Celebrity Parents Who've Been Embarrassed By Their Kids
Kids, bless their tiny hearts, say some of the most out-of-pocket, inappropriate, downright mortifying things — and no one, not even the most famous of folks, gets a pass on the cringe-worthy parental rite of passage that is being utterly embarrassed by your children.
If your spawn are old enough to speak, you’re likely thinking of at least one time they embarrassed the hell out of you — that stuff lives rent-free in your mind forever. Take, for example, when Hilary Duff‘s daughter Banks told her entire summer camp that her mom had explosive diarrhea from eating bad chicken. Or when Kim Kardashian‘s daughter North publically called her out for changing her voice when recording social media videos, and Kourtney Kardashian’s daughter Penelope solemly nodded in agreement.
Sometimes the mortifying material doesn’t even have to be aimed at you. Since kids live in a context-free world, they occasionally come up with inappropriate terminology for things — like when Molly Sims’ kids started referring to the coronavirus pandemic as “the C-word.”
Other times, tiny humans just say the most random stuff at the most random times. Ginnifer Goodwin once shared that she brought her 5-year-old son on set and he started going around telling people, “All men are capable of infidelity.” You’ve got to wonder where they come up with this stuff!
While you’re bound to endure some seriously horrifying moments at the hands of your kids, take solace in the fact that you are not alone. These celebrity parents have opened up about some of their most embarrassing incidents with their children to help other moms and dads feel a little less cringe about being humbled by their own little sh*ts.
This article was originally published in November 2023.
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Hilary Duff
In August 2022, Hilary Duff shared a seriously gut-busting story about how her daughter Banks aired out her business while at soccer camp. “Whoaaa! Don’t trust your kids!” the How I Met Your Father star wrote on her Instagram Story. “Home girl ousted me to the soccer coaches,” she continued, followed by a screenshot of a text from a friend.
“Banks told a story at camp…” Duff’s friend began. “‘My mom made bad chicken and now she has diarrhea … that’s what happens when you make bad chicken,'” the little girl shamed her famous mom. Being glued to the toilet is bad enough without your kid telling everyone about it!
Rob Lowe
Rob Lowe’s sons have no problem embarrassing their dad on social media. Especially if he “started it.” When Lowe posted a shirtless photo of himself exercising back in 2019, his adult son Johnny was quick to comment. “This is the worst thing that has ever happened to Instagram,” he said. Harsh!
Scott Disick
Scott Disick was totally called out by his daughter Penelope — who he shares with ex Kourtney Kardashian — in a Season 4 episode of The Kardashians. In the episode, Khloé Kardashian and Kris Jenner suggested he get a matchmaker to set him up on a more age-appropriate date. After all, the self-proclaimed “Lord Disick” had been dating women in their 20s.
“He was saying [he wants to date women in their] late 20s,” Khloé said to her niece Penelope.
“No!” Penelope said to her dad. “You’re 40. You’re not gonna date someone 19.”
And oof — even though it might have been embarrassing to have his daughter be the one to lay down the facts, someone had to say it. “It’s not a good look,” Disick conceded.
Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth Paltrow deleted a photo on Instagram in 2019 that showed her daughter Apple wearing ski goggles. “Mom we have discussed this. You may not post anything without my consent,” Apple commented, per The Guardian. And it’s pretty embarrassing to have your kid call you out on your non-consensual posting.
… But not as embarrassing as a photo of you wearing ski goggles circulating on the internet!
Ryan Michelle Bathe
Ryan Michelle Bathe and Sterling K. Brown’s son Andrew once pulled a stunt that was a little more humiliating than hilarious. The Army Wives alum told Us Weekly, “We had a party and he disappears into his room and he comes back with my shoes on and my hat and he goes, ‘Look at me. I’m just a mean old mommy! I just yell at people and I speed through these streets! You don’t get an iPad! You don’t get an iPad! You don’t get an iPad!'” These kids will do anything for attention!
Kim Kardashian
Kim Kardashian’s eldest daughter North stays embarrassing the reality star as if it’s her purpose on this earth! There are countless examples to reference, but one in particular took place during one of the SKIMS founder’s Instagram Stories in 2021.
While showing her followers a PR package she received from Olivia Rodrigo, Kardashian said, “You guys know I love ‘Drivers License.'” Keeping her mom humble, North interjected, “You never listen to it.” Kardashian laughed while rebutting, “Yes, I do! I listen to it all the time. Stop, North.”
The same year, The Kardashians star was recording another video when North interrupted to ask, “Why do you talk different [for your videos]?” Kardashian asked what she meant, and North responded by putting on a shrill, nasally voice and saying, “Guys! So today I got this…” Kardashian’s niece Penelope hilariously nodded in agreement.
John Legend
John Legend is super embarrassed by one thing his son Miles insists on doing on the way to school, but it’s actually extremely endearing. During an April 2023 appearance on The Late Late Show With James Corden, the host asked the singer, “When you drive your kids to school, I overhear that they request that you play your own music in the car?”
“Especially my son,” the “Wild” crooner confirmed. “He’s — literally — my biggest fan.”
Cordon couldn’t help but ask a follow-up question: “Have you ever pulled up next to a parent, like in the drop-off line, with your own music blaring out?”
Legend replied, “Yes. And it’s embarrassing. My kids go to school with, like, Jay-Z’s kids and Beyonce’s kids, and I’m pulling up playing my music loud, and it’s embarrassing, honestly.” He hilariously added, “No, [Jay-Z is] not playing, you know, ‘Reasonable Doubt,’ in the car with his kids.”
Ellie Kemper
A lot of kids, boys especially, just love to talk about poop. Unfortunately for Ellie Kemper, her eldest son is in the crap camp. “James is really into stories about poo,” The Office alum told Us Weekly in November 2019.
She continued, “I don’t tell him these stories because I only have so many to tell, but he loves telling other people that his mom tells him poo stories. I don’t know why there is such an interest in poo, and I don’t tell bedtime stories about poo, but he makes people think that I do,” Kemper lamented.
Ginnifer Goodwin
In August 2019, Ginnifer Goodwin told Us Weekly that she once brought her eldest son Oliver with her to set, and he took advantage of having a captive audience by “walking around, saying to people, ‘All men are capable of infidelity,’ repeatedly.” The Once Upon a Time alum added, “Thank God he doesn’t know what it means, but he knows the reaction he was getting from adults.”
Max Greenfield
Also a victim of embarrassing parenting moments during COVID, Max Greenfield’s daughter Lilly chastised him for singing while she was doing her virtual schoolwork. Her exact words? “Dad, stop, you have a dog sh*t voice.” The New Girl alum, who caught the moment on camera, looked shocked and offended as Lilly returned to her assignment. Ruthless, these kids!
Soleil Moon Frye
“The other day, my 3-year-old said the f-word,” Soleil Moon Frye told Us Weekly in June 2019. “I’m on speaker on a business call, and he’s like, ‘Who is that effing man that you’re talking to?’ And I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh.’ That just really is not the way to be on a business call, but he didn’t know,” the Punky Brewster alum said. “Then it’s hard because I tried not to laugh, but it’s, like, I couldn’t not laugh.”
Terry Crews
This one’s for the parents with kids who shamelessly let it rip in public. In August 2019, Terry Crews told Us Weekly, “My son jumped up on the table and farted at a restaurant. And then he went, ‘Excuse me!’ I was like, ‘What is going on?'”
Molly Sims
In July 2020, Molly Sims revealed her three kids had taken to referring to the coronavirus pandemic as “the C-word.” The Benchwarmers actress hilariously told Us Weekly, “We’re like, ‘Don’t say it like that instead of COVID. Let’s say COVID.”
Jenny McCarthy
During a March 2020 interview with Us Weekly, Jenny McCarthy shared that her son Evan doesn’t support her sneaking snacks into the movie theater. “He would also rat me out going to the movies because I would bring our own water or chips with us,” the Santa Baby star divulged.
“Going through the ticket guy, he said, ‘My mom has drinks and chips hidden from home that we’re not supposed to bring in the movie theater and they’re in her purse right now.'” Bet he’ll change his tune when he has to pay for movie theater snacks and bevvies on his own!
Rachel Dratch
In May 2019, Rachel Dratch told Us Weekly a face-palm-type story involving her son, Eli. “One time we were walking down the street and he burped really loud,” the Saturday Night Live alum shared. “And I said, ‘What do you say?’ And he said, ‘Ta da!'” Like, obviously!
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