Lionel Richie Calls Sofia Richie’s Relationship With Scott Disick a ‘Phase’

Lionel Richie spoke out about his daughter Sofia’s relationship with Scott Disick.

The music legend said he thinks the relationship is “just a phase,” but continues to support her and referred to Disick as a “nice guy.”

“She’s 19,” the singer told Australia’s Daily Telegraph about Sofia. “When you’re 19 you know everything. Is it going to be for life? I don’t know. But for right now it’s just a phase and I’m going to stand real still in the corner, get me a good drink and not make too much noise.”

“Now I know what my parents meant when I came through the door with my Afro and my girlfriend and said, ‘Dad, I’m in love’ and [he] looked at me and said, ‘Okay, we’re going to leave you alone for a minute and you’ll figure it out,’” Lionel joked. “My daughter is getting me back for my Afro days!”

The model and Kourtney Kardashian’s ex have been going out since My 2017. In November, Sofia told E! News, in front of her dad, that he is “very supportive about her dating life. In response, the singer jokingly made a hand gesture and pretended to shoot himself.

“From what I met of him he’s a very nice guy,” the singer was quoted as saying about Scott. “When you hang around the reality world, who knows what you are really doing? This is a well-oiled machine, the Kardashian machine. I don’t really know what to think. I told Sofia I will have no opinion. I’ll continue to be my cheerful self and move on.”

Sofia and Scott, 34, have no commented to the singer’s comments.

Lionel’s remarks just days after reports surfaced of Kardashian not being too happy at her baby daddy’s relationship.

“The initial reaction from Kourtney when she found out that Scott was dating Sofia was not positive,” the insider told PEOPLE. “Like most people, she thinks Sofia is way too young for him and doesn’t get it.”

Sofia and Richie have gone on romantic trips to Europe and Mexico, which they chronicled on social media. In November, a source told PEOPLE their relationship is “serious” and “nobody notices” the 15-year age difference. They also spent the holidays together, with Disick posting a controversial video of Richie dancing in his kitchen while only wearing a sweater and underwear.

Although Kardashian has some misgivings about the relationship, the source told PEOPLE she has realized Disick is “doing so much better” with Richie in his life. “He has very much shaped up in the past few months,” the source told the magazine. “Kourtney is happy Scott is doing better. Things between Kourtney and Scott are civil.”