Mary-Kate Olsen is only 27 year old but has led a very strange life so far. We all know how she and Ashley spent their childhood and teen years. Mary-Kate went off the rails a bit in young adulthood. She dropped out of NYU, started taking up with Greek shipping heirs (who also dated Paris Hilton), and went to rehab for an eating disorder. After all of that drama, Mary-Kate and Ashley built a respectable career in fashion. Even though The Row is crazy expensive, it’s also crazy successful. I’ve already praised them for creating all of their clothes domestically. The twins do not use sweatshop labor, and that’s a big step for fashion.
Anyway, Mary-Kate hooked up with Olivier Sarkozy (the half-brother of Nicolas) in early 2012. She was 26, and he was 43 at the time. His ex-wife immediately labeled the romance “grotesque,” which is understandable. Not only is MK 17 years younger than her boyfriend, but she still looks like a 17-year-old girl. She probably always will look much younger than her true age. MK and Olivier moved in together in late 2012, and she was seen shopping solo for engagement rings late last year. Now the weird couple has announced their engagement:
Think Ashley will be maid-of-honor? Mary-Kate Olsen is engaged to marry her boyfriend of nearly two years, French banker Olivier Sarkozy, sources confirm exclusively to Us Weekly.
Olsen, 27, and Sarkozy, 44 — half-brother of former French president Nicolas Sarkozy — first stepped out together in 2012. Since then, they’ve been a frequent presence at basketball games in New York City, where they live together in a $6.25 million townhouse.
This will be the former Full House star’s first marriage, and Sarkozy’s second. He was previously wed to Charlotte Bernard, with whom he has two kids, Julien, 12, and Margo, 10.
“Mary-Kate has made him a better father. She remembers all the kids’ special events,” a source previously told Us of the husband and wife-to-be. “She thinks he’s a great dad.”
Her loved ones have a pretty high opinion of him, too. “Mary-Kate’s family thinks Olivier is the best thing to happen to her,” an insider tells Us. “They love him.”
Incidentally, the fashion designer’s twin sister, Ashley, is also dating an older man. Following her split from David Schulte, she has been spending time with Moneyball director Bennett Miller, who is 20 years her senior.
[From Us Weekly]
I thought I’d have a problem with this, but surprisingly, I’m okay with it. This isn’t a situation of a wide-eyed starlet hooking up with some older dude for his money. It’s also not a situation of some guy getting with Mary-Kate because she’s so rich herself. Both MK and Olivier have their own money (he’s a successful banker), and he is the one who paid for their $6.25 million love nest. They are a low-key couple, and we haven’t heard any drama at all from them.
Here are photos of MK and Olivier leaving their townhome separately. Congrats to the unlikely couple!
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet, WENN & Pacific Coast News
Oh God.
hi
hi
Not weird or awesome. Only one other word: EWWW!
Why is this ewww? It’s not like she’s 18. They are both adults and have been together for two years. I say, good for them.
Yeah I think two weird people are limited in who they can relate to in this world. They’re not bothering anyone else so who cares.
I agree. I can’t imagine there are many 27 year old men she can relate to. wasn’t she a gazillionaire but the age of 10? He probably knows he hit the young chick jack pot and put a ring on it.
Eeeew doesnt cover it. I hope he wasnt a full house fan. Somehow that whole watched-my-wife-grow-up-oh-did-I-mention-that-I-was-a-grown-ass-man-at-the-time thing makes me wanna gag. So gross.
He’s French and 44. Something tells me Full House wasn’t ever on his radar.
+1 on the “eeeeeew.”
The relationship seems decidedly creepy to me. JMO.
My god. She looks like what I’d imagine what would pop out if Chelsea Handler & Jen Aniston finally stopped using protection.
Eh, doesn’t bother me. I mean, visually, it is jarring because they look so different from their respective ages; she looks so much younger and he is working a hard forty-four. But seventeen years isn’t really that much, and she’s swimming in her own wealth. Mazel tov.
Me, neither. She has a lot of life experience. I would imagine she could hold her own.
I agree, 17 years is not that big of a deal. My mom is over 15 years older than my dad and they are still going strong after 35 years. Dad was in his early twenties and mom was in her mid-thirties when they hooked up. In some instances, age truly is not an issue.
My mom was 34 with THREE (count ’em, three) kids, when she married my stepdad (dad)–who was 21. They had two more kids….
Interesting! My mom had 4 kids and had me and my younger sister after her and dad got together.
Yeah I agree
Those Olsen twins creep me out. Like grown up versions of those twins in The Shining *shudders*
A big +1!!!
Good one 🙂 🙂 🙂
They certainly are the strangest looking couple. To me, he looks way older than 44.
Best wishes to them. (My nice comment.)
She’s worth billions and can’t afford a hairbrush?
And I find it – interesting – that both she and her sister are dating MUCH older men. /end b!tchiness
Hairbrushes are for peasants, obviously.
OMG, creeeeeeeepy is the word.
why?? I don’t think it’s creepy. It makes sense to me, actually – that she’d look to someone older who’s solid and has his own thing going on to buoy her in a world of yes-men. Him being French must also be exotic for her. I’m all for people finding their counterpart. It’s not a conventional match, but they seem happy! So, Mazel ton, I say. Haters: shush.
As long as everyone involved is over about 25, your kids aren’t close to your girlfriend’s age, and there’s no excessive famewhoring, it’s fine by me.
+1 Good rules!
Also, it’s about balance of power. I can’t stand men who need a doe-eyed younger woman that they can control and impress. I don’t get that feeling here. The Olsen twins worked since they were born practically, and have gone on to start and maintain a successful design business and have their own wealth. They seem very mature to me for their age.
Is he really 44? I would put him closer to 50!
I’d have said close to 60. Oy.
Well, I think she looks like a little old lady, so they look fine together. Plus, the Olsen twins seem to have old souls…I can’t even explain it, but thats what comes to my mind…
I feel exactly the same way. She looks like a wizened little old lady. And about the old souls, too.
I imagine finding a guy who is her age, her financial equal who doesn’t act like a frat boy would be a challenge. If she has found someone who isn’t threatened by all that comes with being with an Olsen and who treats her with respect and loves her, let her be happy, I say..
I agree with your assessment. Plus I find them fascinating together. They seem like good subjects for Vanity Fair.
I can just imagine WHAT she has to go through if she wants to find a man who actually wants HER, and not her MONEY…….the ones nearer to her age are most likely jerks who can’t handle that she’s not going to be at their beck and call, as if they were dating some model or something (completely generalizing, of course), or if they aren’t jerks, then they most likely can’t handle that she is set for life.
I can get why she went for someone older–he’s got his own money, he too has things to do, he’s made his mistakes in his past relationships and knows what not to do, and he’s not intimidated by how much money she has or that she works–he’s probably glad for it.
Plus, I’d imagine he knows a thing or two about sweeping a woman off her feet. I could imagine very easily falling for someone who knows how to woo, who isn’t some douche who expects sex on the third date or whatever…..
“… her financial equal who doesn’t act like a frat boy”?
In New York, highly-driven men in their late 20s are everywhere, in the stock market, in advertising, in the Arts, in all areas of business, and that doesn’t even touch on the responsible and civic-minded trust fund “babies” that are plentiful.
Please don’t generalize based on what you read on gossip sites in an attempt to make excuses for their relationship, Dirtnap. That isn’t real life, it’s just lame, unfair and hugely inaccurate.
I lived in New York in my 20s and my husband was an investment banker. So I knew a lot of those “highly driven” 20 something boys. They worked really hard, but they were not emotionally mature. I can’t remember a single one who was a good partner – funny, smart, fun to be with, yes, but not ready for a serious relationship. Including my ex-husband, by the way.
A single example does not a conclusion make, GoodNames. Sorry you chose poorly.
You might want to actually read what I said. It was not a single example.
I this it’s so annoying when people misquote Aristotle. So pompous.
Dear John, I apologize. I am sick and on cold medication and unusually cranky.
You are absolutely fine. It’s a gossip site, snarky is expected/accepted, regardless of meds 🙂
Who cares? Love of my life was 44 when I was 27.
I’d still be with him today if he hadn’t passed away of lung cancer. Noone has matched him, since.
@ Mollie, so sorry for your loss. Something similar happened to me. Aside from the visual (which is only disarming b/c they don’t look their ages), they sound like a nice couple, so who cares. Life is far too short.
oh so sorry, Mollie:(
Your post blew me away, mollie. I was with someone who was 50 when we started dating, I was 25 (we’d been friends for five years prior). We were together for 18 years until lung cancer ended us.
And, yes, no one has even come close to matching what we had.
Weird, I’m sorry. Weird, weird. I understand that the twins have lived a life that very few of people can experience and that they’ve experienced the aspects of adult life early. They were forced to grow up too soon.
But what has a 27-yo- to offer to a 44-y-o? More importantly, what has a 44-year-old to offer to 27-year-old, other than financial security, which these twins obviously don’t need?
They are both so wealthy, obviously financial security is not in the equation for either of them. What else do they have to offer each other? Love and compatibility would be my guess.
I think they seem weird as a couple because of the way they look – so far apart in age.
Perhaps. Maybe I just can’t comprehend, for while my teens put me me smack in the middle of 20s emotionally, 20s are treating me qite age-appropriately. I couldn’t possibly imagine what a 44-year-old man would want of me besides my youthful body. And then, I can’t imagine, what I would want from a 44-year-old. I admit to my bias and cynicism. Especially since all of the Olsen look so young, as to I, and Sarkozy just looks so old.
I’d rather hope that it’s all genuine and that it lasts for a very long time.
I’m from Eastern Europe so my view of appropriate relationships might be a bit dated.
Pru, I think you nailed the reason this relationship seems so squicky. It’s not the ages — 27 and 44 don’t seems so far apart — it’s the fact that she *looks* so young and he *looks* so old. People still think of her as being a preteen because she practically looks like one, but she is a grown woman.
They have tons to offer each other. Their age difference is not weird at all. They are both consenting adults, successful in their own careers who obviously love each other and being together.
Dude just needs to get those bags under his eyes taken care of and he will look much better. At least they’re both successful and wealthy in their own right so I agree with Bedhead, it’s not a young starlet money or fame grab with an old dude. It still makes him seem kind of….pervy?? At least she’s not in her early 20s, I guess. Congrats.
Eh, I have no problem with them other than the fact that they are the least aesthetically pleasing high profile couple Ive seen in some time..
Then again, she looks like an underage wood sprite, and he looks like a haggard overgrown Keebler elf so….I guess its meant to be.
I cannot help it, this made me guffaw! ^^^
I think its weird, but who cares as long as they are happy? My cousin is 14 years younger than her husband & they are totally perfect for each other.
Well she often dress like an old lady. I do not think she looks particularly young. She is short,but facially she looks her age(or older ) to me. And he also looks older than his age. Anyway, good luck to them.
I love how he’s carrying the Everland It Girl bag.
Agree, not weirded out by this… the Olsens are a strange duo, but none of us could ever comprehend their lives, so why bother trying now?
No problem with it.In terms of maturity,life experiences,etc she is comparable to a woman in her 30s.Both twins seem responsible,level headed.I never hear about them being jerks or unprofessional.
They do seem like the rare child actors who came into adulthood unscathed by their stardom, and capable of finding their way in the world. It’s refreshing to see.
I wonder if it’s because they had each other?
@GoodNames, that’s probably a good theory. So many kids are just abandoned by their stage parents and left to the wolves.
The adage, “it’s lonely at the top” comes to mind.
I’ve never known a set of twins I couldn’t tell apart. No matter how much at stare at pics of them or someone points out the minute differences, I can never tell them apart. Even when they are standing side by side wearing different clothes.
I suppose it’s the identical facial expression that does me in.
Me too! And they aren’t identical, but fraternal twins.
I don’t care if by biological terms they are fraternal – it’s undeniable they are each other’s carbon copies so I will regard them as identical forever and ever. Can’t differentiate the 2 either.
What Penny said. I’d be interested to see the DNA proof of their fraternal/identical relationship. I’ve never, ever seen fraternal twins who look that much alike. I think their parents just perpetuated that to foster individuality.
Because she looks like a 14 year old girl it makes him look like a man that is into really young teenage girls so they seem really creepy together.
Gross is like Joaquin Phoenix and his 19 year old. Verging on gross is Bradley Cooper and Suki Waterhouse. This pairing – Mary-Kate and Olivier – doesn’t seem that gross. I agree with the other commentators that it is because of their looks. He looks older than 44 and she looks younger than 27.
I think Joaquin is an eccentric, complex person who’s led a radical life. I buy that he’s made a connection with his girlfriend. I buy that he’s not some mid-life perv shopping the catalogue. How is Cooper ‘verging on’ gross, though? Like, he straight up joked with Jennifer Lawrence that he wouldn’t date her because he’s old enough to be her father. Then he went the Leo route. He’s model-picking.
If you want a glimpse into Joaquin’s life, read Last Night at the Viper Room. Of course the celebrity ecosystem is vastly different from our own, but I think Joaquin has existed in a bizarre microcosm–engineered initially by his family–and I give him a pass that I don’t afford the Bradleys and Leos of the celeb world.
THAT’S what’s so gross about Bradley Cooper and Suki to me. As far as I’m aware, Leo and Joaquin aren’t going on the age defense, whenever someone jokes that they’re dating their attractive, female co-star. They both, probably, say that they’re beautiful women, good friends, etc–but just friends. They don’t go all ‘I could LITERALLY be her father’, and then proceed to date someone YOUNGER than said co-star.
This one doesn’t bother me either. I think partially because she used to always look so unhappy, and they both usually look thrilled to be together.
Off topic: Michelle Tanner turns 30 in just a few years. Now I feel old.
A little weird, but if there was no cheating involved, and they’re both wealthy on their own, and seem happy and lowkey, then good for them.
He’s kind of shady, she’s kind of shady… I guess that makes them go together?
They are both adults, well into adulthood.
End of story, as far as I am concerned.
I think it’s completely fine.
I’m fine with this, and buy that they are truly in love. That said, I imagine their initial connection was based on their mutual pursuit of money, power and eccentricity. I also think it’s the wealthiest people who fear poverty the most, so their combined resources give them added security. Vacation homes in Bali don’t pay for themselves, after all.
I’m with an older guy myself (though no where near that age gap) I understand it to a certain point. For me though the one thing I think about when having a huge age gap is, the time you will spend alone when the older partner passes before you. I would hate to spend my older years alone and missing my partner. He’s in his mid 40’s so you’re looking at another 40 or so years with him and then 20 or so on your own.
I can understand how that would concern you. But either one of you could be run over by a taxi tomorrow, so if you love him… I’m realizing this probably isn’t cheering you up all that much. Sorry.
All love affairs are doomed to a sad end – divorce or death.
She looks so young for her age and he looks so old, that I find they make a creepy looking couple. Despite the fact that she’s more worldly than most of her peers, 17 years is still a big gap. When she hits her sexual prime in a decade, he’ll be of an age where he probably won’t be able to keep up with her unless he mainlines V*agra.
That said, most celebrity marriages end in divorce so I doubt they’ll be together long enough for that to become an issue.
In a decade, he’ll only be 54. Hardly Viagra time. Trust me on this one.
@GoodNamesAllTaken
I’m glad you’ve experienced otherwise! But you might be in the minority.
http://www.webmd.com/erectile-dysfunction/news/20030804/erectile-dysfunction-common-with-age
I haven’t yet had sex with a man in that age bracket, but apparently sexual function sharply decreases after 50.
http://www.aarp.org/relationships/love-sex/info-05-2010/2009-aarp-sex-survey.3.html
According to a 2009 survey, 30% of men in their 50s say they have some degree of ED and 23% say they’ve been officially diagnosed with ED or impotence. And only 45% of men that age think of sex once a day.
Considering women in their 30s typically think of sex as often as teenage boys, that’s quite a mismatch.
Of course, there are exceptions to every rule. It could be that Olivier is a sex maniac or Mary-Kate has a low sex drive, so who knows. (Or maybe he’s a voyeur who prefers to watch her with others, and she gets off on that.) So many possibilities, LOL!
@Violet
Very interesting! I guess I am lucky in more ways than I realized with my husband. Lol
I don’t really consider them a ‘celebrity couple’. He’s rich, she’s a known commodity, but outside of the Olsens’ fashion offerings and pap photos of MK at a basketball game here and there with her now-fiancé, they seem to keep a pretty low profile.
@John
I agree that he isn’t a celebrity, but Mary-Kate definitely is after having grown up in the public eye. She still makes the news on a regular basis (in fact, I remember Newsweek had the twins on the cover a few years ago with the title “America’s Next Billionaires”) and I’m sure she routinely gets recognized by total strangers.
Anyway, the point I was making about celebrity relationships being short-lived has mostly to do with the fact that most celebs are faced with an insane amount of temptations and distractions, far more than the average person, which means their divorce rates are even higher than the norm.
It depends on the personalities/maturity of the two people involved. My husband is twelve years older than me and there seems like no age difference at all.
I’m 40, and I certainly hope to hell I don’t look as old as he does, when I’m 44.
On another note, good for her (them). it doesn’t seem like anyone has really made her happy and maybe this guy does. We might even see a smile from her at some point.
Two adults fall in love. I don’t see the problem. Both have money and careers.
I’m okay with the age difference, it just completely creeps me out that he is attracted to and has sex with someone who literally looks like she’s 12.
But she might not act or seem like a 12 year old, right? I haven’t seen any kind of interview with her for years, but I don’t remember her acting exceptionally young. If her demeanor is that of a 27 year old woman, than what she “looks like” to people who know her would be different than what we see in pictures.
You can’t be lying on top of someone looking into her face and not notice that she looks like jailbait.
She does NOT look 12. Lol!
They LOOK horrible together imho and even a little creepy, but apart from that it actually seems like a good match. I mean the Olsen twins get sooo much unwanted attention in the US (with all the paparazzi and stuff), I think it’s rather healthy for her to have a base in Europe and a fiancé that isn’t famous. Plus as a successful man over 40, he should be some kind of … stable. So I wish them all the luck in the world. I just won’t look at their pictures because.. well… ewww..
I think she is gorgeous, and there is nothing wrong with their age difference.
One thing I’ve noticed is that feminists tend to get angry when they see a younger woman/older man couple. What gives?
Your observation is inaccurate.
She is seriously wealthy. No man her age could even come close to her wealth so it makes sense she went for a much older and wealthier man. Remember wealthy people marry wealthy people, otherwise it’s a KFed / Britney situation.
Britney’s “country”, MK is savvy. Since money is not a consideration, I see her looking for someone who can at least support himself well, not necessarily her equal.
Why do MK and Ashley look so lifeless all the time? Always slumped over and dead-eyed.
I know, right? Makes me kind of sad for them, although they have certainly not rested on their laurels. I truly hope he makes her happy. She’s never done anything to (publicly) hurt anyone, no shade cast on her and her happiness here, it’s just an oogie observation from an uninvolved observer.
One of my best friends just married a man 15 years older than she is. They first hooked up years ago (when she was 22 and he was 37) and reunited a few years ago. If it works, it works.
I don’t think she looks particularly young, and they kind of suit each other actually. But why is he walking like that carrying an oversized purse? Is he holding it for her, or is it a man purse? And his hair…. I say no more.
I remember being this age and feeling so much more mature and experienced than I was.
You weren’t an Olsen, though. She IS a lot more experienced/accomplished than the average 27 year old, and she’s probably more mature as a result, too.
Money and public attention ≠ maturity, especially with their uber-protective growing-up.
It’s not just money and public attention. They have actual jobs and have been working since they were kids. Working for that long has probably has given them a certain degree of maturity that MOST of their peers don’t have.
She doesn’t look young to me. She looks older than her age in those photos. Am I the only one who thinks this?
Nope.
She looks 44.
That’s just catty. If anything, she looks way younger than her own true age.
Have no problem with the age difference. Have huge problem with the Sarkozy clan. WTF with MKO’s stance against sweatshops but willingness to be part of that greedy neoliberal soul- and life-destroying political circle?
Ugh.
The appearance is creepy, but given the personalities, maybe not. I am hoping that he introduces some French style to her appearance-clothes that fit, clean brushed hair.
Unless she goes all Vanessa Paradis.
Good for them. They seem well suited to each other.
My parents were 21 years apart. They were married for 26 years until he passed away. Faithfully, no less. My mom was very very mature for her age and she just clicked with my dad. My dad helped her become a very successful independent contractor with her own business. They had two kids (my sister and I).
I myself don’t date older men – which i think is a byproduct OF having a much older father. But 17 years isn’t that crazy to me. They are both, shockingly on the same page n terms of success and financial stability. That in and of itself might be something they have in common and mutually respect in one another. Will it last? Eh. Who knows. But the age thing doesn’t weird me out like it does many of you. It’s not like she’s 17 and he’s 40. She has some years under her belt, some experiences and most importantly, a lot of solid financial success and stability.
Kudos to them. Low key couple that don’t actively seek out the paps or air their shit in public in order to grab headlines. Hope it works out.