Mischa Barton Claimed At 19 She Was Told To Have Sex With Leonardo DiCaprio!

The recent Leonardo DiCaprio romance rumors just won’t go away!

It’s unconfirmed whether the Don’t Look Up star even is dating model Eden Polani for real. The two were spotted out together on what looked like a possible date, and despite their extreme age gap — he’s 48, and she’s 19 — everyone bought it. Their age difference is about the same as Pedro Pascal (47) and Bella Ramsay (19) from The Last Of Us. Oh, and Stranger Things‘ David Harbour (47) and Millie Bobby Brown (19 in two weeks). In other words they should probably be playing father-daughter figures on sci-fi shows, not hooking up.

So why did everyone believe it? Well, frankly, because of Leo’s track record.

The tossing aside of girlfriends just as soon as they turn 25 years old is now infamous. He really does date so young. So the idea that he’d date Eden? Someone who needed a parent or guardian to get into Once Upon A Time In Hollywood?? It’s kinda disturbing, but it tracks.

If you’ve ever wondered why so many young model/actresses are still going for it with Leo, even given the apparent expiration date on the relationships, well, it’s simple. They’re being told it’s good business!

In a 2005 interview that resurfaced amid the new drama — probably because someone googled “Leonardo DiCaprio” and “19 years old” together — a teen Mischa Barton once pulled back the curtain on the icky funnel of starlets to Leo’s yacht. The star, who was still in the heyday of The O.C. at the time, spoke to what was then called Harper’s & Queen (and is now known as Harper’s Bazaar) about seeing Leo at a Malibu photoshoot. He had just split from Gisele Bündchen at the time, and his bed was clearly seen as a good career move!

Mischa told the mag she was with her publicist Craig Schneider at the time, and that he told her in no uncertain terms:

“For the sake of your career, go and sleep with that man.”

It’s sometimes beyond parody how icky this town can be. Remember, she was just 19 years old. She was a child star who’d been in the business for years, making a splash in films like The Sixth Sense and celebrated indie Lawn Dogs. So for her, there was no interest in this “older” man. She responded:

“Isn’t Leo, like, 30 or something?”

And now he’s, like, 48 or something. That interview is now 18 years old, meaning it’s probably being actively encouraged to sleep with Leo. But it also just shows how long this has been going on.

Oh, and that pipeline, so to speak, gets even more gross when you remember lil Mischa in this classic scene from Notting Hill.

Big ICK!!! And he’s *allegedly* still hooking up with teens?? Or at least, women in their very young 20s? What do YOU think about all this age gap talk, Perezcious readers?

[Image via LK/Dimitri Haikidis/WENN.]