Men Think Madonna Dating a 29-Year-Old Is Child Abuse

Madonna has always been one push boundaries beginning in the mid 1980s when she became the Queen

of Pop. She is known for challenging norms regarding sexuality, gender, and religion. Most recently,

Madonna is challenging ageism with her dating of a younger man and releasing a new album this year

that is being referred to as Confessions 2 and will follow in the disco-leaning electronic dance pop sound

that helped make that effort so successful more than two decades ago.

Madonna has consistently faced criticism regarding her age and appearance when releasing new music,

which she has strongly condemned as 'ageism and misogyny'. She argues the world refuses to celebrate

women past 45 and attempts to punish her for being strong-willed, refusing to apologize for her

creative choices or looks.

Society has double standards for women and men. You don't hear much about White House Press

Secretary Karoline Leavitt, 28, being married to 60-year old real estate investor Nicholas Riccio,

marking a 32-year age gap. They are expecting their second child late summer of 2026.

Note: The article below was copied as it was behind a paywall.

 Men Think Madonna Dating a 29-Year-Old Is Child Abuse

You can’t make this up…

By Forward Press on Medium

Men love to talk about double standards when they think they’re on the losing end. Right now, they’re outraged because Madonna, who’s 67, is dating a 29-year-old man named Akeem Morris. Social media is full of men saying this is child abuse, that it’s predatory, that if a man did this people would be writing articles about how wrong it is. They’re acting like they’ve discovered some massive hypocrisy in how society treats age gaps. The irony couldn’t be more obvious.

The age gap is 38 years, and that’s apparently the scandal. Never mind that we live in a world where 70-year-old men routinely date women young enough to be their granddaughters and society treats it as completely normal. So, who is this guy everyone’s suddenly so concerned about protecting? What’s the actual story here beyond just the age difference?

Madonna and the rules that change for women

Madonna met Akeem Morris, a soccer player from Jamaica who plays for NY Renegades FC, during a 2022 Paper Magazine shoot. They made their relationship public in summer 2024. Morris is 29 years old, a professional athlete, old enough to vote, drink, serve in the military, and make every other adult decision in his life. But according to the men losing their minds online, somehow dating Madonna makes him a victim who needs protecting.

Some are saying she’s manipulating him, that she’s using her power and money to trap a younger man. Others are body-shaming her, calling her “granny” and making jokes about how disgusting it is for a woman her age to be sexually active at all.

The comments are full of men who apparently can’t imagine why a 29-year-old man would want to date Madonna unless he’s being forced or paid. They’re treating a grown adult like he has no brain, like he’s some confused kid who doesn’t know what he’s doing. The concern isn’t actually about him though — it’s about the fact that an older woman is dating a younger man and they can’t handle it.

A 29-year-old grown man is apparently a “child” now, but only when he’s dating an older woman instead of an older man — Image courtesy of X

Old men dating young women was never a problem

These same men who are suddenly so worried about age gaps and power dynamics have been silent for decades while watching older men do exactly this. Where the fuck were you when Leonardo DiCaprio was dating 19-year-olds in his 40s?

Where was your moral outrage when Hugh Hefner had a mansion full of women young enough to be his great-granddaughters? Where were the “child abuse” accusations when Donald Trump married Melania, 24 years younger? When Al Pacino knocked up a 29-year-old at 82? When Mick Jagger had a kid at 73 with a 29-year-old?

You weren’t saying shit because you don’t actually care about age gaps. You care about controlling women. You’re fine with old men dating young women because that fits your worldview where male power and wealth can buy access to young female bodies. But when a woman does it, suddenly you’re concerned about consent and power dynamics?

The truth is you’re threatened by the idea that women don’t need you, don’t peak at 25, and don’t lose value as they age. Madonna at 67 dating a younger man proves that women can be desirable, sexual, and powerful at any age, and that terrifies you because your entire sense of superiority is built on the lie that young women are a resource that belongs to successful men.

Older women face discrimination on multiple fronts, not only in personal relationships, but also in the workplace — Image courtesy of Employee Benefit News

Age gaps were fine when men benefited

The reality is uncomfortable but true. Men created this system where older people dating younger people is accepted and even celebrated. They normalized age gaps as long as the man is older. They built careers and public images around dating much younger women and faced zero consequences for it. They normalized the idea that a powerful man can have any woman he wants, regardless of age difference.

And now a woman is doing the same thing and they’re calling it abuse. This has nothing to do with protecting Akeem Morris. They’re mad that Madonna isn’t behaving the way they think she should.

This is how it always works. Women get judged more harshly than men for the same behavior, and that judgment gets worse as they age. A 30-year-old man dating a 22-year-old woman is normal. A 30-year-old woman dating a 22-year-old man gets called a cougar. A 50-year-old man with a 30-year-old girlfriend is living his best life. A 50-year-old woman with a 30-year-old boyfriend is having a midlife crisis or being predatory.

Twenty years of Leonardo DiCaprio exclusively dating women under 25, but sure, let’s all freak out about Madonna and her 29-year-old boyfriend — Image courtesy of Instagram

How aging becomes a liability for women

The backlash Madonna faces isn’t new for her. She’s been told to act her age her entire career, usually by people who have no problem with men her age doing whatever they want. She’s been criticized for her appearance, her fashion choices, her music videos, her performances, because supposedly she’s not being age appropriate.

But age-appropriate basically means stay home and be quiet. It means stop being relevant, stop being sexual, stop having fun, stop being yourself. And Madonna has never been interested in that version of aging.

Research also backs up what’s happening here. Studies show that when older men date younger women, evolutionary psychology gets brought up to explain and justify it. Men seek younger partners for fertility, we’re told, and that’s just how nature works. But when older women date younger men, suddenly those same people forget about evolution and start talking about morality and appropriateness. The rules change depending on who’s breaking them.

Madonna is proof their rules don’t work

Madonna and Akeem Morris dating isn’t a scandal. Two adults choosing to be together is nobody’s business but their own. The real scandal is that we’re still having this conversation in 2026, still pretending that women’s worth expires at a certain age, still acting like women need permission to be sexual beings.

What’s really bothering people isn’t the relationship itself. It’s that Madonna keeps living her life on her own terms instead of following the rules society made for aging women. Women who age without apology, who date who they want, who don’t ask for approval or validation from people who were never going to give it anyway.

If you’re angry about Madonna dating Akeem Morris but you’ve never said a word about all the older men dating younger women, you need to ask yourself why. Because it’s not about age gaps. It’s about who you think deserves to have them. And the answer to that question says a lot more about you than it does about Madonna.