Celebrities tend to be nonconformists. Just look at some of the names that stars have chosen for their children and you’ll see what we mean.
Kim Kardashian and Kayne West welcomed their baby Psalm to their family in 2019, and Cardi B and Migos rapper Offset named their two kids Kulture Kiari and Wave Set. Now, we’re not here to judge anyone solely on what they decide to name their children, but we’re bringing the topic up to prove a point – that is, that celebrities seem to be outright opposed to giving their kids a “normal” upbringing.
Granted, this phenomenon isn’t anything new. Back in the 60s and 70s, experimental rocker Frank Zappa named his children such unconventional names as Moon Unit, Ahmet, Diva, and Dweezil.
But simply giving your kid an unusual name isn’t that alarming. What is concerning, however, is when stars go out of their way to raise their children in ways that put them at risk for harm.
With so many ways of going about it, parenting has historically been a pretty touchy subject.
While some parents believe in letting their kids cry, others do not. Likewise, some parents are all about getting their kids vaccinated, while others are staunchly opposed to the practice. Especially in the celebrity world, these kinds of parenting decisions have led to a lot of controversy.
In this video, we’ll be taking a look at several celebrities who have been known to employ controversial parenting decisions. Some might even accuse the celebs we’re about to cover as being reckless in their approach to child rearing. Without further ado, Facts Verse Presents: Celebrities Who Are Utterly Awful Parents.
Julia Fox
This actress recently created quite a stir online when she posted a theory on TikTok that suggested that the idea of ‘childhood’ was originally invented to get parents to keep buying their children things that they don’t actually need, such as toys.
She went on to explain her theory in more detail by saying that by buying your children things, you’re not actually teaching them anything. In her opinion, all that you’re really accomplishing is raising a child that is helpless and doesn’t know what to do.
Fox further claimed that her son Valentino, who was 19 months old at the time, has no interest in his toys and is more interested in her day-to-day activities, such as cooking and cleaning. Fox went on to suggest that parents get their children kids-sized mops and brooms so that when they enter the real world, they won’t have to outsource everything, as they’ll already know how to take care of things by themselves.
Honestly, this doesn’t sound like the worst advice in the world, but we’re still just warming up. Some of the celebrity parenting decisions that we’re about to talk about are far less benign.
Kristen Bell and Dax Shepherd
Recently, Bell revealed to the online parenting news site, Parents, that she and her partner Dax Shepherd lock their kids, Delta and Lincoln, inside their bedrooms at night. They began doing this when their youngest stopped sleeping through the night. Apparently, she would keep her sister up at night by turning on the lights, making loud noises and moving furniture around. To combat this problematic behavior the Good Place actress and Shepherd decided to switch the doorknobs around and look the kids in their rooms untill morning.
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West
When North West, the couple’s eldest daughter, was younger, they used to let her experiment with makeup. The internet came out in full force to criticize their parenting skills saying that North was too young to be messing around with makeup. After Kanye, or Ye as he’s going by these days, converted to Christianity, he began to agree with the naysayers. This led him to Ban North from wearing makeup until she’s a teenager. Not only that, but he also forbade her from wearing crop tops.
Madonna
Not only does Madonna not allow her kids to watch tv or read the newspaper, but reportedly she’s also very strict about what kind of bedtime stories they can hear. She only lets her ex-husband Guy Ritchie read her kids David the English Rose – a children’s book that she wrote.
Tom Cruise And Katie Holmes
While they’re no longer a couple, Cruise and Holmes are surprisingly lenient in a lot of ways when it comes to raising their child Suri. When she was five, she was allowed to wear high heels and makeup. They also let her sip on Starbucks coffee, which as any parent knows, isn’t the brightest idea. Developing minds arleady have enough on their plate to deal with. Throwing caffeine into the mix isn’t going to solve anything.
Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher
Since both parents came from relatively humble beginnings, they’re staunchly opposed to not raising spoiled kids. Unfortunately for their children, this means they won’t be receiving any kind of trust fund let alone any Christmas presents.
This decision wasn’t an easy one for Mila and Ashton to explain to their parents. Instead of giving them gifts during the holiday season, these two former That 70s Show stars told their parents to make a charitable donation instead.
Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith
To ensure that their kids tell them literally everything, Will and Jada came up with a pretty unorthodox approach to communicating with their children. By instituting what they call the ‘circle of safety’, their kids are allowed to tell them everything that they did and they won’t get into trouble no matter what they admit to.
There a couple of ground rules that the Smith’s laid out when coming up with the circle of safety. For one, if they find out after holding the circle of safety that there was something that their kids failed to share, there’s a price to pay. With this rule put in place, some critics have said that this gives their children little to no privacy to speak of.
Angelina Jolie
Being the mother of six, implementing strict rules is the only way that Angelina Jolie has been able to stay sane. One of her most controversial parenting rules is rejecting the notion of educating her kids by regular means. Instead of sending them off to a classroom where she says ‘tomfoolery’ takes place, Jolie says that she would rather take them to the museum, read them a book, or teach them how to play guitar. By not sending them to school, Jolie wants to focus on teaching her children street smarts rather than book smarts.
Pamela Anderson
This Baywatch star’s parenting method is pretty much non-existent. While other celebrities have come up with a stringent set of rules for their kids to follow, Anderson raised her sons with no rules at all. In a blog post on her website about ‘intuitive parenting’, Anderson wrote that she wants her kids to drink and experiment with drugs in moderation while searching for true love by having casual sex.
Candace Cameron Bure
This former Fuller House star may love being a mother, but at the end of the day, she’s still someone who has needs. This is why she’s perfectly comfortable getting intimate with her spouse, even when the kids are at home. Apparently, whatever they hear through the walls is just an educational experience.
Mayim Bialik
Big Bang Theory actress and neuroscientist Mayim Bialik is also the author of a parenting book entitled Beyond The Sling: A Real-Life Guide To Raising Confident, Loving Children The Attachment Parenting Way. Now, we could criticize that long-winded book title, but we have bigger fish to fry. In one chapter of her book Bialik revealed that she believes in long-term breastfeeding as well allowing her children to sleep with her. Once again, we’re no parenting experts, but most people tend to agree that you should start weaning your kids off these things once they are old enough to eat solid food and sleep on their own.
Alicia Silverstone
There are many excellent ways to bond with your children, but this one is pretty bizarre. Just like a mama bird feeding her young, this Clueless actress was once seen feeding her infant son with pre-chewed food straight from her own mouth.
Silverstone has additionally been an outspoken advocate for feeding children a vegan diet. She went vegan when she was 21, but she started her son, Bear, on a vegan diet when he was just eight. Despite receiving criticism for this, Silverstone has credited veganism for Bear’s good behavior.
Celine Dion
This singer and actress believes in giving her kids the freedom to make their own decisions. For example, she let her son Rene Charles decide when he wanted to cut his hair. Because of this decision, Rene didn’t get his first haircut until he was eight, when school regulations forced him to.
Keira Knightley
As a proud and staunch feminist, Knightley is all about teaching her two daughters, Edie and Delilah, about female empowerment. While we can’t fault her for taking this approach, her methods have been a bit controversial. For one thing, Keira banned her children from watching fairytale films since she believes that they don’t set a very good example for young, developing minds.
Knightley even went as far as banning three specific films, The Little Mermaid, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty, in hopes that her kids didn’t learn any misogynistic behavior or old-fashioned values. Much to her dismay, her daughters ended up watching all three.
Gwyneth Paltrow
Most parents have a few TV restrictions put in place. That by itself is fairly common, but Paltrow has taken things a bit further by limiting the amount of screen time and what shows her kids are allowed to watch. Not only are certain shows outright banned from her household, but her kids also have to watch TV shows in different languages so that it can be a learning experience.
Megan Fox
The topic of gender is already controversial enough these days, but Megan Fox decided that instead of teaching her kids traditional gender roles, she was going to abandon the concept all together. She has no problems letting her son wear dresses or play with dolls, and honestly, there likely isn’t any harm in that. At the end of the day, Fox is more interested in her son growing up to be a well-adjusted adult. So, while some would say that her parenting tactics are unconventional, there’s no evidence that she’s doing anything harmful.
Well, there you have it. The celebrities that we just discussed have all received criticism for their unique parenting choices. Not every parenting style is going to be a perfect fit for every child. Sometimes the best thing you can do when raising a kid is push boundaries and go your own way. No matter what you do, however, if you’re in the public eye, somebody is always going to think that your doing wrong.
Which one of these celebrity parent’s parenting styles did you find to be the most concerning, and can you think of any other stars that raised their kids in controversial ways? Let us know in the comments.
