Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis’ girlfriend, Eileen Kelly, fiercely defended their 33-year age gap and clapped back at criticism.
While the sex educator, 30, didn’t specifically name Kiedis, 63, in her “My Boyfriend Is Double My Age” Vogue essay published April 21, she wrote about “dating someone significantly older.”
“There is something to be said for a man who’s simply had more time to get his s–t together, and my much older boyfriend seems genuinely excited to be with me,” she wrote.
“He is fully aware that he’s one lucky bastard,” Kelly added.
The “Going Mental” podcast host shared that she and Kiedis met at a birthday party, explaining that their “age gap didn’t register at first.”
“I had met someone interesting and magnetic; if anything, I assumed we’d just become friends,” she continued. “But when we exchanged numbers and made plans to get coffee.”
Kelly called out beliefs that an older man dating a younger woman is “creepy” and “gross,” while the latter is believed to either “have daddy issues” or “be a gold-digger.”
“Is it really so difficult to imagine that connection can exist across generations, and that two people of different ages can find something real in each other?” she questioned.
The businesswoman also slammed the “unsolicited commentary in public,” including remarks such as, “Is that your dad?” and “Your daughter is so beautiful.”
Kelly also reflected on how she cut ties with a friend who judged her relationship, saying, “We speak less now.”
The podcaster stated that people’s opinions about her relationship are, moreover, a reflection of themselves.
“From the inside, we’re mostly just two people doing the regular, ongoing work of moving through life together,” she concluded.
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