Nicolas Cage’s appearance at the 25th annual Newport Beach Film Festival in Orange County, California has fans talking, as he showed up with his wife Riko Shibata. The couple have been together for four years and married for three, and they share a 2-year-old daughter, Francesca Cage.
While they look good together, Cage and Riko’s relationship is considered controversial as they have a wide age gap of 29 years. Cage has also been married four times before Riko, and has two older sons— one from his marriage to Alice Kim, and the other from ex-girlfriend Christina Fulton.
Fans express mixed feelings about Nicolas Cage’s fifth marriage
Photos of Cage and Riko made it to social media through news outlets, and users weighed in on their age difference and appearance as a couple. “What does a man old enough to be her father or grandfather have in common w/ a woman who isn’t even 30 yet? Legal ped0phile gr0omer,” someone protested, though wrong about their ages.
While many agreed Cage and Riko’s union should not be encouraged, a few saw no problem so long as they were in love. “He looks good, they seem happy. Happy wife, good life,” a supportive fan said, and someone else retorted, saying Riko looks like an 18-year-old. “Obviously, he’s attracted to women who look like children,” they added.
Inside Nicolas Cage and Riko Shibata’s romance
Cage noticed Riko while filming Prisoners of the Ghostland in Shiga, Japan and they soon hit it off with their first public appearance together in New Orleans. They got married a year later in Las Vegas, on the posthumous birthday of Cage’s father.
They assured the public via a statement that they are happy together, and Cage defended his previous short-lived marriages, saying he is a romantic who goes all in with whomever he is in love with at a time. He added that he has no intention to walk away from Riko as he is done repeating the past.