While Christina Ricci will always be an actor first and foremost, in recent months, the 46-year-old star has become just as renowned for how outspoken she is on social media.
As an avid Instagram and Threads user, Christina has been spotted commenting on everything from the Diddy trial to Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle campaign, with many people praising her for being, for lack of a better term, on the right side of history.
See, for example, that time she read right-wing influencer Emily Wilson to filth for her unhinged comment about voting Democrat, or when she called out Jimmy Fallon for having Conor McGregor as a guest on his show.
And this past weekend, people noticed Christina lend her voice to commentary involving fellow former child actor Hilary Duff. It’s worth noting that while they were both child stars, they rose to fame during different eras, with Christina making her movie debut at age 10 in the 1990 film Mermaids:
And she was 21 years old when then-13-year-old Hilary landed her breakout role in Lizzie McGuire in 2001:
Just three years later, at age 16, Hilary was dating Good Charlotte frontman Joel Madden, who was 25 years old. The two dated for two years, amicably splitting in November 2006.
This relationship is obviously considered pretty problematic, given that Hilary was under the legal age of consent in the state of California — where both she and Joel lived — when it began. At the time of their split, Hilary was 19 years old, and Joel was 27.
Since the breakup, Hilary has had nothing but kind words to say about Joel, telling Ryan Seacrest three months after the relationship ended: “There was nothing, no fight, no, ‘He did this, I did that,' it was just time for people to move on and do different things."
“I had a really great relationship with him, and we still have a great relationship, which is really good and unusual. He’s a good person, and I always will care about him,” she added at the time.
Speaking on The Love Bomb Podcast in 2016, Hilary confessed that falling for Joel when she was 16 years old was “all-encompassing,” recalling: “It was so intense. It was my life. It was, like, every minute of my day. It was pretty major."
And in 2022, it was revealed that Hilary, her husband, Matthew Koma, and their kids are good friends with Joel, his wife, Nicole Richie, and their children. It was Joel’s twin brother, Benji Madden, who first made this friendship public when he shared a group photo of them all at a show at MSG:
Speaking on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen in 2023, Hilary explained: “I have a good relationship with their whole family. People are like, 'What?' We're neighbors. We actually hang out all the time." In fact, that same year, Hilary’s husband shared a birthday tribute to Joel on his Instagram story, where he joked: “It's not even that weird that you dated my wife @joelmadden. It just makes me feel closer to you."
And Hilary, now 38, and 47-year-old Joel’s lasting friendship was highlighted once again last week, when Joel and Benji surprised attendees of Hilary’s MSG stop of her Lucky Me Tour on Aug. 5 by showing up for a surprise performance of their song “The Anthem.”
Introducing the twins at the time, Hilary told the crowd: “I brought two of my dearest friends to New York City tonight, talk about some day oners!” While a whole bunch of people were here for the nostalgia, the reunion simply served as a reminder of the former couple’s problematic age gap for others — and Christina was among them.
It all started when Hello magazine took to their Threads account to post: “Twenty years after their romance, Hilary Duff and Joel Madden proved there’s no awkwardness here. The singer surprised fans at Madison Square Garden by bringing out Good Charlotte to perform The Anthem, with ex-boyfriend Joel Madden joining his brother Benji on stage. Hilary and Joel dated from 2004 to 2006, when she was 16 and he was 25, and today they’re happily living very different lives, Hilary with husband Matthew Koma, and Joel with wife Nicole Richie.”
In response, popular meme account @ask_aubry replied: “No we are not going to normalize a grown man grooming a teenager,” a comment that racked up thousands of likes. Christina then publicly shared her support for this criticism, replying to @ask_aubry with: “Yeah seriously wtf?”
Reacting to the exchange on a Reddit forum, one popular comment read: “Man… Ricci has been on a roll with great takes recently,” while somebody else echoed: “Christina Ricci hasn’t missed lately 🎯” Another comment added: “We should all be grateful for Christina Ricci.” And one more notes: “Christina's social media is so good. She truly will not take any shit.”
Others shared their own thoughts on the situation, with one person saying of Hilary and Joel’s romance: “I was so scandalized by this as a teenager (still am!). I’m about her age and 25 seemed unbelievably ancient to me.” Somebody else wrote: “I keep seeing the argument that child stars are ‘more mature’ and ‘living like adults’ to justify them dating adults, and it’s gross. People think that two people in different stages of life are peers just because they have the same job."
Comments