“My oldest thinks it’s cool. He thinks he’s famous because of it.”
Growing up with famous parents can be complicated. Children of celebrities are often pushed into the spotlight without their consent. But life in the spotlight can also have its upsides, with unique experiences and opportunities.
That’s why many celebrity offspring have mixed feelings about their family being famous. For some, it gives them total bragging rights — and for others, it makes life a little more complex. And often, they’re completely indifferent because at the end of the day, these stars are really just their mom and dad.
Here’s what these celebrities’ kids had to say about their famous parents…
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Jessica Simpson says her three kids are pretty invested in her career and love watching her old videos — particularly her early 2000s reality show Newlyweds. Despite the fact that the show was all about Jessica and her ex Nick Lachey, her kids are big fans of watching the series as well as other old clips of their mom, even if it’s just to make fun of her.
“My kids love looking up the YouTube clips of Newlyweds or of anything that I’ve done. [They’ll search,] ‘Jessica Simpson embarrassing moments.’ I’m like, ‘Really guys?’ They love to do that,’ Jessica told Entertainment Tonight.
She added, “We’ve gone on a YouTube Newlyweds binge and they really just love to see my parents super young and married and they love to see [my sister] Ashlee … They definitely laugh at me. They just want to make fun of me, I think.”
Now that Jennifer Lopez’s twins Emme and Max are teenagers, they’re more conscious of their mom’s fame. In 2022, Jennifer admitted that her children both “love” and “don’t” love the fact that she’s famous and people know who they are.
“I think they’re very proud and they love me. I love them. The three of us are, like, super, super close. It’s a thing that people know who their mom is. They’re navigating that. They’re teenagers now. Their friends know things. There’s so much on the internet … All you can do is love each other through it. And that’s all I’ve tried to do with them,” Jennifer said on The Ellen Show.
3. Jessica Alba
When Jessica Alba’s daughter Honor found out her mom was famous, she says the little girl was “mortified.” After one of Honor’s classmates showed her a magazine that featured Jessica, the mother-daughter duo had to have a conversation about her fame.
“For the first beginning of their life, they didn’t know that I was an actress. I remember when Honor was in, like, first grade, she was mortified and she came home and was like, ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ She knew I was working at the Honest Company, that’s how they knew me. And she was like, ‘You never told me that you were going to be in grocery stores or in Target!'” Jessica said on The Ellen Show.
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4. Tyler Perry
When Tyler Perry tried to explain the concept of fame to his son Aman, he says the little boy totally understood. But when he told Aman that he was famous, it didn’t mean anything to him.
“We had this conversation the other day about fame where I asked him, ‘Do you know what famous is?’ And he said, ‘Yeah it’s when a lot of people know your name. So, I said, ‘You know, by that definition, some people think I’m famous.’ He goes, ‘Really? OK, can we finish coloring?’ He doesn’t care. I love it, just grounds everything,” Tyler said on The Ellen Show.
5. Adam Sandler
Adam Sandler’s daughters have been intrigued by their dad’s fame — especially when they hear fans reference specific movie quotes when they meet him. Through the years, Adam says his daughters have begged to watch his films and when he does let them tune in, they end up not even being interested.
“They begged to see them. They’re like, ‘Please, it’s not fair. Let me watch your movies. Those people always yell things at you on the street and I don’t know what the heck they’re talking about.’ So I show them the movies they demanded and every time, I’d say about 20 minutes in, I see them tuning out, and then I hear them. They’re nervous to say it, but they’re like, ‘Can we watch something else?'” Adam shared on The Ellen Show.
6. Jenna Dewan
When Jenna Dewan and Channing Tatum’s daughter Everly saw her parent’s iconic movie Step Up for the first time, she wasn’t impressed. Jenna says that Everly didn’t really care for the movie that helped skyrocket her parent’s to fame and actually asked to watch something else.
“She was like, ‘Can we watch something good?’ She was completely uninterested,” Jenna told Us Weekly.
7. Paul Rudd
Paul Rudd’s kids mostly stay out of the spotlight and despite their dad’s fame, they don’t really care about his career. While discussing his two children, Paul said that his children don’t see him as a superhero and just view him as their dad.
“I think I’m dad more than I’m Ant-Man or in the MCU [Marvel Cinematic Universe]. Yeah. They don’t care, nor should they,” Paul told People.
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Kristin Cavallari says her older two children are beginning to understand their parent’s fame — particularly that their dad Jay Cutler used to play professional football. As for what they think of having a well known mom and dad, Kristin says her oldest son thinks it makes him pretty cool.
“My oldest thinks it’s cool. He thinks he’s famous because of it, so I’m like, ‘Whatever. If the kids are being nice to you, if the older kids are being nice to you … use that to your advantage,'” Kristin told Us Weekly.
9. Ben Affleck
Ben Affleck admits that his three kids don’t care that he’s famous and don’t really have any interest in watching any of his movies. When he occasionally does convince them to watch a flick, he says they mostly make fun of him.
“It’s funny because [Armageddon] is the one movie of mine that my kids have watched and they’ll kind of all admit to liking, even though they relentlessly mock it and me. ‘What are you, driving a tank on the moon?’ But they had fun, you know what I mean? They won’t even watch The Town. So there you have it,” Ben shared with EW.
10. Jodie Sweetin
Jodie Sweetin’s two teenage daughters aren’t impressed by their mom’s fame. Despite watching both Full House and its spinoff, Jodie says being famous hasn’t changed the fact that she’s just their mom.
”They don’t really care. I mean they’ve watched [my shows] before, they used to come to tapings, but at the end of the day, it’s mom. They’re not really that impressed,” she told TODAY.com.
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