Hilary Duff fans and internet sleuths believe her new song, “Mature,” takes a subtle dig at Leonardo DiCaprio and infamous age-gap relationships.
Last week, the former Disney Channel star, 38, delighted fans with the release of her first song in a decade. The pop-rock track reflects on a past relationship with a partner known for dating younger women — and listeners are convinced it’s laced with thinly veiled references to DiCaprio, newly 51, who has a history of dating women decades younger.
Featuring lyrics like, “She’s me, I’m her in a different font / Just a few years younger, a new haircut / Very Leo of you with your Scorpio touch,” listeners have interpreted the latter line as a tongue-in-cheek nod to DiCaprio, who often goes by Leo and also happens to be a Scorpio.
“Going down on her on your vintage rug / Bet she’s so impressed by your Basquiat / And she thinks you’re deep in the ways you’re not,” Duff goes on to sing.
Many eagle-eyed fans have connected the “Basquiat” mention to DiCaprio’s controversial ownership of a Jean-Michel Basquiat painting, titled “Red Man One.”
Back in 2014, the Oscar-winning Revenant actor was gifted some of Basquiat’s artwork from disgraced Malaysian financier Jho Low, who is still wanted by authorities for his alleged role in a multibillion-dollar corruption scheme. DiCaprio eventually voluntarily surrendered the artwork in 2017.
The seeming references don’t stop there. Duff later croons: “Hid my car at Carbon Beach so I wasn’t seen at yours / You knew better of course.”
In 1998, theTitanic star purchased a $1.6 million beach home in Malibu, California, which, coincidentally, had direct access to Carbon Beach, according to Architectural Digest. He sold it in 2021 for $10.3 million.
Some fans have even dug into Duff’s back catalogue, pointing to her 2007 song, “Danger,” which includes the lyrics: “Were you born in ‘74? Are you the kind of guy that I should ignore?”
Indeed, DiCaprio was born in 1974.
The Independent has contacted Duff’s and DiCaprio’s representatives for comment.
DiCaprio is currently in a relationship with 27-year-old Italian model Vittoria Ceretti. He was previously in a five-year relationship with actor and model Camila Morrone. They split in 2022, a month after she turned 25.
Meanwhile, Duff also has a history of dating older men. When she was just 16, she dated Good Charlotte frontman Joel Madden, now 46, when he was 25. At 29, she dated celebrity trainer Jason Walsh in 2016, who was 13 years her senior.
Discussing the inspiration behind “Mature” with Vogue, Duff explained, “It is definitely about a brief experience that I had in my — a long, long time ago.
“But it is not totally autobiographical,” she clarified. “I took a few artistic liberties just to make the song work structurally, but the gist is the gist.”
She added: “I was looking back on this relationship and thinking about whether this guy had a habit of dating younger women or whether I was ‘special.’”
