Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis, 63, surfaces with age gap girlfriend, 31, after being slammed for dating much younger women
Anthony Kiedis, the 63-year-old Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman, was pictured on a dinner date with his 31-year-old girlfriend, sex educator and author Eileen Kelly, in Beverly Hills on Friday evening. The pair kissed on the street outside the celebrity haunt E. Baldi before riding off together on his motorcycle. The outing comes shortly after Irish broadcaster Vogue Williams publicly criticised Kiedis for a long pattern of dating much younger women, reigniting scrutiny of his relationship history.
Kiedis and Kelly, who have been linked since earlier this year, share a 33-year age gap; Kelly previously wrote a Vogue essay defending their relationship. Williams's criticism, aired on her podcast My Therapist Ghosted Me on 13 August, referenced Kiedis's past relationship with Australian model Helena Vestergaard, who was a teenager when they dated in 2013 while he was in his early 50s. Williams argued that fame lets figures like Kiedis "get away with it," while Kiedis, who also has an 18-year-old son with ex-girlfriend Heather Christie, has previously spoken warmly about fatherhood.
- Anthony Kiedis, 63, seen kissing girlfriend Eileen Kelly, 31, in Beverly Hills
- Comes after Vogue Williams criticised his history of age-gap relationships
- Kiedis previously dated a 19-year-old model in his early 50s
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Anthony Kiedis, best known as the lead singer of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, has been dating Eileen Kelly, a 31-year-old sex educator and author, since earlier this year. He is 63, meaning their relationship has a 33-year age gap, which has drawn public attention and comment.
The renewed scrutiny follows remarks from Irish broadcaster Vogue Williams, who criticised Kiedis on her podcast for a pattern of dating much younger women. She pointed to his earlier relationship with Australian model Helena Vestergaard, who was a teenager when they were together in 2013, while Kiedis was in his early fifties.
The story matters because it touches on wider public debate about age-gap relationships involving celebrities, and how fame can shape reactions to personal relationships that might otherwise attract less comment. Kiedis has not publicly responded to Williams's criticism.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Those defending Kiedis and Kelly's relationship argue that two consenting adults are entitled to choose their own partners without the public assuming that an age gap alone signals exploitation or poor judgement. They point out that Kelly, an accomplished author and sex educator in her thirties, has spoken publicly and articulately about the relationship, and that reducing her choices to a function of Kiedis's fame denies her agency and treats her as naive rather than as an informed adult. From this perspective, public scrutiny of a legal relationship between grown adults amounts to unwarranted moral policing of private life.
The case against
Critics argue that Kiedis's pattern of relationships with much younger women, including one with a teenager decades his junior, is a legitimate subject of public comment because it reflects a broader and troubling dynamic in which fame and power allow older men to repeatedly pursue partners with far less life experience and leverage. They contend that normalising such age gaps in celebrity culture can reinforce unhealthy expectations for young women and shield powerful men from the scrutiny that ordinary people would face for similar conduct. On this view, commentators like Vogue Williams are not moralising about private choices but raising a fair question about accountability and influence.