Gigi Hadid Writes Open Letter To Press About Daughter Khai. Here Are Other Celebs Who’ve Advocated For Privacy Of Their Kids
Everybody wants to be famous. Because on the surface, the pros of fame and riches far outweigh the cons. But depending on what your priorities in life are, you might want to reconsider. If you value your and your loved ones’ privacy, then fame isn’t your cup of tea. Or glass of champagne, if you will. Celebrities have a tough time dodging the flashbulbs that doggedly follow their every move. While some happily pose for it, or make the moment hilarious (like Tom Holland and Zendaya recently, or back when Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone dated), others, like Jaya Bachchan, will make their displeasure known. In fact, when it comes to the privacy of their children, celebrities have been known to put their foot down and ask the media to maintain distance. We saw Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma make that request for daughter Vamika by sending sweets to the paparazzi. And now Gigi Hadid has written an open letter to the press to protect the privacy of her and Zayn Malik’s daughter, Khai.
View this post on Instagram
What did Gigi Hadid write in the letter?
The American supermodel and her singer boyfriend welcomed little Khai in September last year. And as is the trend with most celebs, they’ve posted a few pictures of their baby girl, but her face is not visible in any of them. And that’s okay, because, to quote John Krasinski from a tweet he posted while introducing his and Emily Blunt’s daughter Hazel to the world, “Pics of kids should only come direct from parents.”
However, the paparazzi culture can be real cutthroat and sometimes, despite repeated requests, the press has been know to overstep boundaries and snap pictures of celebrity kids. Another nuisance is that any fan with a smartphone can turn into a paparazzo, and post pictures that they’ve no permission to post, which might then get picked up by publications for a fine price. Either way, celeb parents have to really work to protect their babies’ privacy, and it really shouldn’t be that hard.
To that effect, Gigi Hadid has written an open letter to the press and fan clubs of her’s and Zayn Malik’s with a simple and reasonable request—to blur daughter Khai’s face in them when posting them. In a lengthy post shared across her social media profiles as “a letter from Mamma”, Gigi made this request because she wants her daughter to see the world “without the stress of the media circus”.
“It would mean the world to us, as we take our daughter to see and explore NYC and the world, if you would PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE blur her face out of the images, if and when she is caught on camera. I know it’s an extra effort- but as a new mom, I just want the best for my baby, as all parents do… and I hope this can continue the conversation to protect minors in the media, even if they come from a public family,” was basically the gist of her post.
View this post on Instagram
Gigi began her letter with a sweet reminder that as kids grow, it gets easier to keep them hidden/covered up all the time and they shouldn’t even have to. “As our baby grows up we have to realize that we can’t protect her from everything the way we wanted to and could when she was smaller. She loves seeing the world! and although she gets a lot of that out near the farm, she also gets to experience other places- a true blessing. On our most recent visits to New York, she has started to want her sun shade lifted up (something she is used to at home) and helps herself to it! She doesn’t understand why she’s covered in the city, or what I’ve wanted to protect her from. I also want her to see the most amazing city in the world + the beautiful and diverse people that walk down the streets of NYC … that is, without the stress of the media circus that comes with parents who are public figures.”
The model got the idea of blurring Khai’s face after she saw some paparazzi photos of kids being blurred in a similar fashion. This tactic is often used by the press to avoid lawsuits by showing pictures taken of unsuspecting folk in the background of their main subject, especially if these folks face any kind of damage due to being thrown in the spotlight without their permission. Since laws might vary, Gigi appealed to the integrity of the press photographers and fans, requesting them to choose to blur this photos of their own accord.
“I know the laws change State to State, and I’ve seen some paparazzi photos of kids in NYC with their faces blurred – but, from asking around, I believe that that comes down to the integrity of the photographer, publications, or fans sharing the images. I write this all to say: to the Paparazzi, press, and beloved fan accounts, you know we have never intentionally shared our daughters face on social media. 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,” Gigi Hadid wrote.
Check out her full post:
There are many celebrities like Gigi Hadid, some even in India, who’ve made similar requests to the press and paparazzi or confronted them to protect the privacy of their children and retain some semblance of normalcy in their already famous lives. Here’s a list:
Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli
View this post on Instagram
Virushka welcomed little Vamika in January this year. And considering she is the daughter of the captain of the Indian cricket team and a Bollywood superstar, you can imagine just how eager the entire country was to catch a glimpse of this baby girl. In one of the most gracious gestures, Anushka and Virat sent over sweets in a gift hamper to press and paparazzi, with a note in both Hindi and English, requesting them to not post pictures of Vamika online and respect their privacy. Viral Bhayani posted a video of the hamper and the note, which read, “We want to protect the privacy of our child and we need your help and support. While we will always ensure that you get all the content you need us featuring us, we would request you to kindly not take or carry any content that has our child.”
View this post on Instagram
Their gesture was appreciated not just by the press members who received them but also by fans and peers who saw how both parties mutually understood and respected each other in the entire process. Much like Gigi Hadid, if you see the graceful similarity in their gestures.
Also Read: “Stop This Right Now.” Anushka Sharma Calls Out Photographer For Invading Her Privacy. We’re Glad She Did
Kareena Kapoor Khan and Saif Ali Khan
If there ever was a star kid that was clicked the most, it would have to be Taimur Ali Khan. He too, like Vamika, is pretty much worshipped royalty in the country. The first child of Kareena Kapoor Khan and Saif Ali Khan, and whose lineage boasted of not just Bollywood royalty but also cricket and literal royalty! More star kids have been born after him, but the little Pataudi prince remains a favourite. So much that he has learnt to react, sometimes pose or dismiss the attention of the paps that swarm outside his home for a glimpse.
View this post on Instagram
However, when Saifeena welcomed their second child, a boy, in February of this year, it was reported that they too might take a leaf out of Virushka’s book and request paparazzi to respect the privacy of their newborn. Alas, despite their respect, paps tried to click photos of the couple, their baby boy and 4-year-old Taimur as they made their way into their Bandra home from the hospital where Bebo gave birth.
Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas
View this post on Instagram
The Game Of Thrones actor and the Jonas Brothers band member had a daughter, Willa, in July 2020. When she was 10 months old, a brush with photo-snapping paps supposedly prompted the Sophie to post an Instagram story condemning paparazzi clicking pictures of her daughter without her consent.
“It’s f***ing creepy that grown old men 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.”
Also Read: Supermodel Gigi Hadid Defends Her Right To Dress Comfy By Calling Out Fans Who Criticised Her. More Power To Her
Raveena Tandon
When Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli’s request to the paparazzi was graciously respected by the press, Raveena Tandon was impressed. On the video posted by celebrity paparazzo Viral Bhayani of the letter sent by Virushka, Raveena wrote about how she too had made a similar request to the press and back then too, they had respected her wishes. Sweet.
Hilary Duff
In February 2020, the 32-year-old Lizzie McGuire star confronted a paparazzo who was trying to take pictures of her son during his soccer game. She even posted a video of the incident, where the pap can be heard defending his right to take the picture, to which Duff tells him that it is making her extremely uncomfortable. Not to mention, there were other children at the game too.
View this post on Instagram
This wasn’t the first time that Hilary Duff, who has a son from her previous marriage to NHL player Mike Comrie and two daughters with her now husband, singer-songwriter Matthew Koma, advocated for the privacy of her children. In December 2019, she posted an Instagram story to share her frustration, as she turned the camera on the paparazzi who was following her and her kids everywhere.
In the video, she can be heard saying, “Here I am just trying to get around with both my kids, and I have paparazzi following me everywhere I go. Two grown men. Three of them, actually, one of them is running away across the street. Just following me and my kids to every location I go to. In a world where women are getting all these rights, this doesn’t seem right to me. At all. All day long.”
She then turned the camera on to her son, Luca, and asked him if he hated when paps followed him with cameras all day. The kid responded by shaking his head and agreeing.
Ashton Kutcher
Way back in 2015, Ashton Kutcher, who is married to, and is major #CoupleGoals with, Mila Kunis, tweeted, reprimanding publications who don’t respect his and Mila’s wish to keep their daughter, Wyatt’s identity private. He requested the press to honour the same.
Why is it so hard for publications to respect that I would like the identity of my child kept private for safety reasons? Pls honor that.
— ashton kutcher (@aplusk) May 19, 2015
The couple also have a son, Dmitri, born in 2016.
It’s worth noting that there exists something called as an anti-paparazzi bill, which curtails the rights of the paparazzi to click phots of children of celebrities and public personalities. Actors Halle Berry and Jennifer Garner were amongst those who testified before the California Assembly Judiciary Committee in support of this bill, which was passed and finally became a California state law in September 2013.
Perhaps in India too, and particularly in Mumbai, which is home to Bollywood just as California is home to Hollywood, we need a similar law that protects the privacy of these celebrity children. Nobody’s asking for a complete ban on taking photos, but as Gigi Hadid suggests, blurring the face should be a decent middle ground that both celebs and paparazzi can arrive at.
Paparazzi Won’t Leave Arjun Kapoor And Malaika Arora Alone, And Arjun Is Pissed
