This week, Timothée Chalamet sat down with Vogue for a wide-ranging chat. At one point during the conversation, he discussed his desire to have children one day — though, in the process, he made some very divisive comments about people who choose to remain child-free.
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The Vogue writer noted that Timmy recalled watching someone he refused to name “bragging about not having kids and how much time it afforded them to do other stuff” in an interview.
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Timmy and his friend, who were watching the interview together, “turned to each other, ‘Like, holy shit. Oh my God. Bleak.'” The author noted that while Timmy acknowledged that some people “can’t have children or are never in a position to,” he believes that “procreation is the reason we’re here.”
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For a little additional context, Timmy has been in a relationship with Kylie Jenner — who shares two children with her ex, Travis Scott — for the past two years. Earlier this year, a source claimed that Kylie would “love to have another baby” with Timothée at some point in the future, and in this Vogue interview, the Dune actor confirmed that having children “could be on the radar.”
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Perhaps unsurprisingly, Timothée’s comments have sparked a wave of backlash online. “Easy sentiment to hold when you’re not the one cranking the baby out of your own body,” one person said, while another user echoed, “If I were a man and didn’t have to actually birth children myself, the thought of having children would be a much easier decision.”
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One person pointed out, “Easy sentiment when you don’t have to worry about the world you’re bringing children into because you are protected by your privilege, fame, and wealth.” Another user echoed, “And being privileged enough that having a baby doesn’t consume all of your time and money. Such a gross take,” while someone else wrote, “HUGE turn off. Like I’ll never see him the same way again.”
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“I wish society would stop obsessing over whether or not people have kids. Either choice is fine, I get a little annoyed with the narrative that life without children is ‘bleak,’” one person said, while other users described Timmy’s take as “nightmarish” and “close-minded.”
Amid the discourse, numerous child-free people shared their opinions on Timmy’s comments. “I have never wanted kids and I would not describe my life as bleak lol. I do enjoy children and being an auntie is cool but I love giving them back… It’s weird to me that people think being childfree is sad but I’m still grateful every day that I have cats instead of kids,” one person said. Another user wrote, “I would probably want kids if I were a man! Instead, as a woman who doesn’t want kids, I get to have men who’ve never changed a fucking nappy or bathed a wailing toddler act superior towards me because they want someone to give birth to a kid for them.”
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“i personally enjoy being able to do what i want when i want and i feel like people should stop dunking on childfree people. because god forbid we say anything about people and their kids. keep the same energy,” someone else shared, while another comment read, “As a childless woman… If I just got to do the fun part without the giving birth part, I’d have multiple kids, lol.”
“Describing choosing not to have kids as ‘bleak,’ especially when women’s rights to choose not to have kids are being taken away is a bad take, to say the least,” one more comment read.
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Meanwhile, several users speculated that Timothée was throwing shade at Seth Rogen, who has been very outspoken about his and his wife Lauren Miller’s decision to remain child-free.
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“There’s a whole huge thing I’m not doing, which is raising children,” Seth said back in 2023. When asked if he thought he’d be “happier” with kids, Seth firmly replied, “I don’t think it would. I’ve been around obviously a lot of children, I’m not ignorant to what it’s like. … Everyone I know has kids. I’m 40, you know? … I mean, a lot of people have kids before they even think about it, from what I’ve seen honestly. You just are told, you go through life, you get married, you have kids — it’s what happens.”
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“Me and my wife, neither of us were like that,” he continued. “Honestly, the older we get the more happy and reaffirmed we are with our choice to not have kids. It was something we kind of talked about more, and we were like, ‘Have we made the right choice? Are we sure?’ Now, more than anything, the conversation is like, ‘Honestly, thank God we don’t have children.’ We get to do whatever we want.”
More recently, Seth addressed the wild backlash he faced over his comments about remaining child-free. “The most disturbing comment that I saw a lot of was, ‘Who’s going to take care of you when you’re old?’ Which, to me, is very telling. Is that why you’re having kids? Because I have two things to say: One, that’s very selfish to create a human so someone can take care of you. And two, just because you have a kid, I hate to break it to you, that doesn’t mean they’re going to do that,” he told Esquire.
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“Timothée Chalamet shading Seth Rogen is something I did not see coming,” one person speculated, while another suggested, “He was definitely talking about Seth. Just because you can procreate doesn’t mean you should. There are many parents in our society who shouldn’t have been parents.”
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“He seemingly shades Seth Rogan for choosing to be child-free and ‘bragging’ about free time and the fun he has with his wife and calling it a bleak existence,” someone else wrote.
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