Reality television star Kristin Cavallari has hit back at criticism regarding her 13-year age gap with new beau, Mark Estes.
Cavallari, 37, first rose to fame as a cast member on the MTV reality TV show Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County, before appearing in the popular spin-off series The Hills. Between 2018 and 2020 she also starred in her own E! series, Very Cavallari.
The mum-of-three debuted her relationship with Estes, 24, on social media last week with a cosy snap of the two vacationing in Mexico, which was captioned: "He makes me happy."
The 37-year-old was previously married to former American football player Jay Cutler, with whom she shares her three children, Camden, Jaxon and Saylor. The couple called it quits in 2020.
Meanwhile, Estes - a former college footballer - is mostly known as a member of the Montana Boyz, a popular TikTok collective with over 525,000 followers.
Cavallari has since made her debut on the Montana Boyz' account, appearing in a video alongside the group to the song, 'She's Country' - but not everyone has been supportive of her and Estes' new relationship.
"Kristin Cavallari in a video with her son," one of the top comments read, while a second added: "Them meeting Kristen: 'My mom used to love your show'."
"OK I'm confused, is she mom or the gf [girlfriend]?" another asked, with a fourth noting: "He [Estes] was 4 years old when Laguna Beach first aired."
Another pithily commented, "Where's Kristin? Making the snacks?" on a more recent clip that didn't feature the reality star.
But Cavallari appears to have taken the backlash in her stride, addressing the criticism in a clip to her own TikTok which has since amassed over three million views.
Lip-syncing to an audio track, Cavallari mouthed, "So what are you gonna do about it?" with a second voice responding: "We're reporting it."
"Are you gonna arrest me? Are you gonna give me a ticket?" she continued, before smiling cheekily at the camera.
"When they're all up in arms that I'm dating a 24 year old. Andddd?" she captioned the clip, which has been liked by over 167,000 people at the time of writing.
While many have thrown their support behind Cavallari, her clap-back to the hate didn't quite have the impact she intended. The response to the clip has been divided, with one viewer hitting back: "He was four when Laguna Beach aired and 13 when you had your son... like, what do you even have in common?"
"Are we convinced that somebody in a group called 'The Montana Boyz' can take on role of stepdad? Bffr [be f**king for real]," another weighed in, while a third accused Cavallari of dating Estes in a bid to remain "relevant".
Last year, actor Marques Houston - who married a woman almost 20 years his junior - sparked backlash after attempting to explain why he found it difficult dating women his own age.
Houston, who starred in the likes of Fat Albert, Love & Hip-Hop: Hollywood and the 2000s dance film You Got Served, came under fire for explaining why dating older women hadn't worked for him in the past, citing their "baggage", "different outlook on life", and likelihood of having children from previous relationships.
The 42-year-old married his now 23-year-old wife Miya Houston in 2020, when he was 39 and she was just 19. The two became engaged in March 2019 and began dating the year prior - after Miya had turned 18, Houston claims.
