Reacting to Charlize’s candid revelation, one social media user wrote, “lmaooo honestly good for her and him. Another said, “As someone who had a bit of a cougar phase, I’m happy for her!” while one more added, “Omg who cares. Good for her,”
However, others couldn’t help but question if the response would be very different had a man told the same story. “Literally if a 40+ yr old man was in the news saying this about a 26 year old woman, people would be disgusted and writing thinkpieces calling him out and shit,” one person suggested.
“I mean, cool, but if it were a man telling this story, I think most of us would feel differently,” said another, while someone else wrote, “The way she would be skewered if she were a male celebrity bragging about a girl she hooked up with… I get why it’s not exactly the same, but the glaring double standard still bothers me.”