Marc Maron has opened up about his final moment seeing Little Fires Everywhere director Lynn Shelton alive on Saturday before she passed away from an undiagnosed blood disorder.
The actor aired the details on his WTF Podcast Monday, and played a recording of their first time meeting when he interviewed her for the show in August 2015.
Maron explained that Shelton had been feeling ill in the week before but after testing negative for coronavirus, they assumed she had strep throat.
But then he heard her collapse in the hallway of their Los Angeles, California home on Thursday night and she was unable to move.
Marc Maron heard Lynn Shelton collapse in the hallway of their California home Saturday before she died, he revealed on his WTF Podcast Monday
Maron said that doctors at two hospitals ‘tried very hard’ to save Shelton’s life, but they ‘eventually had to let her go.’ They’re pictured at the Vanity Fair Oscars Party in February
‘I called 911 and they came and that was the last time I saw her alive, was on the floor, being taken away,’ he tearfully revealed.
Maron cried as he said that doctors at two hospitals ‘tried very hard’ to save Shelton’s life, but they ‘eventually had to let her go’. He told her he loved her, touched her forehead and left the hospital.
But he told listeners he didn’t want to go into too much detail about that day.
He had began the show in an unusually somber tone.
‘Hey, OK, it’s Marc,’ he started. ‘I’m sure most of you know that Lynn Shelton died at about 12.45am on Saturday morning. She was my partner. She was my girlfriend. She was my friend. And I loved her. I love her a lot. And she loved me. And I knew that.’
Maron – who has been married twice before – spoke about their bond and shared with listeners how Shelton changed his view about romantic relationships.
‘I don’t know that I’d ever felt what I felt with her before. I do know, actually. I did not. I have not,’ Maron revealed.
‘I was so comfortable with this person, with Lynn Shelton. And I’m not really that comfortable emotionally or otherwise. But I was—I was able to exist in a state of self-acceptance because of her love for me.’
Maron said on the podcast: ‘She was my partner. She was my girlfriend. She was my friend. And I loved her. I love her a lot. And she loved me. And I knew that’
Maron who has been married twice before revealed: ‘I don’t know that I’d ever felt what I felt with her before. I do know, actually. I did not. I have not’
Maron also opened up about how condolences have made him feel better after losing Shelton.
He said many people had reached out to express their own feelings about her passing and it was ‘really helpful’ to hear from her friends.
‘She was an amazing woman,’ he continued. ‘She was an inspiration to so many people. So many people loved her. She was a very determined artist.
‘No one’s got anything bad to say about Lynn Shelton, that’s for f**king sure.’
Maron added that he thinks people’s affection for her is the reason why he has a good circle of people looking out for him now.
‘I’m so glad that Lynn was so well-loved, because people are like, “Let’s make sure that guy’s OK”,’ Maron laughed, before conversely imagining thinking: ‘How’s the cranky guy doing?’
‘No one’s got anything bad to say about Lynn Shelton, that’s for f**king sure,’ he said about her
Shelton’s film work includes Humpday and Your Sister’s Sister.
She was also an accomplished television director, having helmed episodes for such celebrated series as The Morning Show, Mad Men, Glow, Fresh Off the Boat, Santa Clarita Diet, The Good Place and Master of None.
A decorated filmmaker and director, Lynn had received recognition at festivals such as the Sundance, Cannes and Deauville Film Festivals, as well as at the Independent Spirit Awards.
Mindy Kaling, whom Shelton directed in two episodes of The Mindy Project, wrote in a social media tribute: ‘Lynn Shelton loved actors and we loved her back. She was a dream on set. Her lovely, sunny energy was infectious’.
She was highly respected within the film community, as Shelton’s contemporaries also took time Saturday to share their feelings on her untimely passing.
Those included Ava DuVernay, James Gunn, Edgar Wright and Jason Reitman, who tweeted, ‘Don’t know how to comprehend the sudden loss of my brilliant friend Lynn Shelton. Her direction was filled with delight. Her films tap-danced through the human experience. Cherishing her movies and mourning the ones we never got to see.’
Ohio-born Shelton is survived by her son Milo Seal, whom she shared with her ex-husband, actor and MTV VJ Kevin Seal.
Mindy Kaling, whom Shelton directed in two episodes of The Mindy Project, wrote in a social media tribute: ‘Lynn Shelton loved actors and we loved her back. She was a dream on set’
Little Fires Everywhere star Reese Witherspoon paid tribute to Shelton on Saturday too