Coco Austin Defends Her and Ice-T's 7-Year-Old Daughter Chanel Twerking in Christmas Video
Coco Austin is defending daughter Chanel's dancing before Instagram critics can weigh in. The model, who shares the 7-year-old with husband Ice-T, took to Instagram Monday to share a video of her little girl busting into a family dance session to twerk in her Christmas pajamas.
"She loves to joke," Austin captioned the video, explaining that she and her family members were "in the middle of" filming a TikTok video in her front yard when Chanel ran out "to bust a move and make [them] laugh." The Ice Loves Coco alum noted in the hashtags that her little girl was doing the same dance Tina Belcher in the animated show Bob's Burgers is famous for doing, adding, "Gotta love family time!"
Austin's video had a split reaction from her followers, who took to the comment section to weigh in. "SMH just whyyyy, this is not okay!" one person wrote, as another critic chimed in, "I don't find this ok, especially on social media. There's so many sick minds out here, this child's safety and privacy should be kept better. But, to each their own." Others defended Austin, calling Chanel "hilarious" and "the life of the party," with one commenter writing, "Just a child having fun PLEASE stop making this bigger than a child having fun."
Austin has faced plenty of online criticism since she and the Law & Order: SVU star welcomed Chanel in 2015, making headlines over the years for breastfeeding her daughter at age 5 and bathing her in a sink. "People, you gotta know by now that I'm an unconventional mother," she tweeted of the sink bath in September. "I do what works and is easier on me. Some may want to take some pointers rather than rag on me!"
The model would later get emotional over the online hate, telling Tamron Hall last month she was always "underneath a microscope all the time," only hearing negative things about her parenting. "You don't hear the goodness, you just hear a lot of bad," she explained. "And I know I'm a good mother." Austin added, "Putting everything aside, my career, everything, just for her ... you just want a little love, you want a little respect from people."