Megan Fox Confesses She 'Loses a Lot of Sleep' Over Her Sons' Future For This Reason
Megan Fox has done everything she can to shield her three sons from the public eye, but as they’re getting older, she’s reckoning with the fact that she won’t be able to protect them forever.
During an appearance on Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy podcast, Fox got candid about some of her biggest worries when it comes to the kids she shares with ex-husband Brian Austin Green.
The Jennifer’s Body star has been outspoken about the negative relationship she has with the press and public at large due to the vitriol spewed at her online and the false narratives spread about her in the media — and she fears one day her sons Noah, 11, Bodhi, 9, and Journey, 6, will endure the same treatment because of their ties to her.
Fox told Cooper, “That also weighs on me because I have kids and I have one kid who’s like, an artistic savant, and that kid will inevitably be in the spotlight somehow. It’s impossible that they won’t. And I know how cruel the world is because I’ve lived through it and I don’t think I can endure watching what my child is going to have to go through.” The Transformers alum added, “So I’m really struggling with that as well as, like, not wanting my kids to have to be exposed.”
Fox continued, “I lose a lot of sleep about that, especially because I know one of them is, I know, going to be in the public — probably all three of them. They’re drop-dead gorgeous kids and both of their parents are actors in the industry, so it’s likely that they’re going to have some type of public platform at a certain point. I worry about that every day,” she admitted.
One of Fox’s strategies for shielding her kids from public scrutiny is restricting their access to social media and the internet — a choice made not just by Fox but by many celebrity parents. The Pretty Boys Are Poisonous author shared, “My oldest is 11, and my kids weren’t raised with screens, and they don’t have iPads or anything like that in my house or phones.” Fox recognized that she “can’t keep that up forever,” but she’s “trying to delay it as long as possible” because “it’s still too early.”
The New Girl actress confessed that she also hasn’t figured out the most appropriate way to educate her kids on the pitfalls of being a public figure without projecting her experience onto them. Fox told Cooper, “I don’t want to put the weight of my experience on them. I want them to have their own experience and I don’t want to preload it by being like, ‘This is all the suffering that Mommy’s been through; this is how the world treats Mommy. Mommy’s never been loved; Mommy’s always been bullied; Mommy doesn’t belong.'”
Fox continued, “They don’t need to feel that. So I haven’t found the right way to talk to them about that, but I will have to, with certainty, and yes, I lose a lot of sleep about that.”
Stirred by her conversation with Cooper, the mom of three added, “Somebody should ask Brian that question. He’s watched me cry so many times — he’s always like, ‘Are you okay?’ Because every school meeting I’m just weeping.” Fox explained, “I’m always crying because I know what’s coming and I’m not able to live in this moment because I know what’s ahead, and I’m not prepared emotionally to have to do it.”
It’s undeniable that fame and fortune lead to an objectively easy life in many ways, but Fox’s candor about the long-term effects of unrelenting global criticism and gossip sheds light on the dark side of being a public figure — and how she fears her kids will receive the same cruel treatment she’s been subjected to throughout her career.
Before you go, check out these celebrities who have shared their technology rules for their kids.