People care a lot about celebrity babies. And why wouldn’t they? Babies are cute, and keeping up with celebrity drama is fun — so celebrity babies are pretty much the best of both worlds. This affinity is usually pretty harmless, but every now and then, it takes a turn for the worse. Fans cross the line from well-intentioned concern to full-on mommy-shaming, and that’s no fun for anyone.
Now, it makes sense that fans might worry about a beloved celebrity baby, and it’s natural to want the best for both a celebrity and their child. But concerns about what a baby is eating, wearing, or doing can get invasive and hyper-critical really fast. When celebrities post photos of their children on social media, they’re usually not asking fans to review their skills as a parent. And even though fans may have good intentions when offering unsolicited advice, those words of wisdom are still just that — unsolicited.
When it comes down to it, parenting can be seriously confusing, and most people — celebrities included — are just doing the best they can. More often than not, parents deserve the benefit of the doubt — not a bunch of comments about how much they suck at parenting.
Here, a look at 11 celebrities who have been “mommy-shamed” for everything from feeding their children Nutella to letting their kids tweet dumb things.
A post shared by Reese Witherspoon (@reesewitherspoon) on Mar 9, 2015 at 8:26am PDT
1 Reese Witherspoon
When Reese Witherspoon made her toddler son, Tennessee James, a plate of delicious-looking cinnamon rolls in March 2015, she was instantly met with criticism. “What a horrible thing to feed a growing child for breakfast,” one mommy-shamer wrote on Reese’s Instagram post about the tasty treats.
Sure, cinnamon rolls might not be an ideal breakfast to feed a child every single day, but there’s no evidence that Reese is feeding her toddler cinnamon rolls 24/7. Odds are, Witherspoon was having a little fun with breakfast — and there’s nothing wrong with serving up a couple sweet treats every now and then.
A post shared by chrissy teigen (@chrissyteigen) on Jun 17, 2017 at 2:25pm PDT
I went to dinner. People are pissed. Good morning! pic.twitter.com/oQ54mtet8c
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) April 24, 2016
Imagine being this miserable. We are fine, thanks. pic.twitter.com/NNmlJWxKE6
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) March 10, 2017
2 Chrissy Teigen
Chrissy Teigen has been mommy-shamed a few times since giving birth to her daughter Luna in April 2016. First, she was criticized for going out to dinner with her husband John Legend a month after Luna was born. (John didn’t face the same kind of backlash and aptly tweeted about the double standard.)
Then, in March 2017, both Chrissy and John came under fire for an Instagram photo that Chrissy has since deleted. The photo showed Chrissy and John with their daughter, who, according to mommy-shaming trolls, “never shows emotions.” Mommy-shamers were apparently upset with the celebrity parents for not dressing Luna in enough layers.
A post shared by Victoria Beckham (@victoriabeckham) on Jul 10, 2016 at 1:27am PDT
3 Victoria Beckham
Victoria Beckham faced mommy-shamers in July 2016 after uploading an Instagram photo of herself kissing her daughter, Harper, on the mouth. Trolls promptly shamed Victoria, calling the picture “inappropriate.” But many of her fans rushed to her defence, posting their own photos kissing their children in response to the backlash.
A post shared by Ciara (@ciara) on Jul 23, 2017 at 4:48pm PDT
4 Ciara
Singer Ciara was criticized for riding a toboggan with her family at the Great Wall of China this June. Ciara sat in the front, wearing her 3-month-old daughter, Sienna Princess, in a carrier on her chest. Her husband, Russell Wilson, sat in the back with Ciara’s 3-year-old son, Future Zahir, on his lap. Mommy-shamers lashed out, calling Ciara “stupid” and “irresponsible” for bringing her family along on the toboggan ride.
A post shared by Blake Lively (@blakelively) on Jun 21, 2015 at 7:29am PDT
5 Blake Lively
Celebrity parents Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds faced parent-shaming in July 2015. Why? Lively uploaded a Father’s Day photo of Ryan holding their baby James in a carrier, and trolls were quick to let the celebrity couple know the baby was positioned incorrectly. One fan suggested that the new parents “read an instruction manual.”
Blake left the photo up on her Instagram page, and Ryan later went on Today to talk about the incident. He apologised for his apparent misstep, and assured fans that while he may make mistakes as a parent, he really is trying his best.
A post shared by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Jun 6, 2017 at 4:30pm PDT
6 Kim Kardashian West
Kim Kardashian was mommy-shamed in June after uploading a Facebook photo of her son, Saint, in a car seat. Vocal Facebook users criticized Kim for putting Saint in a front-facing — rather than a rear-facing — car seat.
California state law requires that toddlers under the age of 2 sit in rear-facing car seats, unless they’re more than 40 inches tall or weigh more than 40 pounds. This law is consistent with American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommendations — children should remain in rear-facing seats until the age of 2, or when they reach the maximum height and weight for their seat.
Kim ended up taking down the photo, but she’s since defended herself and her decision to put Saint in a front-facing seat. “What people didn’t know is that Saint is now the weight and height requirement to sit forward-facing,” she said, adding that Saint weighs more than his older sister, North.
A post shared by Kristin Cavallari (@kristincavallari) on Jul 4, 2016 at 8:18am PDT
7 Kristin Cavallari
Kristin Cavallari celebrated Fourth of July 2016 by posting a family beach photo to Instagram. The former reality TV star then faced an onslaught of criticism from mommy-shamers who accused the star of “starving” her children, Camden, Saylor, and Jaxon, because they looked so thin. Kristin promptly blocked the trolls.
Chrissy Teigen stepped in to defend Kristin — and like, all parents ever — against the mommy-shamers. “I will never know why parents criticize others so harshly, knowing they’d go insane if they were on the receiving end ALL THE TIME,” Chrissy tweeted. “NO parent out there thinks they’re perfect. I loathe these sh*thead commenters. Who would want to make someone feel horrible for fun?”
A post shared by ≠GWEELOS≠ (@willowsmith) on May 14, 2017 at 5:25pm PDT
8 Jada Pinkett Smith
Jada Pinkett and Will Smith were the subjects of a full parent-shaming article in March 2016. The New York Post piece, called “Any reasonable parent would be ashamed of Will Smith’s kids,” detailed the myriad ways the Smiths have failed in their child-rearing — including allowing their 19-year-old son, Jaden, to dress androgynously and letting their 16-year-old daughter, Willow, tweet “pretentious, vapid, and humourless” things. (How horrifying!)
Crazy Cousins #BX #MAXIDREW #ACEKNUTE #JAGGERSNOW
A post shared by Jessica Simpson (@jessicasimpson) on Jul 20, 2017 at 1:23pm PDT
9 Jessica Simpson
Jessica Simpson was shamed in June for uploading three photos of her 5-year-old daughter, Maxwell, having fun outside. Cute, right? But Jessica’s daughter was wearing a bikini in the pictures, and mommy-shamers accused the celebrity mother of “sexualizing” her daughter. The trolls went on to deem the pictures inappropriate and denounce Jessica’s parenting abilities.
“Jessica, shame on you for exposing your daughter instead of protecting her,” one commenter wrote. “This woman needs to grow some brains and discernment. You don’t exploit young children in bathing suits all over social media,” another added. Though some of Jessica’s fans rushed to defend her, the singer still decided to take down the pictures.
A post shared by Kelly Clarkson (@kellyclarkson) on Apr 8, 2017 at 9:42am PDT
10 Kelly Clarkson
In April, Kelly Clarkson decided to feed her daughter, River Rose, Nutella for the first time. What should have been an exciting moment quickly turned sour when Kelly’s followers shamed her for letting her 2-year-old daughter near the sugary treat. “Nutella is hella bad for you,” one commenter wrote. “Nutella is PACKED with sugars. Don’t make your kids blow up,” another added. One commenter went as far as to accuse Kelly of child abuse, which is both absurd and offensive.
Kelly is entitled to expose River Rose to delicious treats as she sees fit, and it’s pretty clear she’s not feeding her tubs of Nutella for every meal. (This was the child’s first experience with the hazelnut spread, after all.)
A post shared by P!NK (@pink) on Jul 16, 2017 at 9:42pm PDT
11 Pink
Pink was mommy-shamed at the end of July after uploading a cute photo of her family to Instagram. Her offence: wearing her baby son, Jameson, in a carrier while cooking dinner with her family.
The AAP generally encourages parents to cook with their children, as it’s a great opportunity to teach them about healthy food. One quick look at the photo shows Pink is following the AAP’s suggestions that parents always supervise their children in the kitchen, meaning all that mommy-shaming was both unsolicited and unnecessary.
