DiCaprio on Passing Torch to Efron: Crazy Like a Fox

Leo's rep shoots down Fox News report that actor resented his teen idol status and is happy for HSM star to succeed him

Brace yourselves—it seems Faux Fox News may not be the pillar of journalistic integrity it claims to be.

Leonardo DiCaprio's reps have flatly denied a report published yesterday by the online arm of the "Fair and Balanced" team, which quoted the babyfaced heartthrob as saying he was all too happy to turn over his teen idol mantle to Zac Efron, for whom DiCaprio has "total respect."

DiCaprio also seemingly paid lip service to the Fox News reporter about his perpetual bachelorhood, saying, "I believe in marriage and all that, for sure," but questioning whether he has "met the right person yet."

Believable? Yes. Banal? A bit. True? Not in the slightest...

DiCaprio's rep called the story, which has since been removed from the Fox News site, "100 percent made up."

"Leo never talked to this guy," his publicist tells E! News, adding that the quotes, none of which seem particularly worth the effort, "are made up."

Per the article, DiCaprio allegedly pontificated on his pop-culture successor while promoting Body of Lies in London.

"I look at young Zac Efron and think, 'Go get it pal, leave me in peace,' " DiCaprio purportedly said. "I was never happy with the teen idol tag at all—never wanted to be a sex symbol or all that stuff—it was the work that appealed to me. Really nothing else."

DiCaprio was then quoted as going one step further by saying he nevertheless had "total respect for how young stars like Zac handle it all."

While the sentiments supposedly expressed are not necessarily novel—DiCaprio has frequently lamented the ferocity of his teenybopper coverboy days and has of late spoken out on his perceived allergy to wedding bands—they were not, at least to a Fox reporter, said.

Not that all the faked quotes were entirely in keeping with the actor's voice, who, per the "interviewer," was under the impression he could have his run of Buckingham Palace.

"I had wanted to pop along and do the tourist thing but I am guessing that Her Majesty The Queen won't be opening up just for me—what do ya think?"

We think they would have been better off with a more believable fabrication.