“You were seeing aspects of my life at the time, which was confusion and falling in love,” she said.

Paulina Porizkova recalls meeting future husband Ric Ocasek on ‘Drive’ music video while in abusive relationship

"You were seeing aspects of my life at the time, which was confusion and falling in love," she said.

By Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel is a news writer at **. He began writing for EW in 2022.

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May 14, 2026 4:26 p.m. ET

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Ric Ocasek and Paulina Porizkova in New York City in 2010. Credit:

Jim Spellman/WireImage

- Paulina Porizkova said that she was living with a "physically abusive" boyfriend when she filmed the music video for the Cars' "Drive."

- The model met her future husband, Cars lead singer Ric Ocasek, while shooting the video.

- Porizkova said that the video reflected "aspects of my life at the time, which was confusion and falling in love."

Paulina Porizkova is reflecting on two of her past romantic relationships.

The former supermodel discussed meeting her future husband, the Cars frontman Ric Ocasek, while shooting the music video for the group's 1984 hit "Drive" — and noted that she was in an abusive relationship at the time of production.

"At the time I met my husband, I had just turned 19," Porizkova explained in an interview with *Ageist* on Wednesday. "I was living with a guy. I was trying to leave my boyfriend for several months before I met Ric. But he was abusive — physically abusive. If someone hits you once, don’t [let them] do it again."

In the music video, Porizkova portrays a young woman in distress as her relationship with Ocasek's character appears to break down. The model said that her performance reflected her actual lived experience at the time of the shoot.

Paulina Porizkova and Ric Ocasek in the 'Drive' music video.

"So, the video Paulina: You were seeing aspects of my life at the time, which was confusion and falling in love," she explained. "The arguing I was doing with Ric [on screen] was actually arguing with my boyfriend — all these emotions that were very fresh, right there and available."

"I was a girl falling apart," she continued. "I eventually moved out, moved in with Elle MacPherson, and Ric kept calling me up and courting me for months."

Ocasek was previously married to Constance Campbell, from 1963 to 1971, and to Suzanne Otcasek, from 1971 to 1988. He married Porizkova in 1989, five years after the "Drive" video was released, and they remained married until his death, in 2019. The couple had announced their separation a year earlier, which led to a complicated legal battle over the singer's will after his death.

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"Almost every big moment in your life is a perfect storm, a confluence. Love is a part of it," Porizkova reflected. "It makes you believe in a higher power. A sequence of events: my husband dying. The will. The guy who then left me. COVID. Money issues. Me trying to figure out what the f--- to do with myself. How to get a career."

Porizkova began dating *Will & Grace* showrunner Jeff Greenstein in 2023, and announced that they were engaged in 2025.

“I found a relationship that feels like I should have always had at 58,” she told *Ageist*. “The perfect partner for me — unexpectedly. I wouldn’t say he was my type. He’s somebody I might have overlooked in the past.”

Paulina Porizkova and husband Jeff Greenstein at Hollywood's Chateau Marmont in January.

Stefanie Keenan/Getty

The model said she met her future fiancé on the dating app Raya, on which the former supermodel only received four matches in the entire five-year period that she used it.

"I was age-gated," she said. "Guys get to set how old they want the lady to be. 'I don’t want a lady over 55.' All men think they deserve women that are younger. Fifty-five? Nope."

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When Porizkova finally connected with Greenstein, she said that she felt refreshed by his honesty.

"Jeff was like, 'Yeah, I know who you are. I saw your poster growing up — you were super hot, and your husband was in one of my favorite bands. I’m not going to pretend,'" she recalled.

"Oh, my God! Somebody who’s not going to pretend," she continued. "Somebody who told me the truth regardless of what it is. That is the difference between the Paulina now and the Paulina of the past — I find that so incredibly attractive. Authenticity. The truth."

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