Gigi Hadid Is Asking Fans and Press to Not Publish Pictures of Her Daughter’s Face
"Our wish is that she can choose how to share herself with the world when she comes of age."
Ever since giving birth in September last year, Gigi Hadid has made every effort to keep her daughter, Khai, out of the public eye. Though Hadid has shared a number of pictures on Instagram, she’s kept Khai’s face hidden to protect her privacy, and her partner Zayn Malik has done the same. Now, though, Hadid is realizing that it’s getting harder and harder to keep Khai private, so she’s asking the public for help—and respect.
Hadid shared an open letter on her Instagram Stories on July 5th, addressed to the paparazzi, press, & fan accounts. In her lengthy note, she asks them all to please respect the fact that she and Malik want to keep Khai out of the public eye until she can make her own decision to be visible.
She wrote, “On our most recent visits to New York, she has started to want her sun shade lifted up (something she is used to at home) and helps herself to it!” She went on to say that she wants her daughter to be able to see New York and all the “beautiful and diverse people that walk down the streets” but that means that her face will be out. Because of this, she’s asking for the “media circus” to not publish photos of Khai or, at the very least, blur her face out.
Hadid went on to write, “I write this all to say: to the Paparazzi, press, and beloved fan accounts, you know we have never intentionally shared our daughters 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.”
She closed by saying that she appreciates those people who have made every effort to honor her wishes and blurred Khai’s face in photos, and she hopes this will continue the conversation of the concern of “protecting minors in the media.”
Hadid joins the ranks of several other famous parents who choose to keep their children off social media. Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard never show their children’s faces on Instagram, nor does Mindy Kaling. Other celebrities, like Busy Philipps, only share photos that their children have deemed okay to be public, which just adds to the conversation of allowing these minors—even from famous families—to have control over their own public image.
