Tobey Maguire and Lily Chee were spotted at a party together last week. Photos: Handout, Lily Chee/Instagram
Is American actor Tobey Maguire, 49, dating 20-year-old model Lily Chee? The pair were spotted at billionaire Michael Rubin's Fourth Of July party last week.
Fans of the actor are appalled at the 29-year gap, especially since Maguire has a daughter who is just three years younger than Chee.
The Spider-Man star was married to Jennifer Meyer for 10 years between 2007 to 2017 and have two children – Ruby, 17 and Otis, 15.
Photos of Maguire and Chee at the party, with the actor's hand placed on the model's lower back, have circulated online drawing criticisms such as "sick old man" and "predator".
One X user wrote: “She wasn’t even born when the first Spider-Man film was released.”
Some also likened Maguire to his best pal actor Leonardo DiCaprio, 48, who is (in)famous for only dating women below 27 years old.
However, Maguire's ex-wife has come to his defense stating on her social media that the photos have been misconstrued.
“I don’t usually respond to such nonsense, but he was kindly helping a friend to her car, being a good guy,” Meyer, 47, wrote on Instagram.
“And now he has (been) blasted online for dating someone he is not. But thank you for your rude comment, I hope it made you feel better today. Wishing you love and light,” she wrote on Instagram, directing it to a troll who asked her why is Maguire dating someone so young.
“I’m disengaging after this. But don’t believe everything you read (I’m sure you were taught that somewhere). Tobey is as good of a guy as it gets,” the fashion designer added.
Photos: Lily Chee/Instagram
Chee is the latest It girl in the modelling world. The 1.73m model has a Malaysian connection; her dad is Malaysian while her mum is Irish and Scottish.
Chee has also dabbled in acting; she starred in Daredevil series and medical drama New Amsterdam.
Although Chee has more than a million followers on Instagram and TikTok, she said in a 2020 interview that social media is a toxic place.
"On the social media side of things, what has always bothered me are the negative assumptions people have about you. Just because I’m a social media personality who shares a lot of my life doesn’t mean you know everything about me," she told 1983 magazine.
"For example, I’ve hung out with a couple of boys who are quite popular on TikTok and a lot of people began assuming that I’m dating them. It caused a lot of drama and I learned the hard way that if I respond to negativity, people will immediately assume you’re lying, and it’ll make things even more messy.
"So, I’ve learned to never respond to negativity."
