Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio is known for starring in films such as Titanic or The Wolf of Wall Street, but he’s also infamously known for dating young women under the age of 25 when he’s at least 10 years older than them. As of Feb. 8, he’s been seen out with Eden Polani, a 19 year old French-Israeli model. Although these types of relationships in Hollywood are, unfortunately to some degree, normalized, it’s time they become obsolete. 

The Academy Award winner has quite a history of dating women much younger than him, from American actress Blake Lively to former Victoria’s Secret model Erin Heatherton. According to the New York Post, his current rumored girlfriend is nearly 30 years younger than him, These kinds of relationships with large age gaps are normalized in American culture, but should they be? 

Many Twitter users were outraged at this relationship, and according to The Independent, one person even bringing up the fact that the age gap between DiCaprio and Polani is the same age gap that Pedro Pascal has with co-star Bella Ramsey, where they maintain a surrogate father-daughter relationship in HBO’s The Last of Us. 

Many words have been said about DiCaprio not being able to date anyone over the age of 25, and I agree with this sentiment. DiCaprio’s most recent official ex-girlfriend, Camila Morrone, had just recently turned 25 before the break up on August 31, 2022, which was, according to The Sun, due to Camila wanting to focus on her career and DiCaprio wanting her to give it up and start a family. Before the split, the couple would have had a 23 year age gap. I think that this separation was beneficial for the pair. As a woman, it’s sad to say that this isn’t uncommon, being trapped in a relationship where you both want different things can be harmful for either side. 

Polani and DiCaprio’s relationship can be seen as similar to relationships such as R. Kelly and Aaliyah or Jerry Seinfeld and Shoshanna Lonstein, both relationships including an age difference of over 12 years. Such significant age differences can cause complications within relationships, like contrasting generational morals and emotional maturity. Gisele Bündchen and DiCaprio’s break up developed as a consequence for the lack of emotional maturity between the two and the absence of communication.  

It wouldn’t exactly be out of character for DiCaprio to be romantically linked to a woman who’s several years younger than him, but recent reports from his spokesperson claim that he is not in any way romantically involved with the 19 year old model.

Overall, predatory relationships in Hollywood shouldn’t be accepted or glamorized, as it can be quite harmful to either person involved in it. If you think that you or someone you love finds yourself in an unhealthy relationship, reach out to someone you trust so that you can get the help you need as soon as possible.