Anthony Kiedis' Girlfriend Speaks Out on 'Alarming' 33-Year Age Gap with Red Hot Chili Peppers Frontman — After He Was Mistaken for Her 'Father'
Eileen Kelly, the girlfriend of Red Hot Chili Peppers’ frontman Anthony Kiedis, has spoken out on their controversial 33-year age gap.
April 29 2026, Published 4:45 p.m. ET
The girlfriend of Red Hot Chili Peppers' frontman Anthony Kiedis has spoken out on their 33-year age gap following taunts on social media, Breaking Celebrity News can reveal.
Podcast host Eileen Kelly, 30, addressed some of the "unsolicited commentary" her romance with Kiedis, 63, has drawn in a published essay in Vogue.
Anthony Kiedis Is 'One Lucky B------'
Podcast host Eileen Kelly joked Kiedis is lucky to be dating her.
She wrote: "My own boyfriend is more than twice my age, which is either alarming or impressive, depending on who you ask. It's my first time dating someone significantly older, and sometimes I joke with friends that I’ve been missing out my whole life."
Kelly continued: "There is something to be said for a man who’s simply had more time to get his s--- together, and my much older boyfriend seems genuinely excited to be with me — not like he’s biding his time before he can swipe for someone better.
"He is fully aware that he’s one lucky b------.”
'The Age Gap Didn't Register At First'
Kelly says the age difference did not come into her thinking when they began dating.
Kelly does not name Kiedis in the article but does say the couple was introduced at a birthday party, where she recalled her future beau being "interesting" and "magnetic."
"The age gap didn’t register at first," she revealed.
Kelly and Kiedis were spotted holding hands in Los Angeles in February, when they attended a Grammy Awards after-party hosted by pop musician Charli XCX.
About a month later, they were photographed at an Oscars night party at the home of Guy Oseary, who manages both the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Madonna.
Kiedis previously dated model Heather Christie, with whom he shares an 18-year-old son, Everly Bear. Earlier in his career, he was also romantically linked in the media with Sinéad O'Connor and Spice Girls singer Melanie C.
Past Controversy Over 14-Year-Old Claim
Kiedis revealed in his book he had a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old in his early twenties.
In 2004, Kiedis drew criticism after publishing a memoir, Scar Tissue, in which he acknowledged having a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old girl when he was in his early 20s.
He did not express regret for the relationship, which would be considered an act of statutory rape, and said it inspired the Red Hot Chili Peppers' 1985 song, Catholic School Girls Rule.
Elsewhere in her Vogue essay, Kelly acknowledges the "assumptions," including some friends and loved ones, have had about her relationship given their age gap.
She also notes the "incredibly awkward" exchanges she’s had with passersby who mistake Kiedis for her father rather than her romantic partner.
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Kiedis's new relationship is relatively normal, according to his girlfriend.
She wrote: "What people assume about me, about him, about the structure of our relationship, often reveals more about them than anything that exists between my boyfriend and me. The relationship itself becomes secondary to what it represents."
Kelly continued: "But the reality is comparatively unremarkable. From the inside, we’re mostly just two people doing the ongoing, unremarkable work of moving through life together."
She also called out the stigmas she said exist toward people in age-gap relationships, writing: "An older man is reflexively labeled 'creepy' and 'gross,' while the woman 'must have daddy issues' or must be a gold-digger.
"Is it really so difficult to imagine that connection can exist across generations, and that two people of different ages can find something real in each other?"
