The girlfriend of Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis has spoken out in defence of their 33-year age gap romance.
In an introspective essay penned for Vogue, 30-year-old Eileen Kelly reflected on her decision to date an older man, as well as addressing public perception of relationships like theirs.
“The age gap didn’t register at first. I had met someone interesting and magnetic,” she wrote, stopping short of mentioning her 63-year-old rockstar boyfriend by name.
“There is something to be said for a man who’s simply had more time to get his s–t together, and my much older boyfriend seems genuinely excited to be with me.”
The sex educator went on to fiercely clap back at critics of their unconventional pairing, calling out public discourse labelling the older man “creepy” and “gross.”
“Is it really so difficult to imagine that connection can exist across generations, and that two people of different ages can find something real in each other?” she questioned.
Kelly also slammed the “unsolicited commentary in public,” having been subjected to remarks along the lines of “is that your dad?” and “your daughter is so beautiful.”
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The pair were rumoured to have begun dating in late 2025, first spotted publicly in November and subsequently seen together at Grammys and Oscars afterparty events in 2026.
Kelly pointed out a glaring double standard, using pop star Cher, 79, as an example.
“Broadly speaking, the reaction is: ‘Good for her. A 79-year-old pop icon has earned the right to enjoy herself.'”
Cher was known to have dated Alexander Edwards, a music executive 40 years her junior, from 2022 to 2023.
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“The inverse arrangement produces a different kind of commentary.”
She added that, as a 30-year-old “fully formed” adult, the scales were weighted differently than they would have been if she “were 18, or even 21.”
The podcaster speculated people’s opinions about her relationship are, moreover, a reflection of themselves.
“From the inside, we’re mostly just two people doing the regular, ongoing work of moving through life together.”
Theirs is Kiedis’ most notable relationship since calling it quits with Australian model Helena Vestergaard, who had reportedly been 19 when they first started dating in 2013.
Just last year, another ex-girlfriend of Kiedis’ spoke out about their relationship, which they’d entered into when she was 16, and Kiedis was 24.
“There was me before Anthony, and me after,” Iona Skye revealed in her memoir at the time.
Skye told the Los Angeles Times she views the relationship differently since becoming a mother of two daughters, but she wasn’t setting out to “expose” the singer.
“I don’t want to expose someone’s life, and legally you can’t anyway. He really laid it all out in [his book] Scar Tissue,” she told the publication.
“I thought people might be interested in my side of the story.”
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