There’s been a lot of outrage over the rumors that Leonardo DiCaprio, 48, is dating a 19-year-old.
Fans have been keeping a close eye on the actor since he broke up with model Camila Morrone shortly after her 25th birthday. It seemed that everyone was joking that DiCaprio had a strict age cap when it came to dating, no matter how old he got. To date, he’s reportedly never seriously dated any woman older than 25.
Those jokes took a serious turn last week when DiCaprio was spotted with Israeli model Eden Polani at a Los Angeles release party for Ebony Riley’s new EP, per Buzzfeed News.
Now social media users are reacting strongly to the idea of these two dating, pointing out how significant the 29-year age gap really is. But just as many people argue that 19-year-olds should be free to date who they want, and that any young woman dating a millionaire celebrity might be using him, too.
“Leonardo DiCaprio’s girlfriend is so young her high school experience was interrupted by COVID 19,” one viral TikTok reaction says.
Another TikTok user opted for an analogy with “The Last Of Us” stars Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsay.
“If you want to grasp that age gap a little bit more by seeing it in different people here you go, they’re 19, he’s 47,” the social media user said, sharing a photo of the actors together. “Leo’s girlfriend is 19, Leo is 48. It’s off by one year but it just really shows how f***ing nasty that is.”
Viewers in the comments also pointed out that the age gap between DiCaprio and Polani is the same as the one between David Harbour and Millie Bobby Brown in “Stranger Things.”
But others defended the relationship, or at the very least, pointed out the hypocrisy of being outraged.
“There seems to be a lot of outrage at Leonardo DiCaprio for ‘preying on’ a 19 yr old woman–but not a peep is said about the woman’s taking advantage of his success & status,” one Twitter user shared. “Why assume she’s the one being exploited?”
“Why are people upset that a 19 year old is dating Leonardo DiCaprio when they praise 18 year olds for selling their bodies on onlyfans to ‘get that bag?’ The 19 year old is still getting rich and famous,” another person wrote.
“Today I learned that Leonardo DiCaprio dating a 19-year-old adult woman is the height of moral evil, mostly from the same people who believe a 4-year-old can consent to gender change,” Daily Wire host Ben Shapiro tweeted.