Unless you’re chronically online (which most people prefer not to be these days), it’s near impossible to keep up with all the internet slang and viral trends circulating at any given time. In 2023, “twink death” began trending on Twitter, leading to some interesting discourse about how harshly people in the public eye are judged based on their natural aging process– especially those who entered the industry at a young age and grew into adulthood as the world watched on.

What Is Twink Death?

If you’re not familiar, Dictionary.com defines a “twink” as “a young, attractive gay man with a slim, boyish appearance.” Leonardo DiCaprio (who rose to fame throughout the 90s thanks to leading roles in Titanic, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape and more) was the public figure being bashed in the original viral tweet.

A throwback image from the early days of his career alongside him as a 48-year-old was described as “twink death” and called “a terrifying thing,” causing fans to rush to DiCaprio’s defense. More recently, Dune actor Timothée Chalamet moving toward his 30s has the phrase coming up in conversation once again. What’s interesting is that neither of these actors have come out as members of the LGBTQ+ community, and they’ve consistently been in public relationships with women. Nevertheless, their boyish good looks cause them to be lumped into the twink category alongside people like Prince and Todrick Hall.

When examining how entertainers of color change in appearance as they get older versus their White counterparts, the phrase “Black don’t crack” has been thrown around for decades. If you’re concerned about your favorite stars falling victim to twink death, we’ve rounded up some examples who are aging like fine wine with no signs of slowing down. Let us know in the comments which other actors you would add to our list!

Michael Ealy

Piercing blue eyes like those that Michael Ealy is blessed with make his face an incredibly welcome inclusion in so many classic Black movies from across the past two decades. 2002’s Barbershop is where the 50-year-old got his big break, though 2 Fast 2 Furious, Think Like a Man (and its sequel), The Intruder and About Last Night are standouts from his filmography as well.

LL Cool J

Even in his mid-50s, LL Cool J’s sweet smile manages to melt our hearts the same way it did throughout the late 90s and early 2000s. At the time, the rapper-turned-actor was appearing in projects like Deep Blue Sea, In Too Deep, Any Given Sunday and Charlie’s Angels. In 2006 he appeared opposite Queen Latifah in the feel-good romantic comedy, Last Holiday, reminding viewers exactly why he’s so crush-worthy. All this time later, social media users continue to hype up Cool J during debates about the finest oldheads in Hollywood, even arguing amongst themselves who’s more desirable between the New York native and Method Man.

Shemar Moore

On Criminal Minds, Shemar Moore’s suave portrayal of Derek Morgan either had you drooling and dreaming of dating him, or rolling your eyes at his constant “baby girls” and other pet names for on-screen co-worker Penelope Garcia. No matter how you feel about his most famous TV role, it’s impossible to deny that the 53-year-old looks fantastic, and only seems to be embracing his youthfulness from the inside out since the birth of his first daughter in 2023.

Boris Kodjoe

There are a lot of beautiful Black models out there, but none of them are beating the twink death allegations quite like Boris Kodjoe. The Austria-born entertainer looks virtually identical to versions of himself from years before, and his skin looks to be almost totally devoid of wrinkles ahead of his 51st birthday on March 8th. If the father of two looks familiar, you might recognize him from Station 19, Brown Sugar or Doing Hard Time, though he’s been booked and busy since he made his debut in a 1995 TLC music video.

Pharrell Williams

Virgina Beach-born multi-talent Pharrell Williams has received so many compliments about his flawless complexion that the only logical next step was for him to launch a skincare collection. His Humanrace brand boasts products that will keep both your face and body looking and feeling fresh, though we can’t promise you’ll look as youthful as The Neptunes member unless you’re also willing to take some of his trendsetting style risks.

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