Hard to imagine, but there ARE a substantial number of women out there who have a crush on a 75 year old man -specifically Leonard Cohen. If you’ve been to one of his concerts, you know this is true. His fans don’t get a lot of personal information about him and they’re always interested in his love life, which continues to flourish. An informant of ours spotted the mysterious Mr Cohen shopping in Ralph’s market on 3rd and La Brea in Los Angeles. He was wearing a suit and a fedora and walking beside his girlfriend Anjani Thomas, who was pushing the shopping cart. Hawaii born Anjani is also a singer and songwriter and they collaborate in more ways than one.
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he is in the last episode of his life now…..
Cohen is of a generation of men who enjoyed their huge heapings of male entitlement (see Mad Men). And Cohen is one of the men who made the very most of it. That is what draws women to him — he is the penultimate Alpha male. Not denying his talent at all, but his magnetism was a major force, both in his career and his personal life.
Alpha Male or not, doubt that applies to the bedroom. How does someone at the age of 75 keep a younger normal and healthy person satisfied sexually?!
Imagine taking someone that age to meet your parents, and your own parents are like 15 years younger – to many levels of wrongness, or is this a case of serious daddy issues!!
Sebastian, I’m having trouble making the ‘Alpha Male’ connection, and Mad Men? I’ve read about Cohen, and he seems a very private and almost reclusive, sensitive and spiritually oriented man.
He spent 5 years secluded at a Buddhist monastery and to this day is an observant Jew who keeps the Sabbath even while on tour.
His love of poetry goes back decades, having published several books of poetry he authored himself.
Recurring themes in Cohen’s musical work include social injustice, human rights, morals, politics, religion, war, and depression.
I would call him more a Renaissance Man.
I almost forgot – another recurring theme in his work is love. He draws too.
A well rounded intelligent and sophisticated man is priceless as a companion. And as for sexual satisfaction, I suppose there’s always Viagra, among other things.
Rick, lots of movers and shakers and mega-yuppies did/do Buddhism. It is hardly a spiritual badge of honor these days, particularly with the Dalhi Lama touring the world like a rock star. Buddhism has been more corrupted over the last half-century or more than Catholicism over the last 500 years. A quick skim of any Buddhist text or decent book on Buddhism will make this perfectly clear.
As I stated before a sense of male entitlement equals REAL Alpha male, and Cohen is of THE generation that had the ultimate sense of entitlement — it got everything it could ever want (free unencumbered sex thanks to the birth control pill, women who did not depend men for full financial support thanks to Feminism, and all the material goods a post-war boom could offer).
I referred to Mad Men because it is THE perfect pop culture depiction of those entitled males, and the period that was the absolute peak of their power and success.
I am not a huge poetry follower, so am not familiar with American poets of the time, but I can tell you that Cohen is one of a group of Canadian poets whose work — or at least early work in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s — reeked of OTT male entitlement. Their work was about sex and women, was designed to get them sex, and was riddled with male arrogance. These guys attitudes and sexual histories were perfect examples of ABSOLUTELY WHAT NOT TO DO in this PC age.
Rick, it is interesting that you once called me out on my simplistic and stereo-typing attitudes, but do something so simplistic and cliche as suggesting that dabbling in Buddhism denotes some form of integrity or credibility.
(And yes, five years in a monastery is dabbling — Buddhist monks do it all their lives, they do not treat it as a breather from enjoying the excess of the modern world.)
I choose not to pronounce judgment on people I really don’t know, and have no way of obtaining confirmation about them. There are men who join monasteries of various denominations who sincerely believe they are called to the life only to end up realizing that they aren’t, and so they end up leaving. Personally, I view a 5 year commitment to a lifestyle so austere more than dabbling, especially in light of his ongoing commitment to the Jewish faith, but to each their own.
She is hanging on for fame just like J Lo did w/ Puffy except less action and Len is probably not hitting the back door as often.
With that schnoz, no need to wonder about him:
http://www.tmz.com/2010/12/17/tmz-live-eli-roth-harvey-levin-jew-not-a-jew/
Rick, we all pass judgment on people. You did it to me before. Don’t be a hypocrite. Or, perhaps you feel I am so judgmental it is OK to blindly pass judgment on me. Not very evolved of you, and not true to our nations’ Judeo-Christian roots and outlook.
Your, or my, or Reta’s, or Indy’s judgment is obviously not the final one — that belongs to Life, or God, or a God equivalent. And, as they say, it ain’t over til it is over. However, our “judgments” can lead to discussion, exchange of information, and help — in small ways — the world develop a truer view of a person or situation.
And, as this is a gossip site, not a fansite for some celeb like Cohen, I feel perfectly justified adding my cynical two-cents.
As most people DO believe that Buddhism, and going to a monastery, imbues some type of spiritual or moral superiority, my comment serves as a little red flag to people, suggesting they not be so simple-minded and gullible. Your reaction appears just an attempt to shut up a dissenting opinion.
Whoa, I never intended to pass judgment on you, or shut you up, or anything else of a negative nature. I seem to recall saying something like ‘it SEEMS you rely on stereotyping AT TIMES’, or something to that effect, and only in the context of what was being discussed. I apologize for offending you, and will weigh my words extremely carefully when addressing you in the future.
Let me bring down the tone of this thread by saying I find it very unnatural when a woman is with a man who is decades older than she is. I’m sure many will argue with me, but I believe there should not be more than 10 or 15 years tops. Look at Larry King, his kids look like his grandkids. You rarely see this type of couple unless the man has a lot more money and or power than the woman. Let’s face it, we don’t find people a whole generation older than we are to be very attractive sexually, nor should we.
Yo Palermo: I don’t know exactly why but when you said..**Larry King**, suddenly I can’t stop laughing. Shawn is a foot taller than Larry and their bizzare-o life is so far out, it is really comical.
He is a dirty dog…Irving Layton was the REAL poet!
This is great actually, reading the comments of Rick and Sebastian. I knew very little about Leonard Cohen and both you guys apparently did your homework. Bravo…and Happy Holidays everybody!
No more ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’ Another reason to be thankful.
He’s old and she’s young. He’s got money and she doesn’t. He wants what’s between her legs and she wants what’s between his wallet. Nothing more said.
Hey Jerry, thank you and Happy Holidays to you too. The repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell certainly is another reason to be thankful.
Hmmm correct me if I’m wrong, everybody… wasn’t Cohen (yes a Jew – Cohen means High Priest, tribe of Aaron) taken advantage of financially by one of his girlfriends???? Then pushed to perform again at 60 as he was left broke? Had many fainting spells on stage as recent as a year ago? Question: has he learned anything from it???? Religions, ethnicities, philosphies aside. To me, personally, a man of his age who thinks he can really really really have a young woman and she will love him and she cares… to me such a man is a vain moron and he is asking for trouble again. Hard to fell sorry for old fools.
Had to look this up. Here you go Meg.
Cohen’s longtime former manager, Kelley Lynch, misappropriated over $5 million from Cohen’s retirement fund leaving only $150,000. In 2006, Cohen won a civil suit against her and was awarded US $9 million by a Los Angeles County superior court. Lynch, however, ignored the suit and did not respond to a subpoena issued for her financial records. As a result Cohen may never be able to collect.
BTW, as Janet alluded to in her article, Anjani is also a singer and songwriter who collaborates professionally with Cohen. That relationship began around 2005-6 with the release of an album they co-wrote, Blue Alert, which Anjani sung to positive reviews.
Hollywood sees the the separation week.
Miso is grinning because she knows Len can’t do too much damage to her in the bedroom and she gains every day from his fame…probably an insurance policy there somewhere too with her as beneficiary.
To all of you who are tsk-tsking at the thought of this 75-year-old genius being involved with someone decades younger, while Anjani Thomas may look barely half his age, she’s actually 51.
which is decades younger LOL
Absolutely correct, Palermo! I accidentally deleted “many”; the line should have read “someone many decades younger”–which two is not. ;>)
I like Leonard Cohen’s music. His girlfriend’s music, in my opinion, is awful. But Lenny said it all when he said: He’s old and she’s young. He’s got money and she doesn’t. He wants what’s between her legs and she wants what’s between his wallet. Nothing more said.
Yep same thing here….Jewish Leonard is always hot for some younger woman who is ready to service him for some fame!
Another name that is of the same breed…think Phil Spector who was always out for a young bimbo who would say …yes!