Lionel Richie and Brenda Harvey Richie are proud of their star daughter
Nicole Richie made her big-screen debut with the movie Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead, which premiered in Los Angeles before its big release on April 12. Being a good daughter, Nicole took her parents to the premiere, but they were “very loud” cheering on their daughter—to her embarrassment!
Nicole Richie shares funny story of her dad at the premiere
The actress appeared on the Today show, and during her conversation with hosts Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager, she talked about the funny incident. Nicole recalled that her dad was very loud and “kept talking the whole movie."
"He was like, ‘Oh, this is great. Oh, my God, I can’t believe it. Oh, she is so funny!’ And I was like, ‘Dad.’ We’re in a room full of people. And my mom was the same, just as bad," she added.
The hosts asked if they were always like that about whatever she did. Nicole replied, “Yeah, you know they were so excited to be there, and it was a great big family affair.”
She added, “We don’t get to do that a lot, you know. So it was cool.”
Lionel Richie and Brenda adopted Nicole as a toddler
The Stuck On You singer recalled when he first laid eyes on little Nicole, playing tambourine on stage at Prince’s concert.
“The discovery was not the show for Prince,” Richie said in an episode of HuffPost’s ‘Talk to Me’ series. “The discovery was: there’s a 2-year-old on stage with Prince playing a tambourine.”
The couple instantly fell in love with little Nicole. Her biological father often left her with other people, which Richie knew due to her flair for performing. “She knew every song, every dance. She was an entertainer, but she was looking for approval. It was: ‘If you like me, maybe you’ll keep me.’”
Richie also recalled that Nicole had abandonment issues because of an unstable household. “I remember you had abandonment issues for obvious reasons," he said to his daughter in the interview.
“I remember what I said to you. I said, ‘I’m never, ever going to leave you,’” he added. Sure enough, he didn’t leave her and gave her a safe and steady home.
Nicole opens up about her parenting style
Nicole, 42, is a mother of two teenage kids herself. Talking about parenting style, she shared that her kids would consider her the “strict one.” However, “she never in a million years thought” that she would be a strict parent.
“I’m actually not a big ‘these are the rules' (parent). "I definitely was raised that way, and I was like, ‘Great, I’m just going to do the exact opposite,’” she said during her interview with Today.
The mom of two added that she loves and respects her kids for who they are. "I love my kids but I also respect them. I love who they are as people and I think if we can just have an open conversation about things, then we’re good,” Nicole concluded.
