{"id":795205,"date":"2026-07-12T09:15:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T09:15:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/795205\/"},"modified":"2026-07-12T09:15:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T09:15:14","slug":"kathy-griffin-confesses-her-43-year-age-gap-romance-was-a-social-experiment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/795205\/","title":{"rendered":"Kathy Griffin confesses her 43-year age gap romance was a social experiment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kathy Griffin<\/a> has shared an update on her relationship announcement that shocked the internet<\/a>: It was simply a \u201csociological experiment\u201d. <\/p>\n

On Friday, the comedian, 65, announced that she was dating a 22-year-old man with an Instagram post<\/a>; however, she\u2019s since shared an update explaining that the man in the picture was simply a part of her security detail. <\/p>\n

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Comedian Kathy Griffin, 65, shocked the world when she hard-launched her supposed new boyfriend, 22, in a cheeky Instagram post. \u00a0Instagram\/@Kathygriffin<\/p>\n

\u201cYou guys! Thanks to all those who participated in my social media sociological experiment,\u201d she wrote in a statement shared to Instagram<\/a> the next day. <\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I\u2019m not dating this 22-year-old. He was helping me with security during my trip to NYC. But… what if I were? The reactions were fascinating.\u201d<\/p>\n

Griffin announced the fake relationship by posting an image of the pair entering a car, alongside the caption, \u201cHe\u2019s 22. Have at it, internet.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Instagram the comments were mostly supportive, one reading \u201cwomen in male fields,\u201d and another, \u201cConsidering how short a time we live on this earth compared to how long we will be dead, age is pretty uninteresting.\u201d<\/p>\n

In her statement, Griffin explained that the Instagram comments were fine, but the Threads comments were where she found issue. <\/p>\n

\u201cA whole lot more slut-shaming, accusations of \u201cgrooming\u201d, and debates about how \u201cgross\u201d it would be for a 65-year-old woman to date a younger man<\/a>,\u201d she wrote. <\/p>\n

\u201cOlder men have been dating younger women since the beginning of time… Just ask Luke Wilson, 54, who just had a beautiful baby with his 24-year-old girlfriend<\/a> or Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones, Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart, Jay-Z and Beyonce… Some of the most long-lasting beautiful relationships in my beloved (though ageist and sexist) industry. <\/p>\n

\u201cRelax… just a little harmless fun with you guys with an IG post.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Kathy Griffin is known to be vocal on the subject of age-gap romances in Hollywood, previously married to a man almost two decades her junior. \u00a0Amy Sussman<\/p>\n

A few comments on the post disagreed with Griffin\u2019s statement, saying that no matter if it\u2019s a man or woman, a large age gap in a romance is never OK.<\/p>\n

But, most were supportive of the point she was trying to make. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey walked right into your act. The real ones knew exactly what you were doing,\u201d wrote one follower. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe double standard is real. \ud83e\ude75 You!!,\u201d added another. <\/p>\n