Topics: Oscars, Jimmy Kimmel, Celebrity, Sex and Relationships
Age gap relationships are hardly a surprise when it comes to Hollywood – just ask Leonardo DiCaprio, amirite?
Robert De Niro, 80, hasn’t always gone for younger partners, although the ages do seem to have decreased over the years.
His first wife, Diahnne Abbott, is just a year behind him at 79, while spouse number two, Grace Hightower, is 69.
After dad-of-seven De Niro split from Hightower in 2018, he was linked to Tiffany Chen, having met her on the set of 2015 rom-com The Intern, where she played his character’s Tai Chi instructor.
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They first sparked romance rumours in 2021 when they were seen holidaying in France, their PDA leaving little room for doubt.
While they remained fairly tight-lipped about their relationship, in May 2023 it was confirmed that the couple had welcomed their first child together, a daughter called Gia.
“It feels great,” De Niro told AARP Magazine in March of this year about becoming a father again at 79.
“Everything that I’m consumed with or worried about just goes away when I look at her. It’s wondrous.”
While the story hit headlines because the GoodFellas star would be changing nappies into his eighties, there’s another aspect that’s raised eyebrows.
That’s the small matter that Chen, at 45, is almost half his age.
It’s a topic that even made its way into this year’s Oscars ceremony, with host Jimmy Kimmel slipping a quick quip into his opening monologue.
He said: "Here’s some fun Oscar trivia: 48 years ago, Robert De Niro and Jodie Foster were nominated for Taxi Driver, and they’re both nominated again tonight. 1976 was the year.
"In 1976, Jodie Foster was young enough to be Robert De Niro’s daughter.
"Now, she’s 20 years too old to be his girlfriend."
The joke was met with laughter from the crowd, and thankfully both Foster and De Niro – who were sat in the audience seemed to take it well.
Foster nodded her head as she mouthed to the camera: “It’s true!”
Her former co-star, meanwhile, also chuckled away from his seat, showing he didn’t seem to be too bothered by the joke being made at his expense.
Thankfully, it seemed to go down a little better with people than THAT Robert Downey Jr joke - which saw Kimmel appear to take aim at the actor's past substance abuse issues.
"This is the highest point in Robert Downey Jr's long and illustrious career," he jibed, leaving a pause as if to emphasise his former drug problems.
"Well, one of the highest points."
Despite the tongue in cheek jibe, the star appeared to take the joke in jest, and was even seen tapping the end of his nose, as if to go along with it.
Viewers at home, however, were less than impressed with the host referencing such a sensitive topic within minutes of the show airing.
"Someone tell Jimmy Kimmel that Robert Downey Jr drug jokes are no longer funny (not that they ever really were tbh).. RDJ looks so uncomfortable," one wrote on social media.
