Their entire relationship is definitely disturbing, especially since Sam first met Aaron when he was about 13, and was old enough to be his mother. If the genders were reversed, there would definitely be jail time involved.

he’s 33 and her oldest daughter is 27 wtf

“But like we have children and he was mature for his age and I don’t think he’ll ever divorce me…”sounds like what abusers say

What you said about Millie and the public attention around her becoming an adult reminded me of when I was a kid, I remember there was a website that was just a countdown clock of when the Olsen twins turned 18. So incredibly creepy. It was a big thing for the creeps.

I really hope Aaron has a very, very good therapist he sees regularly and trusts.

I find it so disturbing how the majority of the people who call out how problematic this relationship is are women. So many men complain that they have issues too and nobody cares when women's issues are addressed, but a lot of them don't even see an issue with relationships like this, their only problem with it is that an older woman is less attractive to them and they don't understand how a young man would be into her. It's another example of how gender stereotypes and patriarchal ideas are hurtful to men, because women are seen as more nurturing and men are seen as strong and people can't fathom that a MAN would "let himself" be mistreated/groomed/abused by a woman.

The fact she’s a director and he was actor also goes under grooming bf that’s another power dynamic

Honestly age gaps get less weird as the two people get older. like any 18 year old should probably never date anyone older than 21-22 maximum😭 i’m 20 almost 21 and even I would feel weird dating someone 18-19 lol but it’s not about the age gap itself, it’s about the stages of life. like 18 and 22 seems weird but it’s not the gap size it’s the life stages-there’s a huge difference between 18 year old dating a 22 year old vs a 22 year old dating a 26 year old. the latter is far more understandable even tho the gap is the same same thing goes for the difference between 21 year old dating a 31 year old vs a 31 year old dating a 41 year old. the gap is the same size, but the dynamic is completely different lol

watching pll again after binging ur videos and i cant unsee the grooming and age gaps between minors and adults😵‍💫

People are so wrong about that "old soul" stuff. The brain keeps maturing until 27 years of age no matter the life experience

I am actually doing a paper on relationships between older women and younger men, so thank you for this, this literally came at such a perfect time.

I am genuinely irked by their relationship, especially because they also became parents soo damn early 😬 Definitely some predatory behaviour there. Still, I dislike the "granny can't handle, he's so gorgeous" comments, cause that reeks a bit like lookism and putting men on a pedestal to me. Like, please criticize her for being a predator but surely you can keep her (and his) looks out of it?

I am turning 40 in a few months, and this is super creepy. An 18 year old still feels like a child to me- a child that can vote, but still. Definitely grooming.

i notice he looks more happy and comfortable when he do interview without his wife , he could be himself ..

Puke puke puke. I'm 42 and the thought of even just a physical relationship with someone that young wigs me the eff out. What could they possibly have in common?

A person can be groomed at any age, it’s just “easier” to groom a kid unfortunately. Not only that, but it’s important to remember there are several different types of grooming. This relationship is definitely creepy. He was definitely groomed by his boss, now wife. I read that she knew his family, therefore knew him as a child. I read that in an article quite a while ago, I’m not sure if that’s verified or not though.

I was 17 when I had a 21-year-old boyfriend, and it seemed okay at that time because it was just a 4-year gap, but it was NOT okay because he manipulated me so much😤 had I been 25 and him 29 for example the entire thing would not have happened because I would have seen through him, he knew exactly what he was doing 😤

FINALLY MORE PEOPLE ARE COVERING THIS!! XD I Thought it was creepy when it was happening and the fact everyone constantly brings up Leonardo Dicaprio BUT NEVER TALKS ABOUT SAM TAYLOR JOHNSON IS WILD TO ME!!! or when the topic of people like Dan Schneider come up...people like Sam Taylor Johnson are never brought up at the same time

I'm 35 and dating even a 20 year old is unfathomable to me. Nono. It's different when both are matured, like a 40 year old and a 55 year old, or 30 year old and 47 year old. Everyone are matured adults who have a certain amount of life experience, thus less of an imbalance.

A middleaged woman going after a young guy who could've been her own SON'S AGE and pursuing a relationship with him JUST as he turned 18. She was also his boss. According to her, Aaron was a "troubled teen", (so she knows he was a teen, a kid) and I have heard he also had anxiety at the time. If a teacher did this to a student, would it be acceptable? Hell no it wouldnt.

Fucking finally, let’s also mention Harry Styles and Caroline Falack

What does a 42 year old woman has to do with an 18 year old boy? I don't care that he's "legal", he's still a boy. Their worlds are so far away apart.

Just to make things more creepy, sam´s older daugther is only THREE years younger than Aaron

What kind of 40 year old looks at 18/19. They literally still have a minor mindset😭😭

Thanks for doing this video i think it's important to talk about this

You need to watch May December. This movie had me so disturbed but it was really interesting in showing how a young boy evolves into a grown man when he'd been groomed by someone

Honestly the Idea of You book is one of the creepiest, gross books I’ve read. The movie may have made it into a cute romance, but the book…. No. He was also 20 in the book to her 40. If they cast it accurately to the book, someone like Louis Partridge (a 20 year old actor) would have played Hayes. And it would have started to look pretty weird pretty quickly. They skated around that by casting Nicholas who is nearly 30, and Anne who looks younger than 40. But I doubt it would have got a positive reception if they kept to the book age difference. Also... the book is one of the worst books to ever be written, in my opinion. It is all sex/shallow behaviour with barely anything that qualifies as "romance". And atrociously bad parenting and manipulation of her daughter (who is TWELVE) on Solène's part. The ending was the only part where she redeemed herself. Hypersexual behaviour with a barely legal kid is not "feminism". It is not "female empowerment". If you have to imitate your cheating husband's behaviour to get some kind of petty revenge, then you're no better than he is. She’s incredibly self absorbed and downright pathetic. Especially when she says, ‘I just wanted to date the cute guy in high school, why don’t I get to have him’. Wow. Imagine reaching the age of 40 and saying that. Where is the maturity, where is the growth? It’s embarrassing to read. She has to put other women down to feel better about herself. Such a bottom barrel book, but then what do you expect from the Harry Styles fanfiction genre. There are much better examples of age gap relationships in literature - I'd reference The Reader here, a movie starring Kate Winslet and a book by Bernhard Schlink. It's a much more interesting look at two complex characters, and doesn't try to dress things up as "romance". There's nothing to "root for" about Solène and Hayes. There's nothing at all to like about them as characters. Two unlikeable, arrogant people behaving like selfish assholes for an entire book, basically. He wants to bang a MILF, she wants to bang a younger man with a nice d__... that is IT. As one review said, the "idea" of this book is a lot better than its execution. Maybe in the hands of a different author it may have turned out better, but in this case... no.

I’ve been waiting for this.

"The worst (read: disturbing) teen movie, ever." So.... you haven't seen KIDS then...

Worst thing is that she has known him since es was 8/9 and friends with his parents

Last year there were rumors that he was chating with a women is age and EVERYONE was supporting it

This is such a balanced, thoughtful, well-researched commentary.

That movie The Idea of You is allegedly loosely based on Harry Styles and Caroline Flack. Why was everyone so okay with those two being together!?

Soooo glad you’re talking about this

sasha and her husband also met when she was like 16… “she got engaged to her long time boyfriend…” at 19 and he was 26. now its only 7 years, but what gets me is the long term bf. so they dated before she was 18 for sure. thats still icky to me

0:45 the only shows for girls that the suits will sign off on heavily feature predatory relationships. It happens to frequently to deny it anymore

Me realizing who ATJ is from this video- he was Kick-Ass?! Yeah, big age gap relationships that start when one party is underage is just. So ick.

yet another important topic that you’re covering in a video , great video Serena 🙌🏽

I can't believe you said "no" to us 20 year olds. I'm offended XD. Just joking, great videos!

Very interesting video as usual! About that subject, in France the former actress and feminist activist Adèle Haenel is activily addressing this grooming issue between child actors and creepy directors. She is a csa survivor, she publicly talked of her past as a victim of a male director she worked with when she was a child, it lasted until she was a teenager. In 2020, when Polanski received an award during a National French Award Ceremony (La cérémonie des césars) , she took a step foward and expressed how outraged she was by this praising, during the ceremony. But what does surprise me, it's that, no one talks about the relationship she had with an older female director. She met during set when she was underage and the director was in her late twenties. And I get it, let me tell you, I am part of the LGBT community and I am french feminist woman and I get it that talking about and dealing with this situation would tease the homophobic and misogynistic wasps nest. But no one in the LGBT and feminist french circles talks about this and even celebrated their relationship back then. Thank you for reading me and thank you for your work! 🙏👏

their story reminds me so much of that new natalie portman movie.... which was just the best telling of this topic. sorry i forgot the name. but if you know which movie i am talking about .. i recommend.

I really liked Angus, things and perfect snogging. But the best thing about that movie is definitely the soundtrack

I'm just sitting here waiting and praying for the day this relationship comes to an end. I have never wanted a random couple to break up so badly before. But what sucks is all the trauma he'd have to unpack, all the things he'd have to learn & unlearn about what he knows of relationships... And the children they have together 😢 he can never ever break free from her completely bc, other than the history and people they have in common, there are children who tie them together forever who would need to be guided through the mess of them breaking up. Hate Sam for making me hate a complete stranger whose life has absolutely no effect on mine, and all her fellow predators 😤

It'd be interesting if there were to be a book or documentary with people who saw their relationship first-hand and reveal everything, friends, family, people who worked on films they worked on, etc. I don't think we'd (the public) get any big revelations if they continue to keep their relationship private.

It has been said that our brains aren’t fully developed until we hit 25. So 18 is such an impressionable age. And if an 18 year old is telling you that he wants to marry you before even kissing you, that’s a red flag! I’m the same age as Aaron and if I tried to date an 18 yr old as a 34 yr old, I don’t know how I would feel. I had been hit on by a 21 yr old and while it was faltering, it was also weird.

This is such an important topic and I do really hope that age gap relationships will at one point be a thing of the past. You said that you don‘t mind them so much, if it‘s a 40yo woman with a 60 yo man, but even then, owning that a 40 yo woman probably knows what she is doing, why does a man want to date a woman that could be his daughter? That‘s the truly disturbing part for me and also in my eyes a really problematic symptom of patriarchy. I agree that we should be more aware of grooming specifically in support of younger people, but why do men hold this believe that it‘s ok to have sexual relationships with women who are decades younger than them? Historically of course, women relied economically on men and couldn‘t really pick and choose. If a stone aged guy wanted to marry them, as long as he could provide for her, what choice did she really have? But even today, there seems to persist a narrative, that women „mature“ faster and that‘s why they should date older guys - honestly, even if women do mature faster (which isn’t a biological fact, but mostly because they are from a young age raised to be future care takers and to deal better with their feelings, be empathetic, take responsibility in family and household etc.), why isn‘t the response to this that guys should be raised differently and mature equally as fast? Also this argument of „maturing faster“ was already used in Roman times, when girls reached legal maturity at 12, while boys did so at 14. Why? So they could marry the girls off sooner. It had nothing to do with actual maturing lol. Sorry for this little pamphlet. Thank you for this video :)

I really don't think it's anyone's business who people love!

We recently got a movie called May December which is loosely based on the Mary Kay Letourneau case. It also is about our society’s severe leniency in the way we treat and punish female predators.

The thing is, it´s not just Hollywood doing all this weird shi*. People like this are unfortunately everywhere, no matter where they come from, what their job is, or how much money and influence they have. I guess a lot of people are so "shocked" about this because they idolize their stars to the moon and cannot (or don´t want to) believe this happens in the "perfect" celebrity world. What´s pissing me off is that they romanticize this in movies and stuff, and no one seems to care, and the few of them that do care are not talking about it out of fear of losing their jobs or much worse, who knows. I guess this is a never-ending cycle that has been ongoing for like forever and will probably never change, as sad as it is.

Thought this was about shaving and other grooming habits.

Not granny can’t handle that😭😭😭. That always makes me laugh but I like how we are calling her out though. I have a crush on him but like I’m so disturb about the grooming thing too

The reason you see this in movies, shows and with Hollywood people themselves, is bc this is a universal issue. This type of predation is worldwide and it happens in every socioeconomic group, in all backgrounds etc.

Look up Juliet Mills and Maxwell Caulfield. This is not new.

God bless you all ❤❤…

I really think that if Aaron had an average looking face for a 19 year old, no good looks, this definitely would not have happened

I can’t imagine dating someone near my dad’s age.

I was brought up knowing the danger of dirty men and women. I think its strange most people don't think women can be abusers as well. But grooming happens right in front of eg Cheryl cole flirting an underage one direction singer, Katie price with Garth Gates.

We are about the same age when i saw him in Kick Ass I instantly had a crush and boy he has only gotten more attractive imho When I saw who he was married to I thought wow that was not what I expected.

They started their relationship when he was 18, so legally he’s an adult and he’s able to make his own decisions by law just because it’s not the society norm but it’s more socially acceptable when men do it is an interesting question and one that nobody seems to have an answer for i’m just saying. The fact of the matter is they are now a married couple and have been so for more than a decade and they also have children so everybody should mind their own business🤔

Exactly woman can be! I remember when I was 14 and a 38 year old tried to pursue me and got my number texting me and all the creepy stuff luckily I wasn’t an idiot and told my parents

Ikr I always was like: she knew him since he was 13?????!!!!! #Weird

Being “mature for your age” doesn’t necessarily exist. The brain develops at a consistent rate, it doesn’t develop faster for some and not others. After learning about Sam she has control issues due to her parents abandonment, and Aaron has some sort of mom probs. He is trauma bonded to his abuser/groomer and thinks it’s love. Awful situation.

Ariana grande needs to save him next, memaw is destroying him

I found out about him from his role as quicksilver :(

Age ain't number but a number unless their little kids. We become sexual beings when we hit puberty so a teenaged boy or girl can be attracted to an older person and an older person can be attracted to someone younger. As long as they don't act on it until the younger person reaches the age of majority in their nation, it's legal. We are the only era of humans that thinks if people aren't the exact same age group, then it's creepy or it's grooming. When just a century ago, a fifteen year old girl was more mature, married, and had families and children of their own. It was a delight when a girl found a husband at such a young age. Now it's considered creepy and even thirty year old women are treated like girls instead of women responsible for their actions and choices.

Hollywood and pop culture have been normalizing grooming since years now.

They met on a set of an English film production. What does that have to do with Hollywood?

Edward Furlong...

This is why I couldn't stand the new Anne Hathaway movie because it's basically romanticising that kind of relationship but we all know if the older one was a man it'd be called out more

Ok, so can we cancel porn for being predatory towards everyone involved?

You’re talking about the fact that you have a problem with something that’s legal and that’s in your right to do at the same time? !! The reason you hate it is because you know when you’re 40 you’re not gonna be able to get a 20-year-old guy to satisfy you and make you look good lol 😂

he could be the new 007 :)

He was auditioning for her film Nowhere Boy not Kick Ass, and his mom died not too long before he started to gain success in the industry. He talked about how the death of his mom affected him. Also I am not defending predatory relationships because the more you go down their story the more some things seem a bit awkward and some parts in their story's not quite adding up but honestly give them grace. Allow for some nuisance in the critic you give because honestly no one really knows why they ended up together apart from the fact that they both seemed to be facing a transition period in their lives. Sam's husband cheated on her with a younger woman (much younger). And she went through the divorce and I don't know but she eventually met Aaron and they wedded. Both of them where lost and hurt at least that's how the different articles and sources will tell the story. But I definitely think there's more to it than meets the eye.

So the whole argument is "people said they knew each other before he was 18" without actual proof, let's be real y'all are just salty that granny landed an absolute unit and you can't even get a decent looking guy. He's said it himself he loves her, unless she has dirt on him or she's a total manipulater and he's beyond innocent to fall for it (which isn't the case the guy is smart) i don't see any problem with this, love has no age just because it's none of your business to give any opinion on this personal matter

Bitter naman ng mga tao dito porket guapo at bata ung guy kesa partner nya. Kesa naman sa mga karelasyon kuno nyo na panloloko at hiwalayan na nga ang ending, tas bulok pa mga pagkatao

i’m sorry but who gives a f? i’m 40+ and i’d rather date a 20yo than a 60yo. people in their 40s today are not the same as 50 years ago.

They seem really happy and in love even after 10 years of marriage - just let them be - focus on your own life lol