Has Leonardo DiCaprio coined his own dictionary? Because in the one we all use, a “climate warrior” or “climate champion,” as he often dubs himself, is someone who understands and avoids activities that harm the planet. Yet, the Hollywood A-lister unabashedly holidays on superyachts and frequently uses private jets, as recently witnessed. The Revenant star and his model girlfriend, Vittoria Ceretti, were spotted arriving in Mexico on a private jet amid the devastating Los Angeles fires. While the need to escape such calamity quickly is understandable, can someone be so unaware of how their actions undermine their cause?
So far, more than 100,000 people, including several of DiCaprio’s A-list peers like Tom Hanks, Anthony Hopkins, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, have been successfully evacuated, none using private jets. These individuals, unfortunately, lost their homes but avoided hopping on jets to escape nature’s wrath. DiCaprio, on the other hand, was seen landing in Cabo San Lucas on Friday. It wouldn’t come as a surprise if he opts to relax and recoup from this experience aboard a lavish superyacht.
This seems to be the perk enjoyed by the founder of the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, which has funded over $80 million in grants focused on climate change and sustainability. But not everyone is applauding his actions. “Leonardo DiCaprio. First Rate Hypocrite,” one person fumed on X. Another blasted, “Climate warrior. What an idiot,” while a third simply wrote, “Privilege.”
Critics continued, “Imagine being like that, multi-million-dollar home burns down, and you fly to another city in a private jet to your other multi-million-dollar home.” Another stated, “Oh, the irony.”
To put things in perspective, the approximate distance between Los Angeles (LAX) and Cabo San Lucas (CSL) is 900 miles. A flight on a private jet for this route can emit anywhere from 8 to 16 metric tons of CO₂. By comparison, the average annual carbon footprint per person globally is just 4 metric tons. When you consider these figures, the actions of self-proclaimed climate champions who disregard their impact become even harder to ignore.
