How Reese Witherspoon, Katherine Heigl and More Celeb Parents Are Talking to Their Kids About Racism

Chip and Joanna Gaines

While talking about Black Lives Matter with host Emmanuel Acho, Chip and Joanna revealed they’ve been raising their kids not to see “color.”

“‘You know I’m proud I think our kids are colorblind,'” Joanna recalled her husband saying.

Padma Lakshmi

Padma Lakshmi has always made it her job to talk to her daughter, Krishna, about racism. Because Krishna is a “biracial child” who has traveled a lot with her mom, Padma told Page Six she made her little girl “very aware” of “inequality.”

“I try to expose her to as much in an age-appropriate way, it’s not always a perfect science. I think it’s better to do it with children in small doses all through their lives rather than, ‘OK we have to hurry and bring them up to speed,'” she explained.

Kerry Washington

Kerry Washington is making a change in her two children’s lives. The Little Fires Everywhere star revealed she’s been inspired by the protests to educate her kids, Isabelle and Caleb, about black history.

“The thing I’ve been thinking about a lot, honestly, with my kids — and with my friends’ kids — I’ve been thinking a lot about education and a lot about talking about race and introducing ideas of race,” she said during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live on June 8. “And really thinking about the idea that for a lot of kids — kids are introduced to race at Black History Month or in the concept of change-makers like Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks.”

Kerry noted “it’s really important that we start to introduce the idea of race with a Black History that begins before teaching kids what black people were told they couldn’t do.”

She added, “This idea of teaching kids that Black History and Black people were a lot of things before segregation and Jim Crow and the Civil Rights. So that we understand the beautiful complexity and elegance and richness of Black History before refusing to be put in the back of the bus.”

Jamie Foxx

Jamie Foxx shared a touching post about how it was “bittersweet” having his kids at Black Lives Matter protests with him. The proud dad also expressed his sadness for daughters Corinne Foxx and Annalise Bishop following Floyd’s death.

“Having them watch the world come together was beautiful,” he wrote on Instagram. “But having to explain to them why we were all there was heartbreaking … let’s change the world so they don’t have to live in it the way we have been.”

John Stamos

John Stamos revealed he’s educating son Billy, 2, on racial injustice by watching the PBS Kids show Sesame Street.

“My kid and I watching [the TV special] Coming Together: Standing Up to Racism — Great stuff @cnn @sesamestreet!” the Fuller House alum wrote alongside a photo of him and Billy on the couch. “Our family thanks you!”

Reese Witherspoon

When Witherspoon shared her powerful message on Instagram about race, she wrote, “Don’t ignore something because it makes you uncomfortable.”

Katherine Heigl

Heigl has been wondering how she’s going to talk to her children about Floyd’s death, especially her daughter Adalaide. “How will I explain the unexplainable? How can I protect her? How can I break a piece of her beautiful divine spirit to do so? I can’t sleep,” she said on Instagram on May 31. “I lay in my bed in the dark and weep for every mother of a beautiful divine black child who has to extinguish a piece of their beloved baby’s spirit to try to keep them alive in a country that has too many sleeping soundly.”

Eva Amurri

As a mom of three, Eva Amurri said it’s “imperative” to “educate ourselves and our children. And to do what we can to make sure that every American has the same rights and freedoms.”

“I know that I can be better at this,” she added on Instagram on May 30. “I’ve been researching ways to speak to my children about race and racial injustice, donating, signing petitions, listening and learning from leaders in this arena, and following people on Instagram who are shining light on how I can be the best ally possible.”

Drew Barrymore

On Monday, June 1, Drew Barrymore told host Dr. Aliza Pressman on the “Raising Good Humans” podcast that Floyd’s death changed the way she parents her two daughters.

“I feel like this is the beginning of a change and an awareness, which I would’ve assumed I had,” the Santa Clarita Diet alum explained. “I feel compelled to get in this [movement] and I feel like this is a moment where my life is forever changed in the parent I want to be … ongoing is forever changed.”

Thomas Rhett

Floyd’s death made Thomas Rhett see life completely differently for his three kids. “As the father of a black daughter and also two white daughters — I have struggled with what to say today,” the “Marry Me” singer wrote on Instagram on May 31. “I am heartbroken and angry. I get scared when I think about my daughters and what kind of world they will be growing up in and how my JOB as a father is to show them how to lead with love in the face of hate.”

“So if there is any question on where I stand let me be clear- I stand with you, I stand with George and his family and all those who have faced racism. I stand with my wife and my daughters. We will be fighting this fight for the rest of our lives. Rest In Peace, George. We are not letting this go,” he added.

Jennifer Garner

Jennifer Garner shared a video on Instagram on May 30 of black parents explaining racism to their kids and in the caption she wrote, “I cannot fathom having conversations like these with my children #ipromisetolisten.” 

Ashton Kutcher

When Ashton Kutcher put his kids to bed, he had a “really poignant experience” that made him think about race. While taking to Instagram on June 3, the dad of two explained his son was a little bit confused when the actor told him his sister should get a bedtime story first.

“I said, ‘You know why girls go first? For you and me, girls go first, and the reason why is for some boys, girls don’t get to go at all. And so for you and me, girls go first,'” the That ’70s Show alum said. “So when it comes to Black Lives Matter, I think what folks that are writing ‘All Lives Matter’ need to understand is that for some people, black lives don’t matter at all, so for us, black lives matter. So while you may have the best intentions in saying ‘All Lives Matter,’ remember for some people, black lives don’t matter at all.”

Hilaria Baldwin

Hilaria Baldwin wants the world to be “more peaceful and safe” for her four kids with husband Alec Baldwin. The doting mom, who is pregnant with her fifth child, said she had to check on her little ones “a million times” during the night to make sure they were OK.

“I feel a mixture of deep sadness for the hate and injustices of this world, [but] extreme awe and inspiration [for] how much change can be created by this rallying together,” the fitness instructor explained on Instagram on Wednesday, June 3. “I give thanks to every person who is making this happen right now.”

Gayle King

During her appearance on The Talk, Gayle King said she was “worried about her son,” especially since he “lives in the Santa Monica area,” which is close to the Black Lives Matter protests. “[I’m] saying, ‘Will, please don’t walk [your dog named] Scott … please don’t take him for long walks, everything is so volatile,” she explained on June 3. “I worry for him being a black man, period.”

Kristen Bell

During Kristen Bell‘s June 3 appearance on The Morning Beat, she said it’s “important” for her to talk to her children about racial injustice. “I showed my daughters some of the images of what is happening right now because I think they have more durability and more resilience than we give them credit for,” she said, adding it led to a “very honest, hard, uncomfortable conversation about what is happening right now.”

Regina King

Regina King revealed she’s been talking to her son, Ian, about police brutality during a June 3 interview with Jimmy Kimmel. “In most of black homes, it’s not just a conversation,” she explained. “It’s an ongoing conversation. It never stops.”

Once Ian learned how to drive, he started to put their talks into perspective. “You kind of have to make them very clear about what they’re supposed to do when they’re out there in that car by themselves and [they’re] more than likely going to get pulled over just because [they’re] a young black man,” she said.

America Ferrera

America Ferrera shared a photo of her reading “Kamala & Maya’s Big Idea” to her 2-year-old son Sebastian. The mom of two explains it’s “a story of two young girls learning to work for the world they want, never giving up and working to turn a ’no’ into a ‘yes.’” 
“We have to teach our kids young about the power they have to shape the world,” she continues. “Hell, we have to constantly teach ourselves our own power and be models to our children.”