(Left) Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor; (right) Kareena Kapoor Khan with her children—Taimur and Jeh
Koffee With Karan (KWK) Season 8, featuring actors Kareena Kapoor Khan and Alia Bhatt, sparked a moral debate about whether celebrities’ children should be targeted for public attention. Should their lives be thrust into the limelight solely because of their parents’ fame? While Alia and actor Ranbir Kapoor, have fiercely guarded their daughter’s privacy—Raha, who recently turned one and has never been seen, Kareena and Saif Ali Khan’s children, Taimur and Jeh, are spotted regularly. The duo has never shielded their children from the paparazzi. There is no clear right or wrong in this debate, as both sets of actors have different approaches. Alia said, “I just don’t want her to be a content piece on Instagram”, mentioning how paparazzi respect their privacy when Raha is with them. On the other hand, Kareena explained that “Taimur and Jeh have never been shielded from the paparazzi because Saif believes it could negatively affect them As a result, Taimur shares a cordial equation with the photographers, even being affectionately called ‘Tim’ by them.”
Cricketer Virat Kohli and actor Anushka Sharma have been fiercely protective of their daughter, Vamika, shielding her from the media spotlight. After the picture of her daughter went viral when Anushka and Vamika were clicked at the stadium cheering for Kohli, the duo released a statement. “Hi guys! We realise that our daughter’s images were captured at the stadium yesterday and widely shared thereafter. We want to inform everyone that we were caught off guard and didn’t know that the camera was on us. Our stance and request on the matter stays the same. We would really appreciate if Vamika’s images are not clicked/published for reasons we have explained earlier.”
Few years back, actor Blake Lively, mother of four children with actor Ryan Reynolds, called out a tabloid that shared pictures of her three daughters, highlighting the invasion of their privacy by paparazzi. She wrote, “You edit together these images to look like I’m happily waving. But that is deceitful. The real story is: My children were being stalked by men 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?’ She further wrote, ‘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.” The post was eventually deleted after Blake called them out.
Supermodel Gigi Hadid, too, has been vocal about protecting her daughter Khai’s privacy, penning an open letter expressing her desire for Khai to have control over her public image when she’s older. Hadid wrote, “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 comes down to the integrity of the photographer, publication, 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 daughter’s 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. 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, and 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…”
Around two years back, ‘Game of Thrones’ actor Sophie Turner, whose daughter had just turned a year old then, called out the paparazzi, or “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. It is disgusting, and you do not have my permission.,” she wrote in a now-deleted Instagram story.
All of us who are Instagram geeks, would know names of every child in the Kardashian and Jenner clan. Kim Kardashian’s eldest daughter North West, with rapper Kanye West was has her own following and her movements get scrutinised. The mother-daughter duo were seated at the Paris Fashion week front row, when North West decided to take things in her own hands, because the photographer would not stop clicking pictures. She put up a banner with “STOP” written on it. The moment became viral and Kim addressed it on microblogging website X and wrote,” “Anyone who knows North knows how funny she finds this video! North I guess had it with people taking pictures of her so she wrote on her invite STOP and held it up and wanted them to just focus on the show”. However, this had raised eyebrows as people thought that how could she find this incident harmless.
In a world obsessed with every detail of a celebrity, social media often fuels the voyeuristic tendencies of users, blurring the lines between what is acceptable and intrusive. Is the obsession with seeing the faces of minor children of famous parents justifiable? Parenting coach and psychotherapist Ririi Trivedi says, “Personally, I believe that there needs to be a balance for everything. Sometimes, celebrities also take it too far. I do understand the concerns that comes up with pictures of minors floating around social media. The AI tools that can morph pictures plus other dangers of child pornography and sexual predators. So, I understand the concerns. But the moment you become obsessively protective about it, then that’s not normal. I like it how Priyanka Chopra Jonas is around the media and she has her daughter with her. That’s so nice. When you become obsessed with their privacy, then it’s not healthy. If the picture of a child was seen once, I personally feel, it’s okay. Children also start picking up this vibe. Hence, it’s just better to go with the flow.”
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