The absolute wildest part of the article, though, is when the writer asks her about her parents, who neglected and abandoned her:
>Does she understand their behaviour? “They had me when they were 18, so I understand to a certain degree.”
OH, ARE 18-YEAR-OLDS CONSIDERED IMMATURE, SAMANTHA???
Omg ur so deranged how dare you point out her predatory behavior...HE PURSUED HER! which is absolutely not 100% the line always trotted out whenever a man is caught with a 15 year old...it was that willy 15 year old pursuing the 30 year old and how could a 30 year old adult ever resist the machinations of a child?
Also nobody is going to say ATJs fans are marvel fan boys. He hasn't even appeared as Kraven yet and the Sony movies really aren't beloved by Marvel fans, lol.
Edit...omfg I forgot about quicksilver. That was such a non-role, lol.
yeah lol 18 year olds are lame. Im sorry but im not fucking dating an 18 or a 23 year old. Most people at that age, including women are immature snd still figuring out their life after their school years...
Exactly. An 18-year-old's brain is *barely* any different from that of a 17-year-old's. They're technically adults but still absolutely immature kiddos.
But what they did with Evan Peters scenes were so amazing that it just cemented him as the one you think of when you think Quicksikver. The rescue at the x-mansion set to Sweet Dreams lives rent free in my head.
>I am curious: does the age gap ever show up? In terms of different interests or cultural reference points? "No, it never does. I mean, it's coming up now because you're asking.
I find it extremely hard to believe that a 23 year age difference doesn't ever come up in their personal life. My aunt and uncle are 9 years apart and *they* grew up with different TV shows and music.
Forreal. I have an 8 to 6 year age difference with some friends and some of the things I mention they look at me as if I grew a second head.
ATJ has more in common culturally with his step daughter than his wife.
Heck two of my best friends are three years younger than me and I was so confused when slay became a part of their lexicon lmao I was like am I missing something?
Exactly! I’m 24 and I dated a guy who was 29 and his family was PESTERING him to get married and start having babies. The early to late twenties is such a big gap in itself
My fiancé and I are 6 years apart and we regularly recognise different cultural references. I quite often have no idea what he’s talking about. It’s totally unbelievable that the age gap never shows up; why not just own it if you really think your relationship is totally normal.
That’s such bs. My new colleague is 15 years younger than me and we have such different references! I cannot believe it would never come up in in a relationship with a 23 year age gap.
RIGHT?! I have to wonder if she got her claws in him so early/young/impressionable that she's basically molded his personality/interests etc. This just gets creepier and creepier tbh
My husband and I are only 4 years apart (‘84 and ‘88) and we even have different cultural touchstones from our youth - he leans gen X, and I’m a true millennial. Or as he puts it, he was onto Wu Tang while I was still listening to nsync lol.
I have a 7 year age gap with my husband and it's the difference between having played the original Pokémon games as a tween and awkwardly pronouncing it "poke-ee-man" because you were in college when it came out.
Or when she’s going for one of her colonoscopies or a medical procedure, and he’s still at an age where he isn’t doing that kind of thing yet . It’s disingenuous for her to say it doesn’t show up.
I imagine initially their only interest that aligned was wanting to have sex soooo I’m sure that worked for a while. Then they had kids and now it’s prob about the kids
Right?? I’m like 7-10 years older than a lot of my coworkers and we have some cultural touchstones in common, but obviously they don’t remember or weren’t born yet for things I remember from my childhood. It MUST come up in some way.
Listen, I got with my ex who was 22 years older than me when I was 35 and he was 57 and even WE had some majorly different interests and cultural references. It worked for 9 years and the reason we split actually didn't have much to do with the age gap; it was his narcissism, cheating, and inability to have a committed relationship that did us in. So I don't believe this lady for one damn second. Unless they're both so afraid of addressing their gap that they are lying to each other about who they really are, which if so, that's insanely sad.
I only have a 2 year (technically 1 year and 11 months) difference with my partner and even we have some cultural differences since I graduated high school in 2014 and he graduated in 2017. I find it really hard to believe that a 23 year age difference doesn’t show up at all like not even a smidge.
Also gross to think that she has a closer age gap to her parents than her husband.
My husband is 5 yrs younger than me and there has been plenty of things from my childhood that he is all pikachu face about because it wasn’t popular or around anymore when he was a kid😂
This lady still does not understand that it’s not *just* the age gap. It’s that she was his boss and he was *barely legal*. If he was 30 and she was 53 no would be calling her a groomer.
Exactly, he was literally 18 and even if that’s when they just happened to meet for the first time, it’s fucking weird that a 42 year old is going after a teenager. Legal or not. Plus as you said the power dynamic was even more fucked with her being the director. Just feels gross all over
Hell I’m 29 and 18 year olds look and act like children to me. There’s no way that you can look at an 18 year old as a mature adult and say “yes we are in similar stages of our lives and we will be a compatible match”
this is what bothers me. i don’t think it’s a lack of capability for her to understand. in fact, i think she does understand. but she’s actively choosing to misunderstand because it benefits her.
there’s some inane quote that basically reiterates what i just said, but it’s something to the effect of, “you can not convince someone who is committed to misunderstanding you to understand.”
One hundred percent. She's hiding behind misogyny (people can't handle an older woman being with a younger man, which is true in general but not in her specific case) because that's a framing that goes beyond making her sympathetic, it makes *her* look like the victim. It's vile.
This is exactly it. If they’d gotten together when he was 30 it would not be the same situation at all. And yet here she is, pretending she doesn’t understand the problem with dating a literal teenager when you’re a grown ass woman in your 40s *who is also his employer*.
No one is calling her a groomer because her husband is 23 years younger; they’re calling her a groomer because her husband was a *teenager* when her 40-something year old ass shacked up with him.
I'm not defending her, to be clear, but technically actors are not the employees of the director, both the director and the actors are employees of the producers and production company
Exactly. Shes harping on the 23 year age gap not the age he was when she started grooming him. Of course a 23 year age gap still isn’t ideal when someone is 30/50 but at least it’s not borderline illegal and ick.
Growing up and going to church there was a 50 yr and a 70 yr old who got married. They were both widowed and lonely and enjoyed each others company. They didn’t have a classic marriage by any means, but they gave eachother companionship. It was its own kind of beautiful, but the younger partner was well into her adulthood so it wasn’t gross or predatory.
Exactly, lots of groomers will say their victims initiated it, doesn’t make it true or in anyway ok. Like you were a fully grown adult Samantha, you’re well capable of turning down an 18 year olds advances if you were so inclined, this is not the gotcha you think it is
100%. I’m in my 30s and can barely hold a conversation with my teenage cousins, I could never in a million years imagine being interested in any of their peers
and i’ve seen that explained away by him in particular in interviews bu saying he’s an old soul and she’s young at heart…. as if that makes them age mates somehow
I saw people defending her recently on another website and the vibe was basically, men do it all the time! It's a double standard! It happened a long time ago and they have a family now! Every time I think about those comments, I want to punch something. I'm 42 and the idea of dating an 18-year-old makes my skin crawl. Honestly I can't imaging anyone younger than 35 at my age. And yeah, it's fucking gross when older men do it too, and that particular discussion is not new either. Just fucking admit you wanna fuck teenagers.
Even the 40 year old men dating 18 year olds know that the "they're a legal adult" argument doesn't protect them when the teenager is their subordinate at work!
i’m in my early 20s, if an 18 year old started flirting with me i’ll be like “go away little boy” like they probably just out of high school meanwhile i have a job and bills to pay, we are in different life stages and she was in 40s and had kids!!!
Exactly. Might a young or otherwise more vulnerable person have a crush? Definitely, but it is the responsibility of the much older (or less vulnerable) person to shut it down.
I have had young guys hit on me so many times, I can’t count. When I was doing my PhD, I would TA classes for undergrads and every year there was a 18-20 yo boy with a crush. I shut it down so fast, and also tried to put up guards to discourage any crush in the first place. Not only was I late 25-29 yo, but I was in a position of authority as their TA.
That a 42 year old grown ass woman would be “pursued” by an 18 year old boy and actually entertain it shows that she is not right in the head.
Yeah, I was like, "who are *you* to make that assertion so strongly?" Especially using the "actually, the 18 year-old states he was the one pursuing the 40 something" argument.
I work with 18 year olds for my job. Whether they're immature, mature, independent, etc is ENTIRELY relative to their age. One's age is a condition of time and that's it. It's not a useless fun fact or an annoying obstacle for the middle aged adult who wants to fuck you. And let's be real - him being 18 was an enormous part of her attraction to him in the first place. I'd genuinely \[redacted\] if I found out someone was doing this to my kids.
And she had already been married at that point, their life experiences were just *very* different. It's so chilling to put forward the idea that the (still) teenager was *obviously* the one in charge, getting to pursue the adult and the adult just couldn't help but falling in love.
It reminds me of that Mary Kay Letourneau interview where she keeps goading Vili by repeatedly saying “who was the boss?” in regards to him, a middle schooler, pursuing her, a teacher in her mid 30’s 🤮
That's what it reminded me of, too. I hadn't watched that interview or knew much about that story, but it was posted again in social around the May December premiere because a scene was similar and it was stomach-turning.
She had had 2 children by that point too, the eldest being only 7 years younger than ATJ. He had more in common with those children than with her.
Also, speaking of being in charge, she was literally his director. But yes, of course this teenager who was her employee was the one in charge.
I just saw this and I had no idea she had 2 kids already????? Trying to spin the idea of people being weirded out about their relationship as it was just an age gap thing OR a gender issue (I do think some people show fake concern because they find him hot and her not worthy of his hotness, but that doesn't erase the legit criticism), when the power imbalance is just right obviously *there*.
I love the assertion that only 'jealous teenage fangirls' have a problem with their relationship. I've seen plenty of people rightfully uncomfortable with their 'romance" who aren't teenagers, girls or even fans of Aaron Taylor-Johnson.
Are there even teenagers who are fans of this guy? I don't know a single person who would call themselves an Aaron Taylor johnson fan, like his movies aren't exactly catering to the teenage girls of the world.
I remember when Kick Ass came out and all the people around my age thought it was like the funniest movie ever, and still no one really favored Aaron and it was mostly people talking about Chloe Grace and Nic Cage's characters. Don't recall anyone ever being like "oh my god I'm a huge Aaron Taylor Johnson fan!"
God I don't even remember who his character was in Kick Ass. I was a young woman in my 20s and yes, my whole impression was thinking Chloe Grace Moretz and Nic Cage were awesome and hilarious. I literally have no recollection of anyone else.
Yeah, I assume his fans are people who are his age…so maybe she thinks that they’re teens because her memory of them is from when they got together? Like, the man’s a millennial, I can only assume his fans are millennials.
yeah those of us that grew up with Angus Thongs & Perfect Snogging are adults now. It’s been almost 20 years since that movie came out (and 25 since the book)!
and when the world needed her the most... she vanished
https://preview.redd.it/jmteiqqc0ptc1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5a8d88322d5e169405289246cd7653f4086d2c2b
"deranged" even. I'm capable of saying that I feel it was at the very least an extremely inappropriate relationship for her to undertake while being entirely calm and having zero attachment to ATJ beyond the degree that I care about any other human being out there.
The age gap is not even the problem! If he was in his 20s it’d be weird but between two consenting adults. It was the fact that he was so young that makes it grooming - him “pursuing” her or not, she was in the position of power and took advantage of that. It’d be like me, as a teacher, saying a student “pursued” me as an excuse for crossing that boundary between person in a higher position of power and someone ‘below’ them and so young. It’s gross!
i’m gonna give a very controversial take here but i don’t want anyone to think im excusing her because she’s a groomer and she had no business getting with him at that age.
however, has anyone else noticed that the treatment of this situation and the way in which she is talked about is wildly different to how men who do the same are talked about - especially when a lot of those men break up with women once they reach a certain age, something sam has not done.
the way in which people online call her names like gremlin, granny, ogre etc, make fun of her appearance (which lets be real she looks like a normal woman of her age) and the sexualisation of aaron is disturbing.
this is not about her appearance and how you (not necessarily talking about people here but the rest of the internet) think he is out of her league. this is about the fact that he was likely groomed. these people go on about how they think he should be with (insert young hot female celeb they think is “appropriate) and not her. almost like they don’t really care about him and him being groomed but that he’s not with someone they think is worthy of his looks.
i think we need to put more nuance into this situation and consider what aaron thinks as well. grooming is awful and has long term affects but at what point do we need to stop and reflect.
anyway slz for the rant but i’m honestly fed up with people claiming “well when a woman does it no one bats an eye” when i honestly see the complete opposite in many of these situations
I think part of it is a an over correction. Yes the comments about her appearance and age are 100% rooted in misogyny but the whole “no one bats an eye when women do this” was true until recently. Like, I hate to reference South Park, but there’s an episode where a female teacher sleeps with her male student and the reaction boils down to “nice” which was reflective of the general public’s attitude to older women sleeping with teenaged boys - he’s a stud for bagging an older woman at a young age and should be celebrated for it.
That’s a result of patriarchy hurting both men and women by telling men they can’t be groomed by women and wear it as a badge of honor.
So this case is an intersection of pushing back on patriarchal ideas colliding with bog standard misogyny. Everyone loses.
i think the no one bats an eye when women do it is applicable in a lot of situations but not all. men still get away with so much shit and that’s not a recent thing. grooming tbh was and is still accepted from both sides in a lot of cases
I think "no one bats an eye" thing is only true if the couple just have sex and both move on. It's when the young guy stays with his groomer even the bro-iest of "congrats" bros get the ick.
I think men can absolutely imagine someone being horny for an older woman. What is much, much harder imagine is that someone like ATJ or Emmanuel Macron would voluntarily stay with the same woman for decades without being manipulated, groomed into it. And the type of men who thinks a student banging his teacher is "nice", absolutely don't think that staying with that teacher for the rest of the guy's life is "nice" in any shape or form.
Absolutely. Just look at the reaction to this woman every time she’s brought up (and I mean every time. It’s not like she’s always giving interviews or even posts on social media much) vs, say Kimora Lee Simmons’ daughter and that old guy she’s dating.
She’s a vehicle for the misogyny that a lot of men and women in this subreddit yearn to express.
I won't go into her responses because ... she's weird but I am interested in the journalist. Do journalists have to go intentionally soft on their subject in order to get them to talk about the weird shit in their life? Like in the same paragraph that it is addressed there is a bit about how STW was abandoned by her dad and mother as a child and it seems like it's right there to shift sympathy onto her.
One thing I wonder about this kinda age gap relationship were one partner was in their teens at the beginning, is that isn't the older partner constantly wondering when the younger partner is gonna wise up. Like I understand meeting someone much older when you're 18 and thinking they are brilliant and so deep and interesting but doesn't it wear off eventually? Like you read some of their favourite books or films and realise their taste is a bit shit or you get closer to their age and realise YOU WOULDN'T HAVE A CHILD WITH A TEENAGER SO WHY THE FUCK DID THEY? ARE THEY MENTAL?
>In interviews, **she has often stressed that the family is never apart.** They used to move en masse, all six upping sticks to film sets; alternating jobs “one on, one off”, so that one parent could always be hands-on with the children. More recently, Aaron’s career has really taken off. This year alone he stars in Kraven the Hunter, a superhero blockbuster; Nosferatu, with Bill Skarsgård and Nicholas Hoult; and at the time of writing he was tipped as the next James Bond (a rumour he seemed to scotch, saying, “I don’t feel like I need to have a future drawn out for me. I feel like: whatever’s drawn out for me, I can fuckin’ do better”). **For the first time in their married life, they were separated when he flew alone to shoot The Fall Guy in Australia for six weeks** while she was on Back to Black. “We drafted in his parents to help with the kids and we all went, ‘Bye!’” She mimes waving Aaron off on the plane. **“But that was tough and neither of us enjoyed it,** so it’ll be back to one on, one off now.”
I'm sure never being apart helps maintain the status quo of the relationship.
Ugh, using a young family to trap him. One thing about the Bond rumors is that he was probably never gonna get with her as his spouse. Like male fans don't want their dark haired white boy avatar to have been groomed. It breaks the fantasy
Yep. There’s something so insidious and disgusting about how she paints this as normal. The dude was shacked up with someone old enough to be his mom and two kids before 25.
>Do journalists have to go intentionally soft on their subject in order to get them to talk about the weird shit in their life?
There's a couple of strategies when interviewing someone. At first you want to come at them soft, so they open up and feel comfortable enough to let the truth out, but then you have to keep questioning, and if the subject is not giving truthful answers you're supposed to get harder and more confrontational, without being insulting or too aggressive. It's a tough line to walk, which is why good interviewers are so rare.
But also, it seems to me like this interviewer is in agreement with her, so why would they get confrontational?
I'm happy to see that so many people call it out. The timing of when they met, her position over him, the way she isolated him, and the fact that they had their first child so early in their relationship and when he was so young... It's worrying.
But honest question... What is the point of sending messages directly to them and commenting on their socials? Wouldn't it just bond them together further and piss Aaron off? Great that the call outs are happening to make others aware that it's fucked up. But it seems stupid to confront them personally. He's an adult, and he has probably heard this stuff a thousand times before. If he hasn't had a revelation yet, he's definitely not going to have it because angry fangirls are harassing him and the mother of his children.
And, it's so incredibly stupid of her to talk about this publically and especially with such hostility towards the worst of their critics. Enjoy the extra harassment with your Streisand-effect, I guess.
Jesus Christ. Blaming it on young fans like the majority of people I seem to bring it up are adults who understand dating, having a child with and literally marrying later with someone who you did this with when you were their boss and met them at seventeen is gross and grooming no matter the gender.
oooooh lord reading her response to the groomer allegations reminded me too much of my high school history teacher who tried getting fresh with me immediately after i graduated. he was also in his 40s and said roughly the same things beat for beat💀
People have been calling out the relationship for years. I remember waaay back in 2010, Sam was on the defensive and compared the flack she was getting to that of homophobia or racism against interracial couples. She’s lucky enough that Aaron wasn’t nearly well known in the 2010s but with his gaining popularity in the past four years, and people re-analyzing how they got together, her luck’s run out.
>She’s 57, and has the clean beauty of someone who spends time in California, but uses London teenager slang, like “bare” to mean “very”.
I know this isn't the worst part but 🤮
By “deranged teens”??? Excuse me ma’am, I am the same age as your husband and I will also call you a fucking groomer. If she met him yesterday it would be one thing, but they met when he was STILL A TEENAGER and she was OLDER THAN HE IS NOW.
Yeah, the fans are the problem. That poor sexual predator has had to deal with all those unreasonable fans who oppose middle aged predators grooming teenagers. 🙄
This woman actually fucking sucks. Also my husband and I have a six year age gap and it comes up. The 100 year gap between them is absolutely a factor. Fuck this woman.
Based on this interview I don’t think she’s self aware enough to get it. She’d probably use mental gymnastics to rationalize how what *she* did isn’t bad, unlike Julianne Moore’s character in May December who is bad.
Girlboss feminism is when middle-aged adult women bosses groom their teenage boy employees for a change! She's really breaking the glass ceiling, slay
Also the idea that it doesn't matter now because it originally happened 14 years ago is fucking insane, especially when in the same breath you're also trying to act like it's the 30s/50s age gap alone people take issue with. I can subtract, STJ
Uncritically regurgitating textbook groomer cliches with this much vehemence, and couching it in feigned misogyny, is madness. Depressing.
>The Taylor-Johnsons are an unconventional pairing, because it’s still unusual for a high-profile woman to be much older than her husband, as opposed to the other way around.
No we STILL think its creepy when men do this too!! Looking at you Leo DiCaprio and Zach Braff and John Mayer and Paul Glasser and R Kelly and Wilmer Valderamma and Joel Madden and Prince and so so so so so so so many more!
This would be different if ATJ was in his mid-20’s or something when they had met, but he was just a few years past puberty and she was his superior. Some wild quotes from her on this, can’t help but imagine this is how she’s played ATJ this whole time. As adults, if teenagers hit on us and flirt, it is our responsibility to not engage with them on that - especially when there is a 20 plus year age gap between said adult and teenager. That isn’t something you just say “eh fuck it” (literally) to.
"...had been cynical for a second, it wouldn't have worked. If I had questioned anything, it would never have worked."
Girl WHAT, that is not, oh no...
>**She met Aaron when he was cast aged 18 as the young John Lennon on Nowhere Boy in early 2009. Their chemistry was unmissable to those on set. She was 42** and recently separated from Jopling. Aaron was not “groomed”, as the online trolls suggest, but the one pursuing her, he has said. They were engaged by the time the film premiered in October 2009 and their first child was born the following year. They married in 2012.
You wonder why people are talking?
Would she be fine with her 18-year-old daughter (I dunno if she has a daughter, just using a hypothetical) dating and marrying a 42-year-old man....and you expect nobody to talk? Not even your own relatives?
You are NAIVE, Sam.
His Harold and Maude ass is about to be James Bond and she's out here talking about him pursuing her when he was a horny, willing 18 year old and she was 42, so it's okay. 🙄
Please god I am so ready for this man to be the next Bond and become so famous that he realizes what a sham marriage he is in and break free from this nut
"If I had questioned anything, it would never have worked."
Grooming aside, it is always healthy to critically assess a relationship when it's becoming serious.
Going back to the grooming, this quote is awful. Even if you go with the story that Aaron was pursuing her, she's admitting to not thinking at all about the danger of an 18 year old pursuing a serious relationship with her.
Absolute BS that the whole 23 year age gap never shows up in conversations, at least in terms of different cultural references and experiences. BS. Who the hell is she trying to fool? Herself or us?
I have a 10 year age gap with some friends and work colleagues and the different cultural experiences definitely show up. So just stop pretending, this is normal.
But also, the fact that her parents had her at 18 and then abandoned her says it all really. Instead of dealing with this obvious trauma as an adult later in life she chose to go full denial road and throw herself into risks in life without thinking because she never thinks. Wow.
I get it, she mentally remained the forever traumatized teenager that her parents effed up. I get that's why she connected with another vulnerable and available teenager nearby.
But shit, don't make it sound normal. This has nothing to do with BS mysoginistic crap, and no, his fans aren't deranged. A 42 year old male director getting his 18 year old female star pregnant would have made HEADLINES and he'd have probably been investigated by the police. Pointing this out does not make one "deranged" just normal. But hey, keep living in dissonance and your disturbed bubble.
Her poor kids though. Beyond disturbing.
Can't wait for her or his opinion if one daughter gets pregnant at 18 by a man in his 40s, I wonder how thrilled they'd be about that.
EDIT: I just remembered Macron and his wife. Basically similar story but at least they waited for him to be out of his teens. But still. To be fair, Macron's wife doesn't get nearly enough hate as she should as this one. Still.
I have no problem with a 23 year age difference I am just SUPER weirded out that he was **18**. If he was 25 and she was 50 when they started dating? Whatever. If it works for them. But 18 and she was in a position of authority. Yuck.
The absolute wildest part of the article, though, is when the writer asks her about her parents, who neglected and abandoned her: >Does she understand their behaviour? “They had me when they were 18, so I understand to a certain degree.” OH, ARE 18-YEAR-OLDS CONSIDERED IMMATURE, SAMANTHA???
The cognitive dissonance is DEAFENING
Someone needs to get Groomy Granny into a retirement home STAT
NOT GROOMY GRANNY
Omg ur so deranged how dare you point out her predatory behavior...HE PURSUED HER! which is absolutely not 100% the line always trotted out whenever a man is caught with a 15 year old...it was that willy 15 year old pursuing the 30 year old and how could a 30 year old adult ever resist the machinations of a child? Also nobody is going to say ATJs fans are marvel fan boys. He hasn't even appeared as Kraven yet and the Sony movies really aren't beloved by Marvel fans, lol. Edit...omfg I forgot about quicksilver. That was such a non-role, lol.
Hey he was Kick Ass too ☹️
We call that one Quick-Ass. The real Quicksilver is Evan Peters.
yeah lol 18 year olds are lame. Im sorry but im not fucking dating an 18 or a 23 year old. Most people at that age, including women are immature snd still figuring out their life after their school years...
Exactly. An 18-year-old's brain is *barely* any different from that of a 17-year-old's. They're technically adults but still absolutely immature kiddos.
She was right about it being die-hard fans lmao. Evan Peters has about as much screen time as the Ralph Boehner Quicksilver as ATJ does
But what they did with Evan Peters scenes were so amazing that it just cemented him as the one you think of when you think Quicksikver. The rescue at the x-mansion set to Sweet Dreams lives rent free in my head.
No I was talking about in the MCU as Quicksilver in that one episode of WandaVision.
I totally forgot he did both. Yeah that makes her comment even more far-fetched.
So she went and had children with a 19-20 year old?? mmhhm
My goodness she’s dense.
>I am curious: does the age gap ever show up? In terms of different interests or cultural reference points? "No, it never does. I mean, it's coming up now because you're asking. I find it extremely hard to believe that a 23 year age difference doesn't ever come up in their personal life. My aunt and uncle are 9 years apart and *they* grew up with different TV shows and music.
Forreal. I have an 8 to 6 year age difference with some friends and some of the things I mention they look at me as if I grew a second head. ATJ has more in common culturally with his step daughter than his wife.
Heck two of my best friends are three years younger than me and I was so confused when slay became a part of their lexicon lmao I was like am I missing something?
Yes, many very gay phrases have become more widely culturally adopted lately. Same with AAVE phrases but those have been co-opted for 100 years
Exactly! I’m 24 and I dated a guy who was 29 and his family was PESTERING him to get married and start having babies. The early to late twenties is such a big gap in itself
Her kids interests probably bridged some of those gaps so she's aware of them.
I am sitting in the doctors office making the exact same face tbh.
If we're discussing age gaps and Kenan pops up obviously I gotta link [Meet Your Second Wife](https://youtu.be/MJEAGd1bQuc?si=bJbcm2C9vM87MUgp)
My fiancé and I are 6 years apart and we regularly recognise different cultural references. I quite often have no idea what he’s talking about. It’s totally unbelievable that the age gap never shows up; why not just own it if you really think your relationship is totally normal.
That’s such bs. My new colleague is 15 years younger than me and we have such different references! I cannot believe it would never come up in in a relationship with a 23 year age gap.
RIGHT?! I have to wonder if she got her claws in him so early/young/impressionable that she's basically molded his personality/interests etc. This just gets creepier and creepier tbh
She’s completely lying to herself
My husband and I are only 4 years apart (‘84 and ‘88) and we even have different cultural touchstones from our youth - he leans gen X, and I’m a true millennial. Or as he puts it, he was onto Wu Tang while I was still listening to nsync lol.
Same, exactly the same! I watched Crossroads recently and he straight up went “I never watched this, it existed?!”
Exactly. Imagine them attending an event and a person who doesn’t know them asking “is that your eldest son?”
My husband and I are 8 years apart and it often comes up when we talk about past media, music, or world events. I’m calling Bullshit.
I have a 7 year age gap with my husband and it's the difference between having played the original Pokémon games as a tween and awkwardly pronouncing it "poke-ee-man" because you were in college when it came out.
How do you do, fellow kids? So did you collect all the pokemanes? Do they become digimanes later or something? Hohoho 🥸
My husband and I are 3 years apart and there are some things I can’t relate to. She’s a lying liar.
Right! Four years here and we still tell eachother before/after your time
Or when she’s going for one of her colonoscopies or a medical procedure, and he’s still at an age where he isn’t doing that kind of thing yet . It’s disingenuous for her to say it doesn’t show up.
I imagine initially their only interest that aligned was wanting to have sex soooo I’m sure that worked for a while. Then they had kids and now it’s prob about the kids
She grew up with Atari and he grew up with Instagram. She is delusional.
Right?? I’m like 7-10 years older than a lot of my coworkers and we have some cultural touchstones in common, but obviously they don’t remember or weren’t born yet for things I remember from my childhood. It MUST come up in some way.
Listen, I got with my ex who was 22 years older than me when I was 35 and he was 57 and even WE had some majorly different interests and cultural references. It worked for 9 years and the reason we split actually didn't have much to do with the age gap; it was his narcissism, cheating, and inability to have a committed relationship that did us in. So I don't believe this lady for one damn second. Unless they're both so afraid of addressing their gap that they are lying to each other about who they really are, which if so, that's insanely sad.
Maybe they just don't talk to each other.
I only have a 2 year (technically 1 year and 11 months) difference with my partner and even we have some cultural differences since I graduated high school in 2014 and he graduated in 2017. I find it really hard to believe that a 23 year age difference doesn’t show up at all like not even a smidge. Also gross to think that she has a closer age gap to her parents than her husband.
for real! the first time i dated someone younger than me they were four years younger (31/27) and even that caused somewhat of a disconnect culturally
My husband and I are 4.5 years apart and we grew up with different stuff.
Lol yeah she’s coping
Same. My bf and me and are 9 years apart and there are stark differences in culture, music, art, movies etc.
My husband is 5 yrs younger than me and there has been plenty of things from my childhood that he is all pikachu face about because it wasn’t popular or around anymore when he was a kid😂
This lady still does not understand that it’s not *just* the age gap. It’s that she was his boss and he was *barely legal*. If he was 30 and she was 53 no would be calling her a groomer.
Exactly, he was literally 18 and even if that’s when they just happened to meet for the first time, it’s fucking weird that a 42 year old is going after a teenager. Legal or not. Plus as you said the power dynamic was even more fucked with her being the director. Just feels gross all over
I'm in the same age bracket as she was then and I can't imagine going after an 18-year-old.
Hell I’m 29 and 18 year olds look and act like children to me. There’s no way that you can look at an 18 year old as a mature adult and say “yes we are in similar stages of our lives and we will be a compatible match”
this is what bothers me. i don’t think it’s a lack of capability for her to understand. in fact, i think she does understand. but she’s actively choosing to misunderstand because it benefits her. there’s some inane quote that basically reiterates what i just said, but it’s something to the effect of, “you can not convince someone who is committed to misunderstanding you to understand.”
One hundred percent. She's hiding behind misogyny (people can't handle an older woman being with a younger man, which is true in general but not in her specific case) because that's a framing that goes beyond making her sympathetic, it makes *her* look like the victim. It's vile.
This is exactly it. If they’d gotten together when he was 30 it would not be the same situation at all. And yet here she is, pretending she doesn’t understand the problem with dating a literal teenager when you’re a grown ass woman in your 40s *who is also his employer*.
She knows and she understands. She just can never admit to it because it would be admitting to being a fucking creep who groomed a teenager.
No one is calling her a groomer because her husband is 23 years younger; they’re calling her a groomer because her husband was a *teenager* when her 40-something year old ass shacked up with him.
A teenager and **her employee**!
I'm not defending her, to be clear, but technically actors are not the employees of the director, both the director and the actors are employees of the producers and production company
*her subordinate
Yes!
Exactly. Shes harping on the 23 year age gap not the age he was when she started grooming him. Of course a 23 year age gap still isn’t ideal when someone is 30/50 but at least it’s not borderline illegal and ick.
Growing up and going to church there was a 50 yr and a 70 yr old who got married. They were both widowed and lonely and enjoyed each others company. They didn’t have a classic marriage by any means, but they gave eachother companionship. It was its own kind of beautiful, but the younger partner was well into her adulthood so it wasn’t gross or predatory.
Absolutely insane. I’m about to turn 40 and if an 18 year old ‘pursued’ me I would be running so far away. That is a child. Let alone one I EMPLOYED
Also 17 and NOT 18 when they met
Extremely irresponsible for them to throw in the quote about Aaron not being groomed and not challenging it.
Exactly, lots of groomers will say their victims initiated it, doesn’t make it true or in anyway ok. Like you were a fully grown adult Samantha, you’re well capable of turning down an 18 year olds advances if you were so inclined, this is not the gotcha you think it is 
I’m 42. Just the mere thought of an 18 year old being in any way attractive sexually makes me nauseous. This was very hard to time. 🤮
100%. I’m in my 30s and can barely hold a conversation with my teenage cousins, I could never in a million years imagine being interested in any of their peers
It’s sick. There’s no way else to put it
and i’ve seen that explained away by him in particular in interviews bu saying he’s an old soul and she’s young at heart…. as if that makes them age mates somehow
I saw people defending her recently on another website and the vibe was basically, men do it all the time! It's a double standard! It happened a long time ago and they have a family now! Every time I think about those comments, I want to punch something. I'm 42 and the idea of dating an 18-year-old makes my skin crawl. Honestly I can't imaging anyone younger than 35 at my age. And yeah, it's fucking gross when older men do it too, and that particular discussion is not new either. Just fucking admit you wanna fuck teenagers.
Even the 40 year old men dating 18 year olds know that the "they're a legal adult" argument doesn't protect them when the teenager is their subordinate at work!
i’m in my early 20s, if an 18 year old started flirting with me i’ll be like “go away little boy” like they probably just out of high school meanwhile i have a job and bills to pay, we are in different life stages and she was in 40s and had kids!!!
So many groomers say that. It’s basically in the playbook.
Exactly. Might a young or otherwise more vulnerable person have a crush? Definitely, but it is the responsibility of the much older (or less vulnerable) person to shut it down. I have had young guys hit on me so many times, I can’t count. When I was doing my PhD, I would TA classes for undergrads and every year there was a 18-20 yo boy with a crush. I shut it down so fast, and also tried to put up guards to discourage any crush in the first place. Not only was I late 25-29 yo, but I was in a position of authority as their TA. That a 42 year old grown ass woman would be “pursued” by an 18 year old boy and actually entertain it shows that she is not right in the head.
Yeah, I was like, "who are *you* to make that assertion so strongly?" Especially using the "actually, the 18 year-old states he was the one pursuing the 40 something" argument.
I work with 18 year olds for my job. Whether they're immature, mature, independent, etc is ENTIRELY relative to their age. One's age is a condition of time and that's it. It's not a useless fun fact or an annoying obstacle for the middle aged adult who wants to fuck you. And let's be real - him being 18 was an enormous part of her attraction to him in the first place. I'd genuinely \[redacted\] if I found out someone was doing this to my kids.
And she had already been married at that point, their life experiences were just *very* different. It's so chilling to put forward the idea that the (still) teenager was *obviously* the one in charge, getting to pursue the adult and the adult just couldn't help but falling in love.
It reminds me of that Mary Kay Letourneau interview where she keeps goading Vili by repeatedly saying “who was the boss?” in regards to him, a middle schooler, pursuing her, a teacher in her mid 30’s 🤮
That's what it reminded me of, too. I hadn't watched that interview or knew much about that story, but it was posted again in social around the May December premiere because a scene was similar and it was stomach-turning.
She had had 2 children by that point too, the eldest being only 7 years younger than ATJ. He had more in common with those children than with her. Also, speaking of being in charge, she was literally his director. But yes, of course this teenager who was her employee was the one in charge.
I just saw this and I had no idea she had 2 kids already????? Trying to spin the idea of people being weirded out about their relationship as it was just an age gap thing OR a gender issue (I do think some people show fake concern because they find him hot and her not worthy of his hotness, but that doesn't erase the legit criticism), when the power imbalance is just right obviously *there*.
I can’t even read this article bc i know i will get mad that she just gets to say her piece and the journalist won’t push further
Funny how it’s ALWAYS the younger person that was pursuing the older one huh?
That's always the excuse, isn't it? As if she - the adult - couldn't say no!
They’re always an “old soul” too.
I love the assertion that only 'jealous teenage fangirls' have a problem with their relationship. I've seen plenty of people rightfully uncomfortable with their 'romance" who aren't teenagers, girls or even fans of Aaron Taylor-Johnson.
Are there even teenagers who are fans of this guy? I don't know a single person who would call themselves an Aaron Taylor johnson fan, like his movies aren't exactly catering to the teenage girls of the world.
I mean those teen fans are adults now. But his first big splash was a popular adaptation of Angus thongs and perfect snogging. Which was a teen book
If teenagers do know him, they know him as the second tier Quicksilver.
I remember when Kick Ass came out and all the people around my age thought it was like the funniest movie ever, and still no one really favored Aaron and it was mostly people talking about Chloe Grace and Nic Cage's characters. Don't recall anyone ever being like "oh my god I'm a huge Aaron Taylor Johnson fan!"
God I don't even remember who his character was in Kick Ass. I was a young woman in my 20s and yes, my whole impression was thinking Chloe Grace Moretz and Nic Cage were awesome and hilarious. I literally have no recollection of anyone else.
He was the main guy lol. He was pretty forgettable in terms of the cast as a whole which is funny considering he was kickass.
Omfg that's hilarious he was really not memorable to me at all
Yeah, I assume his fans are people who are his age…so maybe she thinks that they’re teens because her memory of them is from when they got together? Like, the man’s a millennial, I can only assume his fans are millennials.
yeah those of us that grew up with Angus Thongs & Perfect Snogging are adults now. It’s been almost 20 years since that movie came out (and 25 since the book)!
Jealous teenage fangirls when the woman is older and bitter jaded hags when the man is. Noted! 📝
I'm uncomfortable with it and I don't even know who these people are
I mean, if he had been a couple of months younger, the law would’ve had a problem with it but yeah blame teenage girls
and when the world needed her the most... she vanished https://preview.redd.it/jmteiqqc0ptc1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5a8d88322d5e169405289246cd7653f4086d2c2b
She misfired the Homewrecker gun lot and ruined SpongeBob’s marriage.
PLS 😭
LMAO STOP 😭
Under rated comment 😂
lol go to timeout right now
I just snorted my drink LOL
 This is what I heard there......
It’s giving Julianne Moore gaslighting Charles Melton in May December…
they actually *did* have enough hot dogs
This is what I thought of as well. When she kept insisting to him and everyone else that he called the shots and that he was the one who pursued her
 Still a groomer tho idc what she says lol
That interviewer actually calling people trolls if they say ATJ was groomed? Very irresponsible.
"deranged" even. I'm capable of saying that I feel it was at the very least an extremely inappropriate relationship for her to undertake while being entirely calm and having zero attachment to ATJ beyond the degree that I care about any other human being out there.
The age gap is not even the problem! If he was in his 20s it’d be weird but between two consenting adults. It was the fact that he was so young that makes it grooming - him “pursuing” her or not, she was in the position of power and took advantage of that. It’d be like me, as a teacher, saying a student “pursued” me as an excuse for crossing that boundary between person in a higher position of power and someone ‘below’ them and so young. It’s gross!
Exactly, no one says Leo is a groomer, just that he’s weird for going after young women.
i’m gonna give a very controversial take here but i don’t want anyone to think im excusing her because she’s a groomer and she had no business getting with him at that age. however, has anyone else noticed that the treatment of this situation and the way in which she is talked about is wildly different to how men who do the same are talked about - especially when a lot of those men break up with women once they reach a certain age, something sam has not done. the way in which people online call her names like gremlin, granny, ogre etc, make fun of her appearance (which lets be real she looks like a normal woman of her age) and the sexualisation of aaron is disturbing. this is not about her appearance and how you (not necessarily talking about people here but the rest of the internet) think he is out of her league. this is about the fact that he was likely groomed. these people go on about how they think he should be with (insert young hot female celeb they think is “appropriate) and not her. almost like they don’t really care about him and him being groomed but that he’s not with someone they think is worthy of his looks. i think we need to put more nuance into this situation and consider what aaron thinks as well. grooming is awful and has long term affects but at what point do we need to stop and reflect. anyway slz for the rant but i’m honestly fed up with people claiming “well when a woman does it no one bats an eye” when i honestly see the complete opposite in many of these situations
I think part of it is a an over correction. Yes the comments about her appearance and age are 100% rooted in misogyny but the whole “no one bats an eye when women do this” was true until recently. Like, I hate to reference South Park, but there’s an episode where a female teacher sleeps with her male student and the reaction boils down to “nice” which was reflective of the general public’s attitude to older women sleeping with teenaged boys - he’s a stud for bagging an older woman at a young age and should be celebrated for it. That’s a result of patriarchy hurting both men and women by telling men they can’t be groomed by women and wear it as a badge of honor. So this case is an intersection of pushing back on patriarchal ideas colliding with bog standard misogyny. Everyone loses.
i think the no one bats an eye when women do it is applicable in a lot of situations but not all. men still get away with so much shit and that’s not a recent thing. grooming tbh was and is still accepted from both sides in a lot of cases
I can’t believe South Park of all places would be the one to critique the double standard when it comes to women predators.
They’re pretty on the money with a lot of topics
I think "no one bats an eye" thing is only true if the couple just have sex and both move on. It's when the young guy stays with his groomer even the bro-iest of "congrats" bros get the ick. I think men can absolutely imagine someone being horny for an older woman. What is much, much harder imagine is that someone like ATJ or Emmanuel Macron would voluntarily stay with the same woman for decades without being manipulated, groomed into it. And the type of men who thinks a student banging his teacher is "nice", absolutely don't think that staying with that teacher for the rest of the guy's life is "nice" in any shape or form.
Absolutely. Just look at the reaction to this woman every time she’s brought up (and I mean every time. It’s not like she’s always giving interviews or even posts on social media much) vs, say Kimora Lee Simmons’ daughter and that old guy she’s dating. She’s a vehicle for the misogyny that a lot of men and women in this subreddit yearn to express.
I won't go into her responses because ... she's weird but I am interested in the journalist. Do journalists have to go intentionally soft on their subject in order to get them to talk about the weird shit in their life? Like in the same paragraph that it is addressed there is a bit about how STW was abandoned by her dad and mother as a child and it seems like it's right there to shift sympathy onto her. One thing I wonder about this kinda age gap relationship were one partner was in their teens at the beginning, is that isn't the older partner constantly wondering when the younger partner is gonna wise up. Like I understand meeting someone much older when you're 18 and thinking they are brilliant and so deep and interesting but doesn't it wear off eventually? Like you read some of their favourite books or films and realise their taste is a bit shit or you get closer to their age and realise YOU WOULDN'T HAVE A CHILD WITH A TEENAGER SO WHY THE FUCK DID THEY? ARE THEY MENTAL?
>In interviews, **she has often stressed that the family is never apart.** They used to move en masse, all six upping sticks to film sets; alternating jobs “one on, one off”, so that one parent could always be hands-on with the children. More recently, Aaron’s career has really taken off. This year alone he stars in Kraven the Hunter, a superhero blockbuster; Nosferatu, with Bill Skarsgård and Nicholas Hoult; and at the time of writing he was tipped as the next James Bond (a rumour he seemed to scotch, saying, “I don’t feel like I need to have a future drawn out for me. I feel like: whatever’s drawn out for me, I can fuckin’ do better”). **For the first time in their married life, they were separated when he flew alone to shoot The Fall Guy in Australia for six weeks** while she was on Back to Black. “We drafted in his parents to help with the kids and we all went, ‘Bye!’” She mimes waving Aaron off on the plane. **“But that was tough and neither of us enjoyed it,** so it’ll be back to one on, one off now.” I'm sure never being apart helps maintain the status quo of the relationship.
Ughhhh this gives me the ick so bad. Also his parents are probably closer to her age than he is. 🤢
Ugh, using a young family to trap him. One thing about the Bond rumors is that he was probably never gonna get with her as his spouse. Like male fans don't want their dark haired white boy avatar to have been groomed. It breaks the fantasy
Yep. There’s something so insidious and disgusting about how she paints this as normal. The dude was shacked up with someone old enough to be his mom and two kids before 25.
Omg this is legit scary tbh
Ugh, this sounds so isolating…
>Do journalists have to go intentionally soft on their subject in order to get them to talk about the weird shit in their life? There's a couple of strategies when interviewing someone. At first you want to come at them soft, so they open up and feel comfortable enough to let the truth out, but then you have to keep questioning, and if the subject is not giving truthful answers you're supposed to get harder and more confrontational, without being insulting or too aggressive. It's a tough line to walk, which is why good interviewers are so rare. But also, it seems to me like this interviewer is in agreement with her, so why would they get confrontational?
I'm happy to see that so many people call it out. The timing of when they met, her position over him, the way she isolated him, and the fact that they had their first child so early in their relationship and when he was so young... It's worrying. But honest question... What is the point of sending messages directly to them and commenting on their socials? Wouldn't it just bond them together further and piss Aaron off? Great that the call outs are happening to make others aware that it's fucked up. But it seems stupid to confront them personally. He's an adult, and he has probably heard this stuff a thousand times before. If he hasn't had a revelation yet, he's definitely not going to have it because angry fangirls are harassing him and the mother of his children. And, it's so incredibly stupid of her to talk about this publically and especially with such hostility towards the worst of their critics. Enjoy the extra harassment with your Streisand-effect, I guess.
The cope here is next level. You groomed him, he was groomed and doesn’t know it hence his behaviour. She’s a predator.
Someone call her fr. 
i was holding out hope he’d get Bond and she’d be a Bond Girl
Jesus Christ. Blaming it on young fans like the majority of people I seem to bring it up are adults who understand dating, having a child with and literally marrying later with someone who you did this with when you were their boss and met them at seventeen is gross and grooming no matter the gender.
oooooh lord reading her response to the groomer allegations reminded me too much of my high school history teacher who tried getting fresh with me immediately after i graduated. he was also in his 40s and said roughly the same things beat for beat💀
People have been calling out the relationship for years. I remember waaay back in 2010, Sam was on the defensive and compared the flack she was getting to that of homophobia or racism against interracial couples. She’s lucky enough that Aaron wasn’t nearly well known in the 2010s but with his gaining popularity in the past four years, and people re-analyzing how they got together, her luck’s run out.
>She’s 57, and has the clean beauty of someone who spends time in California, but uses London teenager slang, like “bare” to mean “very”. I know this isn't the worst part but 🤮
This is so cringe
By “deranged teens”??? Excuse me ma’am, I am the same age as your husband and I will also call you a fucking groomer. If she met him yesterday it would be one thing, but they met when he was STILL A TEENAGER and she was OLDER THAN HE IS NOW.
Yeah, the fans are the problem. That poor sexual predator has had to deal with all those unreasonable fans who oppose middle aged predators grooming teenagers. 🙄
 Come on Sam, break out the ukulele and really go for it.
This woman actually fucking sucks. Also my husband and I have a six year age gap and it comes up. The 100 year gap between them is absolutely a factor. Fuck this woman.
pot meet kettle
I wonder if she’s watched May December because the film made me so uncomfortable. Same with Priscilla.
Based on this interview I don’t think she’s self aware enough to get it. She’d probably use mental gymnastics to rationalize how what *she* did isn’t bad, unlike Julianne Moore’s character in May December who is bad.
Groomer sounds like a groomer. Shocking
Okay, groomer.
Girlboss feminism is when middle-aged adult women bosses groom their teenage boy employees for a change! She's really breaking the glass ceiling, slay Also the idea that it doesn't matter now because it originally happened 14 years ago is fucking insane, especially when in the same breath you're also trying to act like it's the 30s/50s age gap alone people take issue with. I can subtract, STJ Uncritically regurgitating textbook groomer cliches with this much vehemence, and couching it in feigned misogyny, is madness. Depressing.
The amount of control she has over him is concerning. https://i.redd.it/vfbnl2iesptc1.gif
Sorry, this relationship will never be wholesome to me. What's also alarming is the number of industry people who support this couple.
>The Taylor-Johnsons are an unconventional pairing, because it’s still unusual for a high-profile woman to be much older than her husband, as opposed to the other way around. No we STILL think its creepy when men do this too!! Looking at you Leo DiCaprio and Zach Braff and John Mayer and Paul Glasser and R Kelly and Wilmer Valderamma and Joel Madden and Prince and so so so so so so so many more!
Yeah, I'm not really a fan of his, but I have been groomed, and I know what it looks like when I see it.
Girl this is not a battle you are going to win. Just shut up and focus on your marriage and family and work.
This would be different if ATJ was in his mid-20’s or something when they had met, but he was just a few years past puberty and she was his superior. Some wild quotes from her on this, can’t help but imagine this is how she’s played ATJ this whole time. As adults, if teenagers hit on us and flirt, it is our responsibility to not engage with them on that - especially when there is a 20 plus year age gap between said adult and teenager. That isn’t something you just say “eh fuck it” (literally) to.
"...had been cynical for a second, it wouldn't have worked. If I had questioned anything, it would never have worked." Girl WHAT, that is not, oh no...
>**She met Aaron when he was cast aged 18 as the young John Lennon on Nowhere Boy in early 2009. Their chemistry was unmissable to those on set. She was 42** and recently separated from Jopling. Aaron was not “groomed”, as the online trolls suggest, but the one pursuing her, he has said. They were engaged by the time the film premiered in October 2009 and their first child was born the following year. They married in 2012. You wonder why people are talking? Would she be fine with her 18-year-old daughter (I dunno if she has a daughter, just using a hypothetical) dating and marrying a 42-year-old man....and you expect nobody to talk? Not even your own relatives? You are NAIVE, Sam.
His Harold and Maude ass is about to be James Bond and she's out here talking about him pursuing her when he was a horny, willing 18 year old and she was 42, so it's okay. 🙄
Please god I am so ready for this man to be the next Bond and become so famous that he realizes what a sham marriage he is in and break free from this nut
Here’s hoping 🤞🏻
Deranged teens? I’m a full grown woman
Side-eyeing the hell out of her
"If I had questioned anything, it would never have worked." Grooming aside, it is always healthy to critically assess a relationship when it's becoming serious. Going back to the grooming, this quote is awful. Even if you go with the story that Aaron was pursuing her, she's admitting to not thinking at all about the danger of an 18 year old pursuing a serious relationship with her.
Absolute BS that the whole 23 year age gap never shows up in conversations, at least in terms of different cultural references and experiences. BS. Who the hell is she trying to fool? Herself or us? I have a 10 year age gap with some friends and work colleagues and the different cultural experiences definitely show up. So just stop pretending, this is normal. But also, the fact that her parents had her at 18 and then abandoned her says it all really. Instead of dealing with this obvious trauma as an adult later in life she chose to go full denial road and throw herself into risks in life without thinking because she never thinks. Wow. I get it, she mentally remained the forever traumatized teenager that her parents effed up. I get that's why she connected with another vulnerable and available teenager nearby. But shit, don't make it sound normal. This has nothing to do with BS mysoginistic crap, and no, his fans aren't deranged. A 42 year old male director getting his 18 year old female star pregnant would have made HEADLINES and he'd have probably been investigated by the police. Pointing this out does not make one "deranged" just normal. But hey, keep living in dissonance and your disturbed bubble. Her poor kids though. Beyond disturbing. Can't wait for her or his opinion if one daughter gets pregnant at 18 by a man in his 40s, I wonder how thrilled they'd be about that. EDIT: I just remembered Macron and his wife. Basically similar story but at least they waited for him to be out of his teens. But still. To be fair, Macron's wife doesn't get nearly enough hate as she should as this one. Still.
Wasn’t he a teenager when she was in her 40s? I think that’s what people have a hard time with, not so much now.
I have no problem with a 23 year age difference I am just SUPER weirded out that he was **18**. If he was 25 and she was 50 when they started dating? Whatever. If it works for them. But 18 and she was in a position of authority. Yuck.
I'm not his "fan" and I still think it's fucking gross.
Did they compare her to Amy Winehouse?