The Year in Leonardo DiCaprio, King of the World
The year 2016 was just about horrible for everyone, unless you are Leonardo DiCaprio. On February 28, the long-suffering, four-time Oscar nominee finally won an Academy Award for his very try-hard performance in The Revenant. This ushered in an annus mirabilis for the 41-year-old movie star. Now, it’s true that every year is a blessed one for Leo, but in 2016 he seemed to truly cash in on his claim, made two decades ago, of being King of the World, by devoting the next 10 post-Oscar months actualizing his personal life pyramid: saving the environment, hanging with his boys, and getting to know youthful supermodels just a little bit better. Here’s the timeline of a year where Leo truly did Leo.
February 29: Twitter reports that Leo’s Oscar win replaced Ellen DeGeneres’ star-studded selfie as the most tweeted moment in Oscar history, garnering about 440,000 140-character missives per minute following his victory.
March 4: A mural featuring a tuxedo-ed Leo holding his statue next to the words “Never Never Give Up” is painted in Los Angeles, marking the moment for eternity (or until redevelopment).
March 8: As if he couldn’t be darling enough, a Girl Scouts troop uses Leo eating their cookies in a homemade “Be Like Leo” ad campaign. These days he sure looks like he loves Tagalongs.
March 29: Leo takes to his Instagram to document bro-ing out with orangutans and elephants while on a trip to Indonesia.
April 17: What spring would be complete without a trip to Coachella. If you’re Leo, such an outing includes downtime with Rihanna. She does not appear to make fun of the bandana he wore around his neck all weekend.
April 22: Leo speaks about climate change at the United Nations and says, “Now is the time for bold, unprecedented action.” Even a year off leaves time for charity work.
April 26: While staying in New York, his home base for this most busy year, Leo gets to know model Roxy Horner. She is the first of three he will be linked to this year.
May 18: Poor Roxy Horner is already knocked off her perch, when Leo is spotted partying very close to model Georgia Fowler at a party surrounding the Cannes Film Festival. Like the buzz for I, Daniel Blake, their relationship won’t last longer than the festival.
May 20: A charitable guest at amfAR’s Gala in Cannes paid €150,000 to spend a week at Leo’s L.A. home. He would not be present during the stay, which would indicate the winner was not a model.
May 26: One of the many occasions paparazzi caught him riding a CitiBike around NY. Leo: A man of the people.
July 21: Third annual charity gala for the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation raises $45 million in St. Tropez. The guest list included Bono, Mariah Carey, Chris Rock, Tobey Maguire, Jonah Hill, Naomi Campbell, Bradley Cooper, Ed Norton. Oh, and a bunch of supermodels.
July 26: To relax after his big party, Leo spends time on a yacht in Ibiza with Tobey Maguire and his new model girlfriend, Nina Agdal, with whom he’ll be linked to for the rest of the year. This is the most Leo thing to happen in 2016, and maybe ever.
August 2: Leo scares the bejeezus out of Jonah Hill on the streets of New York by pretending to be a paparazzo. However, it appears that Hill might just be terrified of Leo looking like his cousin Jeff in a pair of oversized cargo shorts.
August 23: A slap on the wrist from the gods: Leo and Nina Agdal experience a small car crash in the Hamptons. When she cries on the side of the road, her tears are the color of White People Problems.
September 17: Leo gives directions to aimless tourists in NYC. Never not a humanitarian.
September 25: Another visit with Rihanna, this time at dinner in New York with Cara Delevigne and, yep, Nina Agdal.
October 3: A summit with President Obama to talk about climate change and his upcoming documentary Before the Flood, at the South by South Lawn Festival at the White House. They both show up in very similar, presidential blue suits. Leo in 2020?
October 21: Before the Flood premieres on Nat Geo. The environment is a little bit closer to being saved.
October 29: Halloween with his boys Tobey Maguire and Robin Thicke includes a visit to Kate Hudson’s party and the club Casamigos in L.A. Leo dresses as a wolf, possibly one of Wall Street.
November 6: Jonah Hill presents him with the Hollywood Documentary Award for Before the Flood. The rest of the world learns that the Hollywood Documentary Award is a real thing.
December 8: His second presidential visit in the same year features Leo trekking to Trump Tower to talk to the president-elect about environmental jobs. Trump appoints a climate change denier to head the EPA, anyway. Losing is a strange feeling, Leo.
December 13: The final vacation of the year sees Leo heading to Cancun with Nina Agdal, Lukas Haas, and a “mystery woman,” whom the tabloids can’t identify. Who sponsored this non-model’s visa to Leo’s sphere?
December 19: The year threatens to end on a somber note as Leo supports bestie Robin Thicke at his father Alan Thicke memorial service.
December 31: Where will Leo party away the final moments of his glorious annus mirabilis? At Mick Jagger’s NYE bash? On a yacht? On the prow of the Titanic? On Virgin Galactic? Leo knows no bounds.
