40+ Famous People Who Used “Controversial” Parenting Methods

Many parents have heard about our first controversial parenting method. Basically, it’s to lock your child in their room at bedtime. To some parents, this seems cruel or extreme. To actors Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard, it’s totally reasonable.

The couple has admitted to locking their daughter Delta in her bedroom until she tires herself out. Kristen has said, “I know that’s controversial, but we… stand outside and say, ‘We love you, we will talk to you in the morning, but now, it’s time for sleep.’”

It’s fair to say that actors Will and Jada Pinkett Smith are rather unusual parents. They’re known for giving their kids Willow and Jaden lots of independence. For example, they allowed daughter Willow to shave her head when she was 11 years old.

The Smiths use the “circle of safety” parenting method. This means that their kids can tell them absolutely anything and not face any punishment. Will explains, “Our concept is, as young as possible, give them as much control over their lives as possible.”

Next up is another pair of actors, Nikki Reed and Ian Somerhalder. Usually, when a new baby is welcomed into a family, there are visitors and photographs with family members. This wasn’t the case in the Reed-Somerhalder household.

Rather, these two turned their phones off and had no visitors for an entire month. Nikki defended this decision, saying, “Otherwise, every five minutes it would be, ‘How are you feeling? Can we have a picture?’ You don’t get those first 30 days back.”

While many kids associate Christmas with gifts, this isn’t the case for the Kunis-Kutcher children. Actors Ashton and Mila share two children – daughter Wyatt and son Dimitri. These famous parents felt their kids were being spoiled, and asked their loved ones to make a charitable donation in their names instead.

But, there isn’t just one controversial parenting method in this family. Mila and Ashton also revealed on a podcast that they only wash their kids when they see dirt on them. Interesting!

Many little girls grow up watching Disney movies, but not Keira Knightley’s children. The English actress didn’t want her daughters to be exposed to old-fashioned ideas about gender. So, little Delilah and Edie weren’t allowed to watch Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, or The Little Mermaid.

However, when you ban something from kids, the likelihood is they’ll want to see it even more. When her daughters finally did see the movies, they were outraged that the prince kissed the princess without her permission. You go, girls!

There are various celebrities on this list that are big fans of breastfeeding. And, of course, we understand why. However, it’s a little more controversial to breastfeed your kid for longer than a couple of years.

Canadian-American rocker Alanis Morissette allowed her children to decide when to stop breastfeeding. She said, “Some kids naturally stop at two, some stop at a couple of years later, it’s up to the child. I will stop when he says it’s time to stop.”

When it comes to Scientology, lots of things are controversial. Take silent birth, for example. It’s exactly what it sounds like — moms are expected to give birth in silence.

John Travolta’s late wife Kelly Preston explained this practice, saying, “Silent birth is basically just no words, as much as possible. If you need to moan, if you cry out, you know, all of that of course, that’s normal. Just bringing them in as peaceful and gentle a way as possible.”

Surely you expected actress Gwyneth Paltrow to be on this list, right? The star is known for her wellness brand Goop, and her controversial ideas about health and food. When the star’s kids were little, she only allowed them to watch TV in Spanish or French.

Gwyneth explained, “When I’m in France, I go to [Boulevard] Beaumarchais and buy all their cartoons.” Presumably, this means that Apple and Moses have language skills like their mom. The star is fluent in English, Spanish, and French.

Along with some other stars, Spanish actress Penelope Cruz is a follower of RIE – Resources for Infant Educarers. This is a parenting philosophy where you show respect for the child’s experience, and avoid being a helicopter parent. For example, you don’t speak to them in baby voices or give them items like sippy cups.

Penelope Cruz and husband Javier Bardem have two children together — son Leo and daughter Luna. Kids raised according to RIE have no bouncers, high chairs, baby walkers, or pacifiers.

In many countries, spanking your child is illegal. This includes places like Brazil, Iceland, Kenya, New Zealand, and Venezuela. In the UK, spanking is legal for “reasonable punishment” but parents that leave a mark can be prosecuted for assault.

However, in the US, spanking is still legal in all states. This means that many famous parents still use the practice. For example, American actress and talk show panelist Candace Cameron Bure has spoken about her belief in spanking as a form of discipline.

Anyone that follows the Kardashian-Jenner clan knows that eldest sibling Kourtney is pretty obsessed with wellness. As a result, she makes her kids follow a pretty strict diet. Mason, Penelope, and Reign don’t eat gluten, sugar, or dairy. Plus, Kourtney doesn’t have a microwave in her home.

Recently, Kourt shared that her son Mason asked her for McDonald’s French fries. She responded, “Today’s not the day, sorry.” On another occasion, the reality star shared that her son says that people that give him junk food are “bad.”

The Queen of Pop has shared that she’s a rather strict parent. Controversially, the star has revealed that when daughter Lourdes had dirty clothes on the floor, she would take them and make her earn them back. She said, “She wears the same outfit every day to school until she learns her lesson.”

On top of that, Madonna’s kids are expected to follow a strict macrobiotic diet. They are only allowed to drink Kabbalah water, which is water that has been blessed by Kabbalah leaders.

For many years now, actress Jenny McCarthy has been outspoken about vaccines. The talk show panelist has an autistic son and believes that his autism was caused by his childhood vaccinations. It’s important to note that there’s absolutely zero proof of any link between these two things.

In fact, it’s important to note that autistic people are great and perfectly fine as they are. Jenny McCarthy’s controversial stance on vaccines has been met with a lot of criticism. She’s been called dangerous, reckless, and uninformed.

Fans of the Real Housewives franchise know that Kim Zolciak-Biermann isn’t exactly a conventional mom. The mom of six and her former NFL player husband Kroy have faced criticism for allowing their daughter Kaia to wear makeup when she was five years old.

While many parents let their kids experiment with makeup at home, Kim shared videos of Kaia applying lipstick on social media. Kim’s eldest daughter Brielle added fuel to the fire by revealing “we buy her makeup.”

TV personality Coco Austin and rapper Ice-T got married in 2002 and share daughter Chanel, who was born in 2015. The celebrity couple has received backlash for babying their daughter for longer than usual. For example, Chanel breastfed until she was five years old.

On top of that, the couple’s daughter was still getting pushed around in a stroller when she was six years old. Generally, this stops at around three or four. The couple wasn’t bothered by online criticism, saying they would continue to do their own thing.

Now separated couple Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have a similar parenting method to Will and Jada Pinkett Smith. The couple didn’t believe in keeping secrets from their kids.

Brad shared, “We have a policy in our family, no secrets […] I mean, there’s an age of understanding, so you’ve got to present it in a way that is age-appropriate, but we know our children very well […] We want everything to be on the table and any questions they have, for them to ask.”

Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott raise their kids in a very different way than Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher do. While Mila and Ashton give their kids no Christmas gifts, Kylie and Travis shower their children with expensive items.

Little Stormi Webster, who’s still a toddler, has diamond jewelry and designer clothes. Interestingly, when Stormi was first born, Kylie wore surgical masks when interacting with her. She also had a strict guest list and sign-in sheet for visiting family and friends.

Clearly, the Duggar family is extremely controversial in general. The former reality stars have faced serious criticism about their handling of eldest son Josh, who’s currently in prison. Asides from that, the parents of 19 follow very controversial parenting practices.

Michelle Duggar has shared that she used “blanket training” on her children. This involves setting young kids on a blanket with a toy just out of reach, and punishing them if they left the blanket to get the toy.

Another reality star that has faced criticism over her controversial parenting methods is Farrah Abraham. The Teen Mom cast member waxed and plucked her three-year-old daughter’s eyebrows because she decided she had a unibrow.

She also called her child “stupid” when she was too ill to attend her birthday party. Controversially, Farrah’s daughter Sophia used a pacifier when she was five years old. Generally, it’s recommended that kids stop using a pacifier between two and four years old.

Parents have lots of different opinions and methods when it comes to disciplining their children. Actress Jessica Alba uses time-outs when her kids are acting out. Controversially, the star makes her young children stand in the corner with their noses against the wall.

The actress has shared, “My two-year-old can last 15 seconds before she’s like, ‘Okay, I’m done!’ and then I’m like, ‘Wait, it’s not up to you!’ My five-year-old can go for some time, like a minute or two.”

Italian-American actress and model Julia Fox is a mom to son Valentino, who was born in 2021. The star seems to believe in a similar parenting style to Penelope Cruz, where you don’t baby your child.

She has said, “It’s not really teaching your kid anything, you just end up raising a kid that’s like helpless and doesn’t know what to do.” Julia Fox recently shared the mini mop and broom she bought her son. She wants him to know how to do things for himself.

Several celebrities have been sent to “therapeutic boarding schools.” This usually happens when teenagers are “out of control” and their parents don’t know what to do. Paris Jackson, Drew Barrymore, and Paris Hilton were all sent to these types of facilities.

Paris Hilton has been outspoken about her experience at Provo Canyon School in Utah. She was sent there at 17 and stayed for 11 months. The star has revealed that “children were restrained, hit [and] thrown into walls.” Plus, her communication was monitored and censored.

We’ve seen one celebrity spanker so far, and here we have some more. Singer Pink has said that physical discipline helped her through her rebellious years. While she hasn’t admitted to hitting her kids, she seems very open to the idea.

However, the mom of two is also a fan of attachment parenting, which seems to be contradictory to this. To add even more controversy, Pink shared in 2014 that her daughter Willow regularly swears. She described the then three-year-old as an “adorable little sailor.”

We haven’t mentioned it so far, but many celebrity parents are fans of bed-sharing or co-sleeping. While this isn’t very popular in the West, it’s completely standard in other cultures. Kourtney Kardashian is a fan of sleeping with her kids, as is American actress and reality star Tori Spelling.

Tori has revealed that she sleeps with four of her kids, and a couple of dogs. Apparently, this bed-sharing started when husband Dean McDermott was away filming for six months.

Now, this one is really controversial. American actress and singer Lisa Whelchel turns to hot sauce when it comes to disciplining her children. That’s right — hot sauce. When Lisa’s kids act out, she puts hot sauce on her finger and then puts that finger in their mouths.

She explained, “It does sting and the memory stays with them so that the next time they may actually have some self-control and stop before they lie or bite or something like that.”

We’ve had Jenny McCarthy, and up next is another anti-vax pair of celebrity parents. TV personality Kristin Cavallari is also concerned about childhood vaccinations causing autism. Again, we reiterate — this is not a thing. In fact, the only thing vaccinations cause is immunity to illnesses.

And really, that’s pretty invaluable. Now separated, Kristen Cavallari and Jay Cutler have three children together. None of them are vaccinated. Kristen has said, “I understand both sides of it […] it’s our personal choice.”

Singer, actress, and TV personality Christina Aguilera has a rather unusual parenting habit. The star has two children — son Max with ex-husband Jordan Bratman, and daughter Summer with fiancé Matthew Rutler. Back in 2010. Xtina shared that she has “naked Sundays” where she walks around nude.

The star believes that her kids should be exposed to nudity and not see it as shameful. She added that there are many nude paintings in her home, which reinforce this parenting choice.

TV chef Jamie Oliver has shared that he once rubbed his daughter’s apple slices in hot chili because she was rude to him. He said, “Poppy was quite disrespectful and rude to me and she pushed her luck. In my day, I would have got a bit of a telling-off but you are not allowed to do that.”

He continued, “She asked for an apple. I cut it up into several pieces and rubbed it with scotch bonnet and it worked a treat.”

We can’t seem to get away from spanking. Singer and TV personality Kelly Clarkson is another celebrity advocate of the controversial practice. She has said, “My parents spanked me, and I did fine in life, and I feel fine about it, and I do that as well.”

The star did acknowledge that spanking is “a tricky thing, when you’re out in public because then people are like, they think that’s wrong or something.” Generally, the argument against spanking is that it teaches children violence.

We’re now moving from one extreme to the other. On one end of the spectrum, there are the celebrities who hit their children. On the other end are the celebs who sleep in the same beds as their kids. For example, actress Nia Long slept with her child for almost a decade.

Back when her son Massai was nine years old, Nia shared, “My son still sleeps in bed with me and I love it.” Co-sleepers argue that the practice lowers stress levels for parents and children.

Similarly, actress Alicia Silverstone shares a bed with her 11-year-old son. Over the years, the star has shared various controversial parenting methods. For example, in 2012 Alicia posted a video of her son Bear eating her pre-chewed food out of her mouth.

While many of us associate this with baby birds, the actress maintained that it was a type of weaning. She said, “While I’m still breastfeeding, it’s just a way to introduce him to food when he doesn’t have teeth.”

Veganism is an increasingly popular choice among celebrities. However, it can be controversial to raise your kids to be vegan. Some argue that a totally vegan diet can be dangerous for small children who need more protein, calcium, and vitamins in order to grow.

Because of this, it’s rather controversial that actress Ellen Pompeo raises her kids as vegan. She said she returned from a doctor’s appointment and said “That’s it, we’re all vegan.” Apparently, her kids found it “fun.”

There’s no denying that Michael Jackson is a controversial person. As a parent, he made all sorts of unusual choices. Most famously, the Jackson children always had to conceal their faces in public. Considering their father’s fame, this makes sense.

However, Paris, Prince, and Blanket also had a very sheltered life. The trio were homeschooled and didn’t have any friends their own age. They practiced bed-sharing, had rationed amounts of toys, and MJ didn’t ever raise his voice with them.

TV host Nick Cannon has nine kids with six women. As of 2022, he’s expecting another two. So, what type of father is he? Well, when speaking about his twins with Mariah Carey, Nick Cannon revealed that he’s the disciplinarian.

He said, “I’ve got the loudest voice in the house, so they’ve always responded to that ever since they were newborns. They hear my voice and they freeze.” In 2013, Nick tweeted, “Spare the rod, spoil the child! […] The time-out generation has no real discipline!”

Once more we’re swinging to the other end of the controversial parenting spectrum. While Nick Cannon seems like a very strict parent, actress Leah Remini is the opposite. The star shocked the public when she revealed that her three-year-old daughter Sofia was drinking “six or more bottles a night.”

Sofia was also co-sleeping, which many assumed was a choice by Remini. In fact, Leah admitted that her daughter just ruled the house and that she was a bit of a pushover as a mom.

Unfortunately, some parents treat their sons and their daughters differently. In 2022, this has to be controversial! Former basketball player and sports analyst Shaquille O’Neal has admitted that he has different rules for his kids. The former athlete is a dad of six, with three sons and three daughters.

The star told Ellen DeGeneres, “Well, my sons can date when they’re 18. And my daughters can date when they’re 24.” As well as that, each child must complete two degrees to be part of his will.

There are different recommendations when it comes to potty training. Many kids show signs of being ready between 18 and 24 months. Others start when they’re around three years old. However, Kandi Burruss and Todd Tucker’s children start potty training between four and eight months old!

Singer and reality star Kandi uses a baby toilet seat. She has said, “It helps to get them used to the concept early. I don’t expect [them] to be fully potty trained early but it does help.”

It’s perhaps not that surprising that director and actor Clint Eastwood used physical punishment with his kids. However, it’s certainly controversial for people that don’t agree with spanking. Clint’s son Scott Eastwood has said that his dad had a “very old-school” style of discipline.

In fact, Scott shared that Clint once threw him against a wall when he left his younger sister at a party. He said, “If you did something wrong, you were going to get punished. I learnt quickly.”

Likewise, TV personality Kate Gosselin uses physical punishment with her kids. In a leaked journal entry, Kate wrote about an incident with her son Collins. It said, “I have never felt that I may seriously injure a child but today was that day.” The then two-year-old Collins had just spilled a bag of beans.

Kate has defended her use of spanking, saying, “I am a mother first. I love my children and when they misbehave, I discipline them as I deem appropriate for the situation.”

Actress and game show host Mayim Bialik has made clear that she does believe in vaccinating her children. However, she doesn’t believe in giving her children medications or antibiotics when they’re sick. This includes remedies like cough syrup, antihistamines, and mild painkillers.

The mom of two has said, “I’ve learned from talking to other moms that almost everything you have right now in your home and your heart is enough to deal with most everything. I’m not arguing to be negligent.”

Where do we begin with Kris Jenner? Well, it’s pretty controversial to let your two young children be on reality television. Kendall and Kylie Jenner were just 12 and 10 years old when TV cameras first came into their home. Then, Kris seemed to approve of the relationship between a then-underage Kylie and rapper Tyga, who was in his 20s.

Plus, Khloé Kardashian has shared that when she was nine years old, she overheard her mom tell a friend that she “needed a nose job.” Yikes.

Here we have another celebrity family with an extremely restrictive diet. Brazilian model and American NFL player Tom Brady got married in 2009. The couple and their children all follow a rather specific mainly plant-based diet.

In fact, lots of it comes from their home garden. The Bündchen-Brady bunch doesn’t eat white sugar, white flour, tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms, eggplants, or strawberries. On Halloween, the kids are allowed to eat one single piece of candy.

We know that Stormi Webster has her own designer wardrobe. Well, so does little Kulture Kiari Cephus. In fact, Kulture, born in 2018, owns several baby Birkin purses. Rapper Cardi B has explained that her daughter saw a rainbow purse in Claire’s so they replicated the design on a Birkin bag.

That involved over one hundred hours of work and over 30,000 crystals. Cardi B defended this controversial decision by saying that “if I’m fly and daddy’s fly, then so is the kid.”

While Kimye has now split up, they still made some controversial parenting decisions during their time together. And, they’re still hashing out some details. For example, rapper and designer Kanye West has decided that eldest daughter North isn’t allowed to wear makeup or crop tops.

When North was first born in 2013, Kanye didn’t want her to wear any pink as he didn’t like the color. All of the Kardashian-West children wore neutral colors in their infancy. Of course, most of them were designed by Kanye himself.

Here we have actor-producers Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr. Despite being worth a lot of money, these celebrity parents don’t want their two kids to be wasteful.

Sarah Michelle has said, “My daughter was doing this thing lately where she was asking me for a cup of milk and not drinking it. So I told her that every time she’d ask me for a cup of milk and not drink it, I would take a quarter out of her piggy bank.”