These celebrity dads have learned a lot about life from raising daughters.
From Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who has three girls and “wouldn’t have it any other way,” to Ludacris, who wants his daughters to walk through the world with high self-esteem, and former president Barack Obama, who celebrates fatherhood with traditional dad jokes that lovingly embarrass his two daughters, these celebrity men know a thing or two about parenting girls.
For some, the experience has changed their world views; for others, it’s expanded their sense of humor (for example, not many fathers will sit for beauty treatments as patiently as Mark Wahlberg). And sometimes, it’s an excuse to have some family fun on the red carpet.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, there’s plenty of research on the father-son relationship during the early years of parenting, but not as much on men who parent young daughters. However, one study found that fathers of toddler girls are more “attentive” and “responsive” to the needs of their kids and are more in touch with their own emotions than fathers of toddler sons (although researchers point to unconscious gender stereotyping as a contributor). And other research shows that father-daughter relationships can affect children’s academic and romantic successes.
Some of the dads we are highlighting have their hands full with multiple daughters (hello, Ryan Reynolds and Thomas Rhett), others like Channing Tatum devote all their time to one, and a few are raising both boys and girls. Either way, these dads are doing a great job raising strong women!
Machine Gun Kelly
Rapper Machine Gun Kelly proved he wholeheartedly loves and trusts his daughter Casie (b. 2009) who he shares with ex Emma Cannon when he let her tattoo his arm in June 2023. He shared a photo on Instagram of the then-13-year-old holding a tattoo machine and adding some ink to his forearm backstage at one of his shows in France. Now that is some serious father-daughter bonding.
Ludacris
Ludacris is a proud girl dad of four, and he says each one of them — Cadence, Cai, Karma, and Chance — has him wrapped around their finger.
“That’s like the best part and also the worst part [about being a girl dad],” he tells SheKnows while partnering with Kellogg’s Rice Krispies Treats on their “Treat. Eat. Compete.” limited-edition game. “If they make that puppy dog face to me, it’s like, I don’t know how to say no to them.”
And so his daughters get to stay up later, do homework later — “Which is a big no, no! Like, how could I even [agree to that?]. It’s always work before play.” — and enjoy extra treats and gifts.
“You name it,” he says. “Like if they put on that face? It’s hard for me to say no. Very hard.”
Nick Jonas
Nick Jonas shares daughter Malti Marie, 1, with wife Priyanka Chopra Jonas. He seems to be a doting girl dad, and he has already matched with his baby. He rocked matching white Vans with his little girl on Father’s Day 2022!
The “Jealous” singer said on The Kelly Clarkson Show in May 2022, that Malti is “the best.” He went on, “It’s just been a magical season of our life, and you know, also pretty wild. But it’s a blessing to have her home. It’s been wonderful.”
In Jan. 2023, he gave Malti a special shoutout while receiving a Hollywood Walk of Fame award. “I love being a parent with you,” he told Chopra Jonas, adding, “So, Malti Marie, hi baby! I can’t wait to come back here with you in 15 years and embarrass you in front of your friends.”
Dax Shepard
Dax Shepard is very private about his daughters, Delta, 8, and Lincoln, 9, who he shares with wife Kristen Bell, but it’s obvious how much he loves them. In an April 2019 Instagram post, he shared a sweet photo of himself hugging one of his daughters, which he captioned, “This is the highlight of all my days.”
They have fun imaginary adventures together and even ride dirt bikes together. The girls also gang up against their dad.
In an Oct. 2022 appearance on The Endless Honeymoon podcast, per Entertainment Tonight, Shepard said about his daughters, “Not only do they party together, they’re united against us, which I love.”
He went on, “If I’m giving it to one of the girls, the other one comes over, ‘You’re not being nice to Lincoln! You didn’t listen to what she said.’ And I’m like, ‘That’s right. That’s your role. You guys gang up and kill me.'”
Shepard also keeps it real about sex. In a 2019 episode of his Armchair Expert podcast, he told Gwyneth Paltrow about his sex-positive beliefs. “It’s funny because I tell myself I have a narrative I’m spinning about how I’m going to be as a father of two daughters. Currently, I’m of the opinion, I’m super pro-sex.”
He added, “I am anti-having sex to get approval. I am anti-having sex to get someone to like you or to gain status in a social circle but if my daughters are horny and they have decided they want to have sex, I am very pro-sex.”
Channing Tatum
Channing Tatum is the father of daughter Everly Tatum (whom he shares with ex-wife Jenna Dewan) and although he initally felt “completely panicked” when the former couple was expecting, he’s since developed some crucial skills. “I learned how to braid hair,” he said on The Kelly Clarkson Showin May 2021. “The hardest thing, though, is my daughter has really straight, fine hair. I have to do this every night, or she wakes up with a rat’s nest. It’s like a giant knot back there.”
Tatum has also authored two children’s books inspired by Everly titled The One and Only Sparkella and The One and Only Sparkella Makes a Plan.
In the Feb. 2023 cover of Vanity Fair, Tatum said that his split with Dewan helped him grow closer to his daughter. “I don’t think I would’ve ever done the work, I think, on myself in the way that I had to do the work on myself to really try to figure out what next,” he said. “And really, it just started with my daughter. I just dropped everything and just focused on her. And it was truly the best possible thing that I ever could have done. Because in the alone time that I have with just me and her, we’ve become best friends.”
Jimmy Fallon
Jimmy Fallon is girl dad to two daughters, Winnie and Frances, with wife Nancy Juvonen.
“It’s the best thing in the world, I’m so happy I’m a girl dad,” Fallon told Yahoo! Entertainment in 2020. “I honestly don’t know what I’d do with a boy — I love boys, but I’m so in love and I’m so lucky to have these two little angels waking me up at 4 in the morning every single [day], consistently since they were babies.”
Ryan Reynolds
Ryan Reynolds is the father of three girls: James, Inez, and Betty, with wife Blake Lively. “I’m 100 percent a girl dad. I love it. I absolutely love it,” the actor Live With Kelly and Ryan in August 2021. “I didn’t expect to be a girl dad. I didn’t expect to be a dad. I didn’t expect to be married. It’s all a part of the Hollywood arrangementship,” he added jokingly.
Now, he and Lively are expecting baby #4, and he opened up about hoping this one was a girl, too.
“I know girls so I’m sort of kind of hoping that,” he said in a Nov. 2022 interview with TODAY. “But I’m ready for whatever happens.”
Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bryant was the proud dad to four daughters: Natalia, Gianna, Bianka, and Capri, and wife Vanessa referred to him in his eulogy as “the MVP of girl dads.”
“Be thankful that you’ve been given that gift, because girls are amazing,” Bryant told mom-to-be Elle Duncan, a reporter for ESPN in 2018; she was expecting a baby girl. “I would have five more girls if I could. I’m a girl dad.”
Mark Wahlberg
Mark Wahlberg and wife Rhea Durham have four kids — Ella, Michael, Brendan and Grace — and the actor takes his role as girl dad seriously. In November 2021, he showed off his manicure, given to him by Grace. “I thought Halloween was over,” Wahlberg said in an Instagram video. “She got me again.”
It’s not the first time the actor underwent Grace’s beauty treatment. “So 15 days into quarantine now, I’m getting pedicures, manicures, and apparently full makeup,” he said in a March 2020 Instagram video.
Jamie Foxx
Jamie Foxx has two daughters, Corrine (depicted here) and Annalise. In October 2021, Fox opened up to Parents about how he encourags them to reach for their dreams. “When I look into my little daughters’ eyes, my youngest and my oldest, I say, ‘Hey, I want you to be able to have the opportunity to have everything, and you can be president,” he said. “You can do all of these different things.’ And if you don’t have men standing with their daughters, it gets tough out there.”
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is a dad to three girls: Simone, Jasmine, and Tiana, with wife Lauren Hashian. “Every man wants a son, but every man needs a daughter,” The Rock captioned an Instagram post from February 2021. “All my girls have become the great equalizers in my life — I’m surrounded by estrogen and wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Ryan Gosling
Ryan Gosling, who shares two young daughters, Amada and Esmeralda, with wife Eva Mendes, once joked with PEOPLE that he lives “with angels” adding, “It’s like walking through a field of flowers every day…”
However, the superstar dad couldn’t image life any different. “It sounds so clichéd,” he told the outlet, “but I never knew that life could be this fun and this great.”
Thomas Rhett
Country singer Thomas Rhett is a dad to four daughters, Willa, Ada, Lennon, and Lillie, with wife Lauren Atkins. He even has a song titled, “To the Guys That Date My Girls,” which includes the lyric, “So, when you take their hand, remember You’re holding my whole world.” Aw!
Adam Sandler
Adam Sandler is a girl dad of two daughters, Sunny and Sadie, with his wife Jackie. In his career, he’s all about making people laugh — but in his personal life, it’s his girls that make him happy: “My kids bring me the most joy,” he told HuffPost in 2014.
Of the day he became a father, Sandler told Access Hollywood in 2006, “I had a chemical reaction in my body, where I loved the kid so much, and I was so nervous for her, and that’s when I lost my mind for the kid.”
Matt Damon
Matt Damon and wife Luciana Barroso have FOUR daughters: Alexia, Isabella, Gia, and Stella.
“I never expected to be surrounded by girls, but it’s great. …You never know which way life’s going to take you,” Damon told Today in 2012. “I’m learning so much, not the least of which is how much smarter girls are. I operated under the assumption that us guys had a chance, but I realized when I was completely wrapped around my 2-year-old’s finger, and she knew it. If they can do that to us at 2 years old, when they’re fully grown we really don’t stand a chance.”
Adam Levine
Adam Levine and Behati Prinsloo share two young daughters Gio Grace and Dusty Rose, and the rocker certainly knows his place in the family. “Girls just wanna have fun,” Levine captioned an April 2021 Instagram photo of the family wearing pink sundresses.
Former President Barack Obama
Former President Barack Obama is raising daughters Sasha and Malia with former first lady Michelle Obama. “The second best piece of advice I’ve got for fathers of girls is not only love them unconditionally, but treat their moms great,” he said in May 2021 while appearing on “The Late Late Show.”
Barack added, “Your daughters are watching how their mom’s being treated. So if they see that you love and respect and support their mom, then when they get older that’s what they’re going to expect for themselves. And that’s worked out pretty well for me.”
Derek Jeter
Legendary Yankees baseball player Derek Jeter has three daughters with wife Hannah Jeter: Bella Raine, 5, Story Grey, 4, and River Rose, 1. In an interview with Extra in July 2022, Jeter opened up about being a girl dad. “The mornings are early… getting them up, they’re not in school right now, but dropping them off at school, picking them up,” he said. “Tennis lessons, ballet lessons, you know… I’m getting my nails painted and makeup on my face, dresses. So there’s a whole other side to me.”
On a Feb. 2023 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, he described having three daughters as “controlled chaos.” He added, “It’s the greatest thing I’ve ever experienced, though. My girls are the absolute best.”
Kevin Jonas
Kevin Jonas shares daughters Valentina, 6, and Alena, 9, with wife Danielle Jonas, and they inspire him to embrace his feminine side. In an Instagram post from July 2022, Jonas shared a picture at the salon with his youngest daughter. “#girldad things,” he captioned the post.
In an interview with Access Hollywood in Sept. 2022, the Claim to Fame host opened up about his favorite part of being a girl dad. “Every day is a new challenge. Every day’s a new reward.”
“It completely altered how everything operates,” Jonas said about him and his brothers Nick Jonas and Joe Jonas having daughters. “It’s special for us. It’s a new way of looking at the world.”
He added, “Those little daddy-daughter times are so special. I just want to be a good example for them, but then I learn so much more from them every single day.”
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