Sometimes celebrity parents try to be relatable and it falls flat (Hilaria Baldwin, looking at you!), while other times, it seems like they go through the exact same things we do. But when it comes to Ice-T and Coco Austin, they don’t even try to be like every other parent — they fully admit that their parenting style is unique because they’re famous, and we can appreciate the honesty.
The rapper and actor sat down with PEOPLE to talk about his involvement with A&E’s Hip Hop Treasures, and he had a few things to say about parenting his daughter Chanel, 7, with wife Coco Austin, and his older kids Tracy Marrow Jr., 31, and LeTesha Morrow, 47, from previous relationships.
Ice-T Says He Parents ‘A Lot Different Than the Normal’
“We do our parenting,” he told PEOPLE. “I think the thing of it is, it’s Ice-T and Coco. Our parenting is a lot different than the normal, square couple from Oklahoma. I’m a f—ing rock star, it’s different.” OK, we’ll give him that, it’s true.
He also compared his family to metal singer Ozzy Osbourne and his family.
“We’re like the Osbournes,” Ice-T said. “We have a different dynamic in our house. But it’s not harmful. That’s the main thing. It’s us.”
Ice-T Has Words for the Haters
The rapper and his wife have faced a lot of flak over the years for their parenting. They’ve received backlash from TikTok dances,extended breastfeeding, and pushing her daughter in a stroller. But they don’t let it bother them.
“You have to be out of your mind to care with someone else has to say,” he told PEOPLE. “I guess the thing is that to become successful, you can’t pay attention to anybody but yourself. I think the trick is you take that like this: I don’t know you personally, so I can’t take anything personally. The only thing that would bother me is if somebody I cared about said something.”
He continued, “You got to remember this: for anything anybody says about me and Coco, there’s a million billion people that are like f— that. So are you gonna listen to the negative? I always say you’re insulated by love. You got so many people out there that love you. You can’t pay attention to the idiots, you know? So none of that affects us and you can tell.” He may have a brazen way of putting it, but he does have a point. Who cares what other people say as long as you are acting in a way that is safe and makes everyone happy?
Chanel Has Her Own Instagram
Ice-T also talked about getting Chanel her own Instagram account (@babychanelnicole).
“It’s fun and she likes doing it. If she didn’t, we definitely wouldn’t do it,” he said. “When Chanel was born, we got her social media because we knew that we were gonna be the parents that were gonna show a hundred pictures of their kid because we were proud.”
Ice-T added, “We just feel like we’re sharing something that makes us happy. Now, at some point, Chanel might say Daddy or Mommy, I don’t want to be on social media and we’ll stop. But she’s a normal kid. She wants to do her TikToks and her Reels.”
This isn’t the first time Ice-T has spoken out against parent shamers. After people called them out for letting Chanel wear nail tips on a school photo. “Rule one on the internet: do not pay attention to anything anyone says on the internet,” he said on a Sept. 2021 episode of The View. “Worry about the people who walk up to you and say things in your real life. Those are the people you should be concerned with…..Everybody parents differently. I say every house has its own constitution. We’re doing okay. Our baby’s OK.”
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