Dating can be a lot of things, especially in 2025. Never has the pool of promising romantic prospects felt quite so shallow, and so over-filtered, even for Charlize Theron. Like many of us navigating modern romance, Theron is active on dating apps. And much like the rest of us, she’s far from impressed.
In a recent interview on Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy podcast, Theron didn’t hold back: “The apps are just horrible…. It’s a fucking clown show,” she said. “I’m sorry, guys, but please. Like, no.” Stars—they’re just like us!
She went on, calling out the usual dating app clichés: “Don’t tell me you’re a CEO because you’re not. Like, I’m sorry. Of what? Of some business you can’t explain to me that none of my friends can understand, like, no.”
In a recent appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, she shared even more of her grievances: “A friend put me on [Raya], I went on two dates. Because every week it’s every guy has a Burning Man picture. And they’re, like, a CEO, like, of nothing.” She added, “Then you meet with them, and they’re not. I just say it up front. I’m like, well, why did you put that on your thing? No, I don’t like it.”
In other words, calling mainstream dating apps a flop in 2025 is hardly a hot take. Both online and in real life, daters are quick to criticize the experience as tedious, compulsive, unproductive, and at times even painful. Monogamists, if you believe the discourse, are nearly extinct, while the rise of the ‘situationship’ has become the perfect alibi for anyone looking to ghost with plausible deniability. Sure, a few will admit to stumbling across a worthwhile match—but Charlize Theron is not one of them. And frankly, neither are we.
Lately, Theron has been shuttling between New York and Los Angeles, attending a string of high-profile events to promote her upcoming film, The Old Guard 2. She stars opposite Henry Golding in the sequel to the 2020 original, based on the acclaimed comic series by Leandro Fernández and Greg Rucka.
And while much of Hollywood was busy descending on Venice for Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez’s ultra-luxurious wedding, Theron made it clear she was happy to miss it. Speaking at the fifth annual block party for her Africa Outreach Project in Los Angeles, she quipped, “I think we might be the only people who did not get an invite to the Bezos wedding, but that’s okay because they suck and we’re cool.” She then thanked the crowd for showing up, “especially when the world feels like it’s burning—because it is.”
Theron may not be finding love on Raya, but she’s keeping it real everywhere else.
