Ackerman, formerly associated with the New York indie band The Virgins. Their relationship reportedly took place around 2011 and 2012.
After Smith, Ferreira was romantically connected with Elias Bender Rønnenfelt, vocalist of Danish punk band Iceage. Their reported relationship lasted several years, from approximately 2016 to 2019.
Ferreira was subsequently linked to Austin Feinstein, a musician associated with Slow Hollows, around 2019 and 2020.
These relationships helped reinforce Ferreira’s long-standing connection to alternative and independent music scenes.
Is Sky Ferreira Married?
Ferreira has not publicly established a marriage to any of these former partners. Her best-known romantic relationships have generally been with musicians, and she has maintained a relatively private approach to her personal life.
That privacy has become increasingly noticeable as her career has evolved. While Ferreira’s early years were accompanied by extensive coverage of her relationships, arrests and public appearances, much of the focus today remains on her artistic work.
Where They Stand
Ferreira and Cole Smith have moved on with their respective lives and careers since their 2015-era breakup.
Smith has continued his work with DIIV while openly addressing personal struggles that affected earlier periods of his life. Ferreira has remained a distinctive figure in alternative pop, balancing music, modeling and acting.
Her musical output has also continued to attract attention. In recent years, Ferreira contributed “Leash” to the soundtrack of the 2024 film Babygirl, giving fans another reminder of the distinctive sound that made her debut era so influential.
Sky Ferreira’s relationship with Zachary Cole Smith remains one of the most remembered chapters of her early career, largely because it unfolded during an important transition in her professional life.
Their romance brought together two rising figures from the alternative-music world, but it also exposed Ferreira to extraordinary media attention. The 2013 arrest became a headline that followed both of them for years, even as their careers continued in different directions.
Today, Ferreira’s legacy extends well beyond her former relationships. Night Time, My Time continues to be celebrated by fans, while her work across music, fashion and film has kept her place in popular culture intact.
