Taylor Swift Uses Leonardo DiCaprio As an Example to Explain Sexism in “The Man”
There are a whopping 18 songs on Taylor Swift‘s latest album, Lover, but within just hours of its release at midnight on Friday, one in particular had already managed to stand out from the rest—even though it falls between Swift’s obligatory (and hopefully final) reference to Kanye West (“I Forgot That You Existed”) and some rare insight into her stridently private relationship with the actor Joe Alwyn (“London Boy”). Those topics aren’t exactly new territory for Swift, but track four most definitely is; “The Man” sees Swift imagine what life would be like if she were, well, a man, as well as unexpectedly call out one man in particular: Leonardo DiCaprio.
From the opening lyrics “I would be complex, I would be cool,” Swift goes on to call out the double standards for men and women, particularly when it comes to their love lives, which Swift has most definitely experienced firsthand. (Even now, a look back at the media coverage of Swift’s career is less divided by albums, and more by relationships, from Taylor Lautner to Jake Gyllenhaal to Harry Styles to Tom Hiddleston.)
DiCaprio’s romantic exploits have also generated plenty of public interest, but unlike Swift, the fact that the 44-year-old actor has infamously only ever dated women who are 25 years old or younger has been treated not so much with criticism, but with amusement. (Even Tina Fey’s introduction of the actor to the stage of the 2014 Golden Globes—”and now, like a supermodel’s vagina, let’s all give a warm welcome to Leonardo DiCaprio”—was lighthearted enough that Leo himself gave a thumbs up and laughed.)
The bulk of “The Man” consists of Swift calling out the public and the media’s sexist attitudes more generally, such as in the bridge: “What’s it like to brag about drinking and dollars and getting bitches and models? … If I was out flashing my dollars, I’d be a bitch not a baller / They’d paint me out to be bad / So it’s okay that I’m mad.” But at a certain point, she makes a departure from her usually veiled references to real-life acquaintances by calling DiCaprio out by name, singing “And they would toast to me, oh, let the players play/I’d be just like Leo in Saint Tropez.”
Swifties, for the most part, have reacted with delight. If your detective skills aren’t quite up to par with theirs, well, allow them to explain: Saint Tropez is the location of DiCaprio’s annual fundraising gala for the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, which, like Leo, is dedicated to combatting climate change. Each year, billionaires flock to join DiCaprio in his tried and true ceremony of removing his newsboy cap and putting his absolutely-no-photos-ever policy on temporary hold. But they aren’t the only ones who get to enjoy the actor’s company; DiCaprio is also usually joined by whoever he happens to be dating that summer. (Last year, for example, his current girlfriend, then 21-year-old Camila Morrone, came along as he hopped from yacht to yacht.)
In a perfect illustration of Swift’s point, a National Enquirer story claiming that she planned to make Leo her “next conquest” spread like wildfire amongst the tabloids in 2015. “She’s been texting Leo nonstop,” an anonymous “source” claimed of the Enquirer‘s also anonymously sourced reports that Swift had deviously set up a meeting with DiCaprio “ostensibly to discuss a movie project,” but in reality “to make sure he’s good boyfriend material.” To be fair, the Enquirer didn’t make DiCaprio look too good, either: the only verifiable fact in the story is yet another source’s astute assertion that by nature of being “tall, blonde, thin and gorgeous,” “Taylor is exactly Leo’s type.”
Related: Camila Morrone Has Had Enough With the Age Comments About Her Relationship With Leonardo DiCaprio
A Photographic Guide To Everyone Leonardo DiCaprio Has Publicly Dated
Leonardo DiCaprio dated model Kristen Zang for a year back in the ’90s, where she acted as his date to the premiere of Romeo & Juiet.
Perhaps DiCaprio’s most famously ex is Gisele Bündchen, whom he dated from 1999 to 2005.
The pair were serious for nearly six years, often spotted walking their dogs together.
The pair also often took in sporting events, a popular past time for DiCaprio and his girlfriends.
After splitting with Bündchen, DiCaprio moved on to Isreali model, Bar Rafaeli. The couple made a rare high profile appearance together at Berlin’s Annual Cinema For Peace Gala in 2010.
The couple often took in basketball games, sitting courtside, of course, making for a few rare moments of DiCaprio allowing himself to be photographed with a girlfriend. Here, they watch the Lakers in 2010.
The pair dated for six years—the exact duration of his relationship with Bundchen—before splitting in 2011.
And again, the same year, DiCaprio shielded by a hat, as has become his fashion go-to.
In 2014, DiCaprio was spotted at the amfAR Gala in Cannes with his new lady, Toni Garrn, whom he dated for just over a year.
Before eventually getting together with Nina Agdal—whom he was never photographed with at a high profile event like a few of his other girlfriends—the actor dated a model Kelly Rohrbach in 2015, during which the pair were spotted together at the US Open. Agdal would go on to star in this weekend’s Baywatch, while DiCaprio would continue to date models.
