A historic Mischa Barton interview has emerged amid the new backlash against Leonardo DiCaprio‘s dating habits.
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The actor’s penchant for dating younger women has seen him hit headlines this week, after DiCaprio, 48, was linked to a 19-year-old model, Eden Polani. Many people have slated the actor for dating women significantly younger than him while highlighting the supposed fact he’s never dated anyone over the age of 25.
Now a historic interview with The O.C. star Barton has surfaced online. The interview sees her detail a conversation with a publicist where she says she was told to “go and sleep” with the Titanic star.
As reported by Buzzfeed, the actor was interviewed by the UK arm of Harper’s Bazaar, which was known at the time as Harpers & Queens. Barton made a candid revelation in the interview. She remarked that she’d had a conversation with her publicist, Craig Schneider, during which, she said, she was told to use DiCaprio for the betterment of her career.
Barton was 19 at the time and starring in the teen drama hit, The O.C., while DiCaprio was around 30 at the time. The actor recounted how she and her publicist were out and about when they saw DiCaprio doing a photo shoot in Malibu, California.
Barton is said to have quoted her publicist as telling her: “For the sake of your career, go and sleep with that man.” However, Barton is said to have dismissed the idea of being with a man of his age, saying: “Isn’t Leo, like, 30 or something?”
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Barton saw mainstream success in 2003 when she was cast as Marissa Cooper in the popular TV series The O.C., and was two years into her time on the show when according to the Harpers interview, she received the shocking publicity advice.
DiCaprio has seen his career rise and rise since 2005, even then an A-List star. The actor has since won an Oscar and starred in array of films, including The Wolf Of Wall Street and Once Upon A Time In Hollywood.
DiCaprio has never married, but has had a number of high profile romances. As the actor has creeped towards his half-century his choice of dating women within a seemingly never-changing age bracket has come under fire, leading to accusation and scrutiny from various media outlet, such as The Independent.
NME has reached out to representatives of DiCaprio and Schneider for comment.