(Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by Justin Sullivan)
Leonardo DiCaprio, otherwise a Hollywood favorite, found himself at the receiving end of backlash on social media over a TikTok video that went viral, seemingly showing him disrespecting a traditional welcome ceremony in Fiji. The 50-year-old Oscar-winning actor was filmed while passing through a hotel lobby in Nadi, seemingly oblivious to the warm cultural greeting from the staff.
Wearing a dark cap, tracksuit, and sunglasses, DiCaprio seemed to be talking on the phone and completely ignored the performers who lined up to serenade him. Of course, viewers were loud in their disappointment. “Don’t waste your energy my fiji whānau, he’s so disrespectful omg,” one user wrote. Another chimed in, “Ohhh what a snob. At least he should have acknowledged the welcome by our country.”
Soon, social media users became cynical and suggested that DiCaprio made the phone call as a tactical way to get himself out of the interaction. Comments such as “Old phone trick aye!” and “Haha, the old ‘fake call’ act. Gets in the car, drops the phone,” were filling the comments section, as per Irish Star.
Curiously enough, not everyone condemned the actor. A few defenders appeared to say perhaps he was just being private on his tropical getaway. “Maybe he was going incognito,” one comment read, and another simply said, “Just leave him alone.” This incident comes weeks after DiCaprio’s star-studded 50th birthday celebration in Los Angeles, where he hosted an exclusive party filled with celebrities like Brad Pitt, Paris Hilton, and Steven Spielberg. It was such an intimate event that guests were required to place San Vicente Bungalow stickers over their phone cameras.
DiCaprio is not a stranger to Fiji. Through his environmental group, the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, he had previously financed renewable energy projects in rural communities there. The actor has been loud about climate change for a long time. During his acceptance speech at the Oscar in 2016, he passionately urged worldwide environmental action, as per The New Zealand Herald.
Other than that, the romantic life of DiCaprio has always been under great scrutiny in Tinseltown. He’s known for his pattern of dating younger models, but lately, he has broken his unwritten rule with Vittoria Ceretti. Previously, his relationship history with models like Gisele Bündchen, Bar Refaeli, and Blake Lively always appeared to end right before the women turned 25. He continued his notorious dating trend, breaking up just weeks before her 25th birthday with Camila Morrone in his most recent long-term relationship.
@fijivillage.com Leonardo DiCaprio is in Fiji #fypp ♬ original sound – fijivillage
After a short romance with Gigi Hadid and a brief relationship with Victoria Lamas, DiCaprio has seemingly settled into some sense of stability with Ceretti. Meeting at the Cannes Film Festival last May, the couple reportedly took a serious turn about 12 months ago, which defied the actor’s set trends in recent years of dating.
