A look at the celebrities who have been mom-shamed by fans as Hilary Duff slams critics for her parenting skills
IN THE age of social media shaming and cancel culture, it’s easy for parents to feel like they can never do the right thing according to society’s standards.
The nitpicking only seems amplified for celebrities, whose lives are routinely criticized no matter what they do – but that doesn’t mean they don’t ever fight back.
That’s certainly the case for Hilary Duff, who in a February interview with addressed those who criticized her parenting when friend and former Younger co-star Molly Bernard shared a video riding in the back seat of a moving car with Hilary’s middle child, Banks.
Three-year-old Banks was seen sitting in the back of the car next to Molly buckled in, but with no car seat in sight.
In the state of California, car seats or booster seats are required for children under eight years of age or who are under 4-feet-9-inches.
“It’s not like I’m driving on the 405 with my kids in the backseat without a car seat,” Hilary said in response to the heat she received.
She went on to argue that people had no “context” about the situation.
“You don’t know where I am,” she said.
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“Do you know how many times I let my kids sit on my front seat once we get [close to our driveway] to pretend like they’re driving home?
“You’re telling me you’ve never put your kid in the backseat to drive a block before with an adult back there?”
Unsurprisingly, this is far from the first time the How I Met Your Father star has been at the center of controversy for her parenting choices, and far from the only celebrity who has been called a bad parent.
In honor of Hilary Duff speaking out against trolls, here are other celebrities who have been mom-shamed over the years.
KRISTEN BELL
Kristen Bell is known for being quite frank about all parts of her personal life, which makes her relatable for many, but an open target for criticism as well.
The mom of two was trolled online in 2020 after admitting on her YouTube show that her five-year-old daughter was still wearing diapers.
“My eldest daughter, at 21 months, we merely suggested that she use the toilet in the other room,” Kristen recalled of her daughter, Lincoln, at the time.
“Never wore a diaper beyond that.”
She admitted she and her husband, Dax Shepard, thought potty training was easy thanks to that experience, but quickly learned they were totally wrong when it came time to potty train their second kid.
“Currently, my youngest is five-and-a-half and still in diapers,” she revealed.
“Every kid is so different.”
After the fiasco, she announced that her daughter did eventually stop wearing diapers.
MEGAN FOX
Both Megan Fox and her eldest son, Noah, were bullied in 2018 over the fact that he sometimes likes to wear dresses.
Megan admitted to she was surprised by the harsh backlash because she thought society was more accepting.
“I let my kids wear what they want,” she claimed.
“They will tell me what they are. It’s not my job to teach them that.”
“I thought it was illegal, honestly, to shame a child or shame a mom for what a child wears… in 2018,” she admitted.
She gave a similar statement during an appearance on the following year.
“I send him to a really liberal, hippy school, but even there here in California he still has little boys going: ‘Boys don't wear dresses,’ or ‘Boys don't wear pink.’”
CARDI B
Cardi B isn’t known for having a sparkly clean reputation, but nonetheless, she caught some flak when she admitted she doesn’t let her young daughter, Kulture, listen to her very risque 2020 hit, WAP.
Sticking true to character, she defended herself and put her haters in their place.
“Ya needs to stop with this already ! I’m not jojosiwa !” she .
“I don’t make music for kids I make music for adults.
“Parents are responsible on what their children listen too or see.”
JENNA DEWAN
Dancer and actress Jenna Dewan wasn’t mom-shamed for how she parents, but for how she presents herself as a parent.
In 2018, she nearly broke the internet by posting a steamy lingerie photo as part of a partnership with Danskin.
The photo followed her breakup announcement from ex and father to her first child, Channing Tatum.
Haters slammed her as being “thirsty” and inappropriate, but Jenna was not having it.
“Apparently, when you become a mother, you’re supposed to leave your sexuality at the door, and I never understood that,” she said during an interview for Naked Truth cover later that year.
“I think there’s nothing sexier than becoming a mother.
“You give life. It's everything.
“And you don’t change who you are inside just because you have a kid.”
Jenna has since welcomed a second child with boyfriend Steve Kazee, and still rocks photos with minimal clothing.
ALYSSA MILANO
There is certainly a new movement aimed at normalizing breastfeeding, but that hasn’t stopped haters from completely trolling mothers who feed their babies in public – even if they’re covered.
Actress Alyssa Milano is no stranger to being shamed for breastfeeding, and even got into a heated debate with Wendy Williams on over the topic after Wendy said she doesn’t approve of babies being breastfed in public.
However, she certainly hasn’t let haters make her shy away from breastfeeding.
In fact, the Charmed actress posted a photo to her Instagram of herself breastfeeding her newborn in 2020 and got candid about the issue on .
“Who are we, that now we get upset as human beings if we see a woman feeding her baby?
“It’s crazy to me. Crazy, crazy, crazy,” she said.
Unfortunately, she is far from the only celebrity who has been shamed for breastfeeding in public.
Mila Kunis, Jaimie King, Shay Mitchell, and Pink are just a few more of several stars who have gotten dirty looks and rude comments about the matter.
PINK
Pink hasn’t just felt shamed for breastfeeding her kids; she has been reprimanded by online trolls for everything from allowing her kids to hop on the counter to help her cook dinner to posting a photo in which her son wasn’t wearing a diaper – despite still being covered up.
In 2019, she decided she had enough with the rude remarks and disabled her comment section on Instagram.
Just days after, she shared a of her two kids running around in a sprinkler and beat the haters at their own game.
“Here’s a picture of my child running through water.
“It wasn’t even filtered,” she quipped.
“What a waste of water. And no helmet? I hope she had sunscreen.
“If she slips and falls she may be traumatized for life.
“And her mother wasn’t even there.”
She added that at the time the moment was captured, she was away from her kids for work.
HALLE BERRY
Some celebrities are bashed for not giving their children privacy by posting them online too frequently, while others are yelled at for not posting them enough.
Halle Berry received the latter complaint when she shared a with her kids’ faces cut off, but had the perfect response.
“I’ve noticed you have said this several times now so let me be clear — I’m not at all ashamed of [my] children,” she wrote in reply to a follower who wondered why she wouldn’t show more of her children on the internet.
“I try to find creative ways to incorporate them into my feed because they are the biggest part of my life, but I also work very hard to keep their identities as private as I can considering they are only children.”
HILARIA BALDWIN
Having six children, Hilaria is probably quite practiced at raising young ones – but that didn’t stop people from criticizing son Romeo’s because he was not wearing a hat.
In response, Hilaria sarcastically invited her haters to take care of er baby themselves.
“Ps...stop about the hat,” she demanded in an edit to her original caption.
“If you would like, I will invite you to my home and you can try to both put a hat on him and have him keep it on. You will be my honored guest.
“And OF COURSE he has sunscreen on … What is wrong with people that they expect the worst?”
Of course, parents aren't just shamed by anonymous trolls online.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Sometimes, they're critiqued by their own family and friends.
This was the case for one woman, who admitted her mother-in-law shamed her for breastfeeding her kid her own breastmilk.
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