“I don’t want my mom to know”: Leonardo DiCaprio Begged Paparazzi to Delete His Photo That Later Resulted Into Confrontation With Johnny Depp

Leonardo DiCaprio is one of the biggest stars of Hollywood, who has played numerous iconic roles in the cinematic industry.

The Oscar winner enjoys a massive fan following for his fabulous acting in movies like The Great Gatsby, The Wolf of Wall Street, Catch Me If You Can, Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, and more.

The star started his career at 20 when he worked in the film What’s Eating Gilbert Grape.

He was once confronted by his co-star Johnny Depp for the habit he was hiding from his mother.

Leonardo DiCaprio.
Leonardo DiCaprio is very close to his mother, hence when a photographer clicked him buying cigarettes, he made a deal with him to hide it from his mom.

Leonardo DiCaprio did not want his mother to know about his smoking

Don’t Look Up star Leonardo DiCaprio is often seen smoking cigarettes and cigars in his movies.

Though it depicts his style, there was once a time when he did not want anyone to know that he smoked.

It was the early days when DiCaprio was trying his hand at acting.

He had also started smoking around the time; however, his mother did not know about it.

Photographer Steve Eichner had written in his book In the Limelight: The Visual Ecstasy of NYC Nightlife in the ’90s about the 1990s club scene.

In the book, he shared that The Departed star had made a deal with him one night in 1994 at Club USA during a party for the Nicolas Cage-Dennis Hopper thriller release Red Rock West.

What’s Eating Gilbert Grape Leonardo DiCaprio.
Steve Eichner recalled that at Peter Gatien’s club venue, Eichner got a shot of Leonardo DiCaprio, who would have been about 20 at the time.

The actor made his debut with the film What’s Eating Gilbert Grape with Johnny Depp around the same time.

In the photo, he was buying something from a cigarette-and-candy girl, but he couldn’t tell what. He shared,

“[Leo] came over and tapped me on the shoulder and said, ‘Hey man, can you do me a favor and please don’t use that photo? You can take photos of me tonight.’”

When the photographer asked why he didn’t want the picture to go public, Leonardo DiCaprio told him,

“I was buying cigarettes, and I don’t want my mom to know that I smoke.”

DiCaprio is very close with his mother, Irmelin Indenbirken.

Johnny Depp confronted Leonardo DiCaprio for hiding smoking from his mother

Leonardo DiCaprio worked with the Pirates of the Caribbean star Johnny Depp in the film What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. It was his breakout film of DiCaprio when he was just a young lad.

What’s Eating Gilbert Grape Leonardo DiCaprio.
In 2016, at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Johnny Depp recalled an anecdote about a young co-star, Leonardo DiCaprio about smoking.

He shared that the actor would pester him on sets of What’s Eating Gilbert Grape for a puff. However, Depp refused him blatantly,

“No, I will not give you a drag of my cigarette while you hide from your mother again, Leo.” 

The anecdote confirmed the photographer’s claim in his book.

Reportedly, many years ago, DiCaprio helped The Batman star Robert Pattinson quit smoking by diverting him onto e-cigarettes.