The opening monologue is traditionally an opportunity for the host to perform a bit of light roasting, and Nikki Glaser didn’t disappoint in kicking off the 2026 Golden Globes. She took aim at a number of celebrities in the audience, from Dwayne Johnson to Hans Zimmer, but she arguably saved her hottest burn for Leonardo DiCaprio – pointing at the fact that he likes to date women that are much younger than him. It’s not super original material, as other comedians have made similar jokes at the actor’s expense, but to Glaser’s credit, she also made a good point about why it’s extremely difficult to make fun of the One Battle After Another star.
First mocking the Paul Thomas Anderson film by calling it One Man Bun After Another, Glaser’s joke began with high praise for DiCaprio’s career, which has included a number of award wins… but then she dropped the punchline aiming at his dating proclivities. Said the comedienne,
How good was Leo in One Battle? I mean, it's insane. So good. So vaping good. What a career you've had. I mean, countless iconic performances. You've worked with every great director, you've won three Golden Globes, an Oscar – and the most impressive thing is that you were able to accomplish all of that before your girlfriend turned 30. I mean, it's just insane.
Now 51, DiCaprio’s tendency to date women younger than him has been a subject of pop culture conversation for decades now, and that includes his current girlfriend, Italian model Vittoria Ceretti, who turned 27 last June. This proclivity has been joked about widely, from award shows to late night to Dionne Warwick’s Twitter account.
Because it’s such old material, the joke normally wouldn’t be worth writing about – Glaser was ultimately able to sell it with her follow-up material. She first acknowledged that the bit is a bit played out, and then she offered an excuse as to why she couldn’t come up with anything better (citing legitimate research in the process):
Leo, I'm sorry I made that joke. It's cheap. You know what I, I tried not to, but like, we don't know anything else about you, man. There's nothing else. Open up. I'm serious. I looked. I searched the most in-depth interview you've ever given was in Teen Beat Magazine in 1991. Is your favorite food still, 'Pasta, pasta and more pasta'? Look it up. That's real.
Leonardo DiCaprio’s limited public profile is definitely not an accident. In an interview he gave just last year, he mentioned that he makes a specific effort in his life to “disappear” as much as he can and only make himself a public presence when he has something to say. As a result of this, we really only know about the work he does, his environmental philanthropy, and yes, his tendency to date women younger than him.
For what it’s worth, we may see far more of Leonardo DiCaprio in the near future than we’re used to. As far as being in front of the camera is concerned, he has only been in five movies going back to 2015 (The Revenant, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, Don’t Look Up, Killers of The Flower Moon and One Battle After Another), but this year will see him make both Martin Scorsese’s What Happens At Night and Michael Mann’s Heat 2. Will it also be a time when we get to learn more about him personally? I doubt it, but time will tell.