16 Celebrities Who Are Fiercely Protective Of Their Children's Right To Privacy
1.Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively
Last year, Blake commented on a series of paparazzi photos of her three daughters that were shared by a tabloid on Instagram. "You edit together these images to look like I'm happily waving. But that is deceitful," she wrote. "The real story is: My children were being stalked by a men [sic] all day. Jumping out. And then hiding. A stranger on the street got into words with them because it was so upsetting for her to see. ... Where is your morality here? I would like to know. Or do you simply not care about the safety of children?"
"Please stop paying grown ass men to hide and hunt children. There are plenty of pictures you could have published without the kids. Please delete. C'mon. Get with the times," she concluded.
After Blake's comment, the tabloid deleted the Instagram post.
2.Mindy Kaling
The Never Have I Ever creator is a mom to 4-year-old Katherine and 2-year-old Spencer. She takes their privacy very seriously and has not even revealed the identity of their father. During an interview with People last year, she said, "I have no judgment for people in the public eye who share photos and videos of their children. My sense is that [my kids] have no real consent right now to do that. ... I feel like I might as well wait until they get old enough so they can tell me if they want to be part of my social media or not."
"Sometimes it's just a safety thing," she continued. "I don't want to be at the airport and have someone be like, 'Spencer, Katherine,' and have them look to the people as though they know them or they're friends. I think that could be really confusing as a kid. So that's the reason I'm doing it, but it's hard because they're such a huge part of my life. And I'm like any parent where I'm proud of the things they do. I think they're so cute, and of course, I want other people to see it!"
3.Constance Wu and Ryan Kattner
The Crazy Rich Asians actor is known for keeping her private life under wraps. She didn't announce her pregnancy and surprised the world when reports of her daughter came out. She and her boyfriend, Ryan, have not shared any pictures of their child.
4.Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard
Though the couple has been very open about the joys and struggles of parenthood, they use emojis to cover the faces of 9-year-old Lincoln and 7-year-old Delta on social media. In 2014, they led a campaign against paparazzi who harass celebrities' children, which resulted in many outlets agreeing not to publish those kinds of pictures.
During a 2020 interview with Romper, she said, "My feeling is that I chose a career in the public eye. I chose to be quoted, I chose to have my picture taken. I don’t know them yet. I don’t know if they will want that. So I really don’t have the right to choose for them."
5.Halle Berry
In 2013, the actor testified at the California State Capitol to support a bill that would change the definition of harassment and protect her children from the paparazzi. She shared that photographers would taunt her 5-year-old daughter, Nahla, so badly that she didn't want to attend preschool anymore.
6.Jennifer Garner
To support the same bill, the actor also testified at the California State Capitol in 2013. "I chose a public life…[but] my three children are private citizens," she said. "I love my kids. They're beautiful and sweet and innocent, and I don't want a gang of shouting, arguing, lawbreaking photographers who camp out everywhere we are all day, every day to continue traumatizing my kids."
7.Zayn Malik and Gigi Hadid
Gigi and Zayn share a 2-year-old daughter, Khai. In a Twitter post, Gigi asked the paparazzi, press, and fan accounts to blur Khai's face before sharing any pictures of her.
"Our wish is that she can choose how to share herself with the world when she comes of age, and that she can live as normal of a childhood as possible, without worrying about a public image that she has not chosen."
A letter from a Mamma 💜
8.Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas
The couple has one daughter, Malti, who was born earlier this year. Though they have posted pictures of her on social media, they are careful to cover her face or only share pics where she's looking away to respect her privacy.
9.Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas
After photos of her daughter, Willa, were published without her consent, Sophie called out the paparazzi in an Instagram story. "I guess yesterday some paparazzi managed to get a picture of my daughter and I, and I just want to say that the reason that I am not posting pictures of my daughter and making sure that we can avoid paparazzi at all costs is because I explicitly do not want those photos out there," she wrote.
"She is my daughter. She did not ask for this life, to be photographed. It's fucking creepy ... grown old men are taking pictures of a baby without their permission. I'm sickened, I'm disgusted, and I'm respectfully asking everyone to stop following us around and stop trying to take pictures of our daughter and especially printing them. It's disgusting. You do not have my permission," she concluded.
10.Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher
On the Thrive Global Podcast with iHeartRadio, Ashton said, "We don’t share any photos of our kids publicly because we feel that being public is a personal choice. ... My wife and I have chosen a career where we're in the public light, but my kids have not, so I think they have the right to choose that."
11.George and Amal Clooney
The couple is fiercely protective of their twins' privacy. After a French magazine published pictures of the children without permission, George said in a statement, "Over the last week, photographers from Voici magazine scaled our fence, climbed our tree, and illegally took pictures of our infants inside our home. Make no mistake, the photographers, the agency, and the magazine will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. The safety of our children demands it."
12.Kerry Washington and Nnamdi Asomugha
The couple is determined to keep their three children out of the spotlight. Kerry told InStyle, "These are their lives. But it's not about pulling a Rapunzel and hiding them away in a castle from the world — we don't want to do that. I think any parent would want to keep kids from a situation that causes them to feel scared. I don't want them to be exploited, particularly in this social media world."
13.Brenda Song and Macaulay Culkin
The Disney alum and Home Alone actor share a 1-year-old son, Dakota. They have not posted any pictures of him on social media.
Earlier this year, Brenda shared a post celebrating Dakota's birthday without him in the picture. She wrote, "Thank you sooo much to all the amazing people at Sesame Place San Diego for making BOTH my boys’ dreams come true and for hosting the most magical first birthday for our son! We had so much fun!"
14.Adele
The singer sued a photo agency for distributing paparazzi photos of her son, Angelo, without permission. In 2014, Angelo was awarded a five-figure sum in damages.
"I think it’s really hard being a famous person’s child," Adele told Vogue in 2016. "What if he wants to smoke weed or drink underage, or what if he’s gay and doesn’t want to tell me, and then he’s photographed and that’s how I find out?"
15.America Ferrera and Ryan Piers Williams
The couple shares two children: 4-year-old Sebastian and 2-year-old Lucia. Whenever America posts pictures with the kids, she makes sure they are turned away, or she adds emojis to cover their faces.
16.And finally, Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling
In an Instagram comment, Eva explained why she and Ryan don't post pictures of their daughters, 7-year-old Esmeralda and 6-year-old Amada. "I have always had a clear boundary when it comes to my man and my kids. I'll talk about them, of course, with limits, but I won't post pictures of our daily life. And since my children are still so little and don't understand what posting their image really means, I don't have their consent. And I won't post their image until they're old enough to give me consent."
