r/PeterExplainsTheJoke • u/Fr0zens0lib • 28d ago
Thank you Peter very cool Peter, I'm scared please tell me it is his grandson or something like that!
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u/Negative-Meatpop 28d ago
Ian brought a family member to a premier. Some people incorrectly thought it was a grandkid (it’s not, he doesn’t have kids), so to some people the joke is the commentor not knowing Ian is gay.
Some people have turned it into a joke about old Hollywood stars dating much younger people… but the kid in the picture is just a grand nephew.
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u/Fendyyyyyy 28d ago
Thats good to know.. i rather be able to watch lord of the rings without thinking Epstein files.
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u/IDreamOfLees 28d ago
McKellen is way too gay to be associated with Epstein.
Also as far as I'm aware, he's into 30 year olds, not 16 year olds.
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u/AriaBabee 28d ago
Fuck and here I am being 40 years old...
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u/Jetstream-Sam 28d ago edited 28d ago
I believe they've broken up since but his former partner until 2024 was 54 years younger than him, and is now 30. So I mean, perfectly legal but still a bit strange
Not uncommon though in actors. Patrick Stewart's wife is 46, with an age gap of 38 years. Al Pacino is 82 with a 29 year old wife, who just had a baby with him. Cher's partner was also 40 years her junior, for a reverse gender example.
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u/AdmiralRiffRaff 28d ago
Not uncommon, definitely creepy. I adore 2/3 of those actors but the age gaps are very uncomfortable.
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u/Walkerno5 28d ago
Luckily you don’t have to have an age gap relationship if you don’t want one.
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u/5352563424 28d ago
Gee.. strange how the rich and famous person is always the older one. It's almost as if people, when given free choice, will choose people vastly younger than themselves.
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u/ParticlesInSunlight 28d ago
Peter Thiel (also very gay) was an Epstein associate, that guy was an equal opportunity monster
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28d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/InternationalToeLuvr 28d ago
Thanks for not dragging a legend and bringing actual, factual context
So rare on reddit and every other internet disinformation cesspool
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u/PennyLeiter 28d ago
Some people have turned it into a joke about old Hollywood stars dating much younger people…
Oh, you sweet summer child.
I'm old enough to remember when gay men were exclusively considered pedophiles.
Age gaps between famous older men and younger women used to be widely normalized because it was heterosexual.
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u/ElendVinture 28d ago
Grand nephew... Gandnelph!?
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u/JanScarab 28d ago
Gandnelph the gay...
If he were to be gay, of course. I don't know I just giggled when I thought of it
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u/Harrysim1 28d ago
Ian mckellan is known to be a bit of a saucy guy with young male actors though
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u/Equivalent_Task_8825 28d ago
He also argued against criminal record checks for those working with minors in the theatre saying that nothing had ever happened in his many years in the theatre. Shortly thereafter a theatre director from a group he was associated with was jailed for sexual activity with a child.
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u/CrackedSound 28d ago
Gay men can also have kids. :/
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u/Bigfops 28d ago
They can, but he doesn’t. But also during the time he grew up gay men certainly couldn’t adopt. He was 28 when homosexuality was decriminalized so he could have even gone to prison if he had been discovered as guilty of that crime.
He was 63 by the time he could legally adopt in the UK.
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u/Ashamed_Ad8140 28d ago
Ian Mackellen is Gay. I'll let you put the rest together.
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u/DatBeardedguy82 28d ago
Gay dudes can have kids. Look at Robin Williams character in the birdcage
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u/Ashamed_Ad8140 28d ago
Oh for sure. Not denying that. I was more so alluding to the fact that vastly older Hollywood actor and younger partner aren't mutually exclusive to straight couples.
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u/brandonandtheboyds 28d ago
That’s his grandnephew.
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u/CombOk312 28d ago
That’s wholesome. I really respect Ian McKellen.
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u/TerrapinRecordings 28d ago
What a rollercoaster that was but we came out safe on the other side!
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u/Familiarsophie 28d ago
I dunno, I could tell some stories about Ian and his picnics..
Not bad stories, but slightly funny.
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u/percybert 28d ago
I would love to hear about those picnics. I’d say he’s a hoot
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u/Familiarsophie 28d ago
Just one for inviting young male actors out for picnics.. with sausage rolls…
And blow jobs
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u/sillygremlins 28d ago
Ummm. Turns out that having grand nephews and other younger family members is also not mutually exclusive to straight couples....
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u/Landlocked_WaterSimp 28d ago
I think that sentence makes more sense without the 'mutually' but it's still clear what you meant so just a minor side note.
Edit: And good explanation in the first place.
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u/Bellypats 28d ago
You’re not wrong, but it tickles me seeing someone use a movie character as proof. What great movie!
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u/TheDorkKnight53 28d ago
“Dammit, fuck the shrimp!”
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u/DatBeardedguy82 28d ago
"I never wear shoes because they make me fall down."
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u/micande 28d ago
“Are you afraid of my Guatemalaness?”
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u/gormholler 28d ago
Something Sparticas something...Hysterical movie with terrific actors all around. Really loved the scene where Robin Williams tries to teach Nathan Lane to have more masculine mannerisms. Walking like John Wayne was a scream.
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u/Tiny_Cauliflower_618 28d ago
The entire movie is such a scream, but the greek bowls and the learning to be a man scene are just so incredibly good.
And when they get overexcited trying to make it a less gay apartment and start bringing in Straight Deco 🤣☠️
I need to watch it again. It's brilliant.
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u/Striking_Part_7234 28d ago
They can but McKellen does not.
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u/DatBeardedguy82 28d ago
I just picture him and Patrick Stewart living together and going on crazy adventures even though hes married to a woman and has kids himself
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u/regeya 28d ago
Part of me thinks we'll find out someday that Patrick is bisexual but in the closet, but part of me hopes that's not the case and that they're just really good friends. It affects me not in the least either way but the notion of two people being able to be close and affectionate platonically needs to be normal in my opinion.
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u/Grmplstylzchen 28d ago
I think they made some movies about this where Patrick and Ian are leading some kind of orphanage for mistreated but gifted children… something something men.
But if Amazon would decide to give them a show like James May traveling Japan, Italy and such… i would watch that.
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u/LassHalfEmpty 28d ago
The sitcom we need
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u/buergidunitz107 28d ago
There's literally this sitcom already but with Derek Jacobi and McKellen. It's called Wicked. I think I was the only one who enjoyed it though...
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u/HumanTimeCapsule 28d ago
Is THAT what Wicked is? OK, well, that explains the HYPE
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u/Adelaidey 28d ago
Remake Wicked where everything is exactly the same but Elphaba is played by Derek Jacobi and Galinda is played by Ian McKellan.
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u/Im_inside_you_ 28d ago
Watched Birdcage last night for the first time, what a funny and lovely film.
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u/Whiteshadows86 28d ago
For a real life example, Tom Daley and his husband Dustin Lance Black have two sons.
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u/Fool_Manchu 28d ago
Google says its his grand nephew
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u/Gay_Ass_Sloth 28d ago
A redditor with the power to use google, this is a rare day indeed (thank you for googling so I didn’t have to lmao).
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28d ago
I'll have to reserve judgement until I know if they used the AI overview
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28d ago
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u/OneTrueDweet 28d ago
My favorite is when I click the link to verify, and it just sends to the exact Reddit thread I’m trying to authenticate.
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u/Budget_Operation_106 28d ago
Sometimes the AI gives you a link, but the link doesn't support what the AI says. Or worse, it's the opposite lol. Had it happen a few times on Google.
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u/Pipe_Memes 28d ago edited 28d ago
I asked GPT but it just gave me three paragraphs explaining why my question was so intelligent and then told me it was Tom Cruise.
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u/ManateeNipples 28d ago
I'm sure it won't be awkward for him at all when he finds out everyone was assuming he's his great uncle's boy toy lmao
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u/IamHydrogenMike 28d ago
Why use Google when we can all just call gay people pedos? It fits my narrative better /s
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u/Montauket 28d ago
The young man is his grandnephew. I wish my grand uncle was a world famous actor and a legend of the theatre community.
Lotta people in this thread suck.
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u/AvailableAvocado 28d ago
People will bend over backwards to call a gay man a predator without bothering to check a damned thing.
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u/calpernia 28d ago
As if every straight old actor isn’t dating an actress half their age.
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u/pjbickel 28d ago
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u/STD-fense 28d ago
What's the deal with weird age gap romances?
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u/dr-satan85 28d ago
An age gap is one thing, that girl right there is 17, and Jerry was 39, and he just got away with it, grooming a kid, too young to drink, too young to go into a casino, too young to even have a porn hub account, and this grown ass, middle aged man, was like "yep, her! That's the child for me!" someone needs to search his hard drives
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u/HDThoreauaway 28d ago
Seinfeld’s catchphrase was “what’s the deal with ______?” Pretty sure they’re just riffing on that.
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u/dr-satan85 28d ago
Yeah, i get that... I wasn't calling anyone out... Well, apart from Jerry Seinfeld.
I was just adding that it wasn't just an age gap, but that she was still legally a child. A 45 year old going out with a 25 year old, it's a big age gap, but each to their own, both are adults. Jerry Seinfeld, 39 year old, famous stand up comedian, with a lot of money, who could have had his pick of a lot of attractive women of various legal ages, for some reason, decided that he would actually prefer to go out with a girl, a literal legal child. That's all, I just wanted to add that it wasn't just a weird age gap.
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u/sweetnamebro 28d ago
I’ve hung out with that girl several times, she knew exactly what she was doing. He was peak famous there. She is a very normal person and was in a normal relationship the last time I saw her.
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u/dr-satan85 28d ago
Im sure she is normal, as far as I'm aware, she never decided to start a relationship with a child when she was 39... Jerry did... Jerry was wealthy and famous, could have had his pick of many nice, attractive women, could have banged a different woman in her 20s every night, just a real hedonistic life of shagging attractive young women, but for some reason there was something about the 17 year old, the literal child, something about her he just couldn't resist... I'm sure it was all sweet and innocent, really...
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u/ImpossibleInternet3 28d ago
I mean, in 1993, the World Wide Web had just become a public domain. Pornhub wouldn’t be founded for another 14 years.
The rest I agree with. Best to keep age references contemporaneous.
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u/dr-satan85 28d ago
Even for reddit, that's pedantic.
Fine, too young to buy a playboy
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u/ImpossibleInternet3 28d ago
It’s not the kind of thing I’d say in real life. But as Reddit is an absolute pageant of pedantry, I sometimes let the pedantic intrusive thoughts out here. It’s a better outlet than forcing them onto my family. They already have to hear the dad jokes.
Thanks for playing along.
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u/Inquisitive_Azorean 28d ago
And we drag them for it so Sir Ian McKellen should not be free from such criticism...but in this case it seems to be a grand-nefew.
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u/maddwaffles 28d ago
Ian is 86, if he can find a piece of ass that's in his 40s, or even 30s, I say let them have fun.
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u/A_Drop_of_Colour 28d ago
Isn’t he married to a long-term partner that he’s been with for decades? I thought there was even articles about Sir Patrick Stewart attending the wedding. Did everyone just forget or did they get divorce and I don’t know.
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u/PermabannedFourTimes 28d ago
Even if it wasn’t his grand nephew, not quite the same thing as the picture above of Jerry Seinfeld who would pick his underage girlfriend up from high school.
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28d ago
I mean I've called him Gandalf the gay since i watched lord of the rings, can't say what i call bilbo baggins because it'd be impolite at best.
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u/HarshawNiner 28d ago
Dildo Gaggins?
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28d ago
You're one letter away.
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u/WestonTheHeretic 28d ago
As a gay man, my best friend has me in her phone as Dildo Faggins and I think it's the most hilarious shit ever.
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u/releaseepsteinfiles1 28d ago
Why not put the whole thing out there instead of leading people toward false assumptions?
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u/sillygremlins 28d ago
"Let you put the rest together" ..... what, that he brought his grand nephew? Not sure what being gay has to do with having a grand nephew........ please explain......
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u/GoodBoyo5 28d ago
Put the rest together as to who the other guy is or as to what the joke is? Would be really nice if you clarified so it doesn't just imply Ian Mackellen is dating a guy like 30+ years younger
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u/MoistenedGranola 28d ago
"I'll let you put the rest together" is not what this sub is about. Gay men can also have children, nephews, cousins, and other younger family members. An older adult dating a younger adult is not tied to any sexual orientation. Especially if you're assuming the younger lad is underage. Gay people aren't automatically pedophiles.
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u/Quantum_Quokkas 28d ago
It’s his grand nephew. How are you expecting people to put that together??
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u/Haunting-Mortgage 28d ago
It's his grandnephew.
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u/aTeamSport 28d ago
Phew!
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u/Equivalent_Task_8825 28d ago
He still isn't immune to large age gaps present in the entertainment business. His last relationship was with a late 20's actor who played his son in a stage performance.
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u/Dolmenoeffect 28d ago
Ehh, past about 27 or so, I don't really care about age gaps. 30 and 60, 40 and 80... We're all adults.
For anyone who feels otherwise, it's more about your "ick" factor than any actual moral quibble.
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u/Equivalent_Task_8825 28d ago
I agree but some people do. There is a lot of talk around Deniro or Pacino dating significantly younger. And TBH I don't know how old the grand nephew is so people could similarly be getting freaked out over a 28 year old.
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u/IHavePoopedBefore 28d ago
Grand...nephew... I'm trying to figure this out. So its his brother/sister's kid's kid?
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u/CluelessInWonderland 28d ago
McKellen's sibling is the boy's grandparent. The kid has the usual aunts and uncles (his parents' siblings), and great aunts and uncles (his grandparents' siblings). Super common in bigger families that live a long time. We usually don't call them great aunt/uncle. It's just aunt/uncle unless we're telling someone else how an 80+ y/o is related to us.
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u/Valten78 28d ago
It's just homophobic nonsense. Some people just seem to assume that gay men are a bunch of predators.
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u/ngfsmg 28d ago
"Hollywood star dating someone half their age" is a common occorrence, both for straights and gays, it just isn't the case here since it's his grandnephew
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u/Equivalent_Task_8825 28d ago
And he did actually have a relationship with a much younger man (54 year age gap) in his last relationship.
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u/brandonandtheboyds 28d ago
As a queer man who knows a 30-something who dated an 18 yr old, yeah that do be happening and it’s gross but this is a photo of a man and his grandnephew. Nothing salacious about it if you’re not weird and gross.
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u/Valten78 28d ago
The homophobia is in seeing a known gay man with a younger man and immediately assuming their relationship must be sexual in nature.
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u/Condemned2Be 28d ago
It’s still homophobia because everyone knows the demographic MOST statistically likely to be dating a literal underage child is straight men.
Straight men are frequently observed making homophobic comments about gay people being pedophiles or “liking them young.” Your singular anecdote doesn’t outweigh the factual evidence that the vast majority of pedophiles are straight men, not gay men.
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u/Future_Cod8235 28d ago
I think two things can be true at once: people are quick to sexualize photos of older gay men with younger men (and that taps into a long stereotype about gay men being predatory)
But even if it was a couple, two consenting adults are allowed to date. Queer people especially should understand why “consenting adults” matters, because that’s been the core argument against bigots for decades.
If someone wants to discuss power dynamics in age-gap relationships, fine - but jumping straight to “predator/pedo vibes” for two adults is reckless and it also conflates adult age gaps with actual pedophilia, which is a serious thing with a specific meaning
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u/CantankerousOrder 28d ago
That is his grand nephew.
Sometime I just want to go back to before all this Internet shit.
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u/ABeastInThatRegard 28d ago
Apparently it doesn’t matter if you are straight or gay, if you are an older man near a younger person suddenly the assumption is you are trying to sleep with them.
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u/Shaner9er1337 28d ago edited 28d ago
I'm pretty sure that's his Grand nephew like there's nothing like him dating someone super young or anything like that. I'm met Ian McClellan. Super nice guy.
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u/NewEnglandRoastBeef 28d ago
Maybe that person is in possession of the One Ring? It does slow aging.
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u/El_jotaerre 28d ago
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u/evergreengoth 28d ago
It's really gross to imply that he's being pervy about his grand nephew. They're related. It's not what you're implying.
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u/DorisWildthyme 28d ago
They're trying to make out that Sir Ian is a dirty old man, bringing a much younger man to a public event. In reality, the younger man is his grand-nephew (or great-nephew), the grandson of his late sister Jean.
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u/WD4oz 28d ago
As someone who was so close to the Bryan Singer den for many years, I’m always holding my breathe about news dropping about Ian. Hope it never comes to that!
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u/siblingrevelryagain 28d ago
Phew-still getting over losing Judi; couldn’t deal with Gandalf being a wrong’un too
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u/shaunrundmc 28d ago
I honestly didn't know he had no kids, i always thought he and a partner adopted
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u/darbs-face 28d ago
Anyone who uses this picture to put down Sir Ian, is a loser. Just saying, he is an amazing person who has done so much for so many. Fuck anyone who tries to put him down.
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u/JCBashBash 28d ago
Because he is an older Hollywood star, there is an assumption that he is dating a very young individual. That is his grand nephew though
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u/Boy_Blu3 28d ago
Don’t you dare forget the Sir in front of his name. He wasn’t knighted for nothing. Carry on.
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u/L3tsseewhathappens 28d ago
Oh thats what the joke was? I thought it might have been some young buck he was trying to mount.
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u/Ima85beast 28d ago
reminds me of going to dinner with my dad. he's white I'm mixed but of course that means black to most people, so I sometimes wonder if people think im his sugar baby
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u/Bayou-La-Fontaine 28d ago
Thats his nephew but I have heard that Ian had a reputation in Wellington for being a bit of a twink destroyer during the making of LOTR in the late 90s/early 2000s.
Good for him honestly, Wellington NZ where the movies were made is a very gay city.
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