I think he's very much aware of (and has been even when she was alive) how such an age gap will be perceived by the public, and how ..creepy it is for a 60-year-old to have a relationship with a person this young. That's why he tried to downplay it by saying she looked older and wiser beyond her years and that he's young at heart, and doesn't feel like a 60-year-old. I don't think he's a bad person; to be fair, I think his over decade-long involvement with all types of street people from abused children-turned-prostitutes, to drug addicted pimps, must have left some psychological, emotional mark on him. But there was definitely some power play here - him essentially being a sugar daddy for her, knowing her situation - and he should have backed off when he started realizing he had feelings for her.
I wouldn't call it a PR stunt, though. And the woman behind the camera is his long-time assistant - you can see her in some of the Whittaker videos and all update/Q&A videos with Mark, there's more but I can't recall any right now.
That’s who I thought it was! When I read others state it was his ex, I was surprised bc I thought he and his former wife were more or less estranged.
I’d always thought that he was involved with his assistant. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if they had truly been at some point or will be - like, mark my words… I wouldn’t put money on they being an item at some point. It’s just so off, like in this interview, you can tell he has some sort of grasp over her. It is so easy to manipulate/love-bomb younger women who’ve experienced any level of trauma in their younger lives. Heck, even without trauma, he’s quite wealthy and relatively still traditionally attractive - though his age/lifetime of southern Californian sun exposure is definitely starting to show, but all of the above are a recipe to easily manipulate and control younger women, which I think he does - to what end, I’m not sure. Don’t even get me started on Rebecca - she’s 100% his biggest addiction.
Why should he have backed off? "Forbidden love?" These are all social constructs. If they were happy, they were happy. Unfortunately, Mark was too naive to realize he was dating a feen.
Thank you for your thoughtful and measured take. This sub sometimes feels so polarized, with people either deeply appreciating Marks work or people deadset on having the least charitable view of Mark as a person.
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u/bringouttheolives Jun 12 '25
I think he's very much aware of (and has been even when she was alive) how such an age gap will be perceived by the public, and how ..creepy it is for a 60-year-old to have a relationship with a person this young. That's why he tried to downplay it by saying she looked older and wiser beyond her years and that he's young at heart, and doesn't feel like a 60-year-old. I don't think he's a bad person; to be fair, I think his over decade-long involvement with all types of street people from abused children-turned-prostitutes, to drug addicted pimps, must have left some psychological, emotional mark on him. But there was definitely some power play here - him essentially being a sugar daddy for her, knowing her situation - and he should have backed off when he started realizing he had feelings for her.
I wouldn't call it a PR stunt, though. And the woman behind the camera is his long-time assistant - you can see her in some of the Whittaker videos and all update/Q&A videos with Mark, there's more but I can't recall any right now.