In a world where turning 25 is often celebrated as a milestone, one celebrity’s birthday cake has taken the internet by storm, but not for the reasons you might expect.
As the Girl Meets World star, Sabrina Carpenter, turned the big 2-5, her birthday cake featured a viral meme of Leonardo DiCaprio with the text, “Nooo, don’t turn 25 you’re too sexy aha.”
Now, if you’re scratching your head wondering what the heck Leo has to do with Sabrina’s birthday, let me break it down for you. It’s not because Carpenter harbors a secret crush on our forever Jack Dawson (or maybe she does — no judgment here), but rather a cheeky nod to the meme-fueled folklore surrounding DiCaprio’s reputed dating preferences.
Our boy Leo, now 49, has a bit of a reputation for being a bit of a, shall we say, “age-specific” dater. Namely, he seems to have a penchant for dating women who are under the age of 25. And when they hit that apparently dreaded milestone birthday? Well, let’s just say their relationship with the Oscar-winner tends to go the way of the Titanic (too soon?).
Carpenter, it seems, decided to embrace the humor of the situation and incorporate the meme into her birthday celebration. The images of her cake quickly went viral, with fans and followers alike applauding her self-awareness and ability to laugh at the absurdity of the joke.
One particularly creative soul even photoshopped a series of images showing Leo progressively becoming more distraught as Sabrina blew out her candles.
Now, to be fair, we don’t actually know the intimate details of Leo’s relationships or the reasons behind his apparent age preference. He has dated a grand total of 19 women since the 90s (or possibly even before), and not a single one of them has been over the age of 25. In 2005, a 30-year-old Leo began dating 20-year-old model Gisele Bündchen. The couple lasted for a respectable five years before calling it quits – right around the time Gisele turned 25. Coincidence? Perhaps.
In 2011, a 36-year-old Leo started dating 23-year-old actress Blake Lively. They split after just five months, and Leo moved on to 22-year-old model Erin Heatherton. That relationship lasted for about a year before he began dating 21-year-old model Toni Garrn.
The list goes on: 24-year-old model Kelly Rohrbach, 25-year-old model Nina Agdal, and 20-year-old model Camila Morrone. Each relationship lasted just long enough for the woman in question to approach that seemingly cursed 25th birthday.
This pattern has become so well-known that it has spawned countless memes, jokes, and even entire social media accounts dedicated to tracking Leo’s love life and counting down the days until his current girlfriend ages out of his preferred demographic. Some particularly clever fans have even created graphs and charts illustrating the uncanny consistency of his dating history. Who says math can’t be fun?
Maybe he just really vibes with the youthful energy of women in their early 20s. Maybe he’s secretly a vampire who needs to feed on the lifeblood of the young to maintain his boyish good looks. Or maybe, just maybe, he’s a grown man who should probably reevaluate his dating criteria. But hey, who are we to judge? (Just kidding, we’re totally judging.)
I mean, don’t get me wrong, the man looks great for his age (I guess that’s what happens when you have a team of personal chefs, trainers, and probably a secret fountain of youth hidden away in your Hollywood mansion). But still, you’d think he’d have outgrown the whole “barely legal” thing by now.
Is it a bit silly to fixate on a celebrity’s dating preferences? Sure. But in a world where fame and fortune can often lead to some pretty bizarre behavior, Leo’s love life has become a strange sort of cultural touchstone. It’s a reminder that even the most enviable, successful people can have their quirks and foibles.
At the end of the day, Carpenter seemed to take the whole thing in stride, proudly sharing photos of her cheeky cake on Instagram as well. And really, what better way to ring in your 25th year than by poking a little fun at a ridiculous Hollywood dating trope that may or may not be coincidental?
Carpenter is sending a message that she can laugh at herself or the world around her – and that’s a quality worth celebrating at any age.
