Leonardo DiCaprio Really Hated The Nickname The Media Gave Him And His Friends
Leonardo DiCaprio is known for keeping around his day one friends. In his younger years, some would call DiCaprio and his entourage the coolest guys in the club and regular party animals. The group’s wild antics earned DiCaprio and his brotherhood a nickname that still sticks to his clique to this day. But DiCaprio once revealed it wasn’t a nickname he was particularly fond of.
Who was a part of Leonardo DiCaprio’s clique?
In the 90s, DiCaprio’s clique consisted of fellow actors that he’d been friends with from a young age. He first recruited Maguire into his social circle when he was 12 years old. At the time, DiCaprio was drawn to Maguire because of their similar experiences. Like DiCaprio, Maguire had a fierce passion for acting and was raised by a single mother. When on his way home from auditioning, a young DiCaprio spotted Maguire.
“I was like, ‘Tobey! Tobey! Hey! Hey,’” DiCaprio told Esquire. “And he was like, ‘Oh yeah – I know you. You’re…that guy.’ But I just made him my pal. When I want someone to be my friend, I just make them my friend.”
And it’s a friendship that’s lasted to this day. DiCaprio and Maguire would later go on to expand their friendship circle. Actors like Entourage’s Kevin Connolly and Luke Haas later joined the pack. Boy Meets World alum Ethan Suplee would find himself a part of his group as well. Over time, because of the group’s lifestyle, the media would eventually dub DiCaprio and his band the Pussy Posse.
How Leonardo DiCaprio felt about the nickname
Leonardo DiCaprio once revealed how he felt about the nickname given to his group, and also commented on how he and his friends at the time were perceived. In a 2000 interview with Rolling Stone, DiCaprio explained that not only did he dislike the term, but he also found it a bit offensive.
“I don’t know where it was coined,” DiCaprio said. “But they started calling me and my friends the Pussy Posse, and I think it’s the most degrading thing toward women I’ve ever heard in my life. I’ve never used that term in my entire life.”
One of DiCaprio’s best friends, Kevin Connolly, also asserted that no one in the group coined the term or found pride in it. Connolly set the record straight on Watch What Happens Live on Andy Cohen.
“There was a New York magazine article written years ago, and the writer of the magazine coined that phrase,” Connolly said. “With my hand on the bible, I swear to you never, in any capacity, have myself or any of our friends referred to ourselves as the Pussy Posse. This guy wrote it, and it stuck.”
The article Connolly refers to is Leo, Prince of the City written by Nancy Jo Sales. In it, Sales refers to the group as the Posse several times, with the article describing the group as all about the girls and sex-crazed.
What happened to the posse?
DiCaprio’s posse has for the most part grown out of their roles. Esquire notes that most of DiCaprio’s friends have left behind their raucous lifestyle for quieter lives involving wives and kids. DiCaprio is the only member of his clique who hasn’t settled down. The Revenant star credits his celebrity status, which has him constantly on the move, as part of the reason why he hasn’t started a family like the rest of his posse has.
“Six months of being on location or being off in Morocco or someplace like that is not the best thing for a relationship,” DiCaprio once said.
