Brooke Shields didn’t want her 17-year-old daughter Grier Hammond Henchy to pursue a modeling career. The actress, 58, shared that she “fought” against Grier’s wishes before eventually “giving in” during an interview on Live with Kelly and Mark earlier this week. “The rules have changed since I was [a model],” Brooke started. “I fought [Grier] for so long…It’s such a different industry now than it was,” she explained, noting that her teen daughter has dabbled with “little things here and there.”
Brooke went onto describe the modeling industry in present day — which is dominated by popular social media celebrities like Kendall Jenner, Gigi and Bella Hadid, Hailey Bieber and others — as a “rat race” in the candid conversation. “We didn’t have social media when I was a model,” the Pretty Baby star recalled of her heyday, which consisted of catalogue and print — including a series of highly controversial ads for Calvin Klein Jeans as a teenager. Grier, on the other hand is “interested in runway” — something Brooke never added to her resume.
“That’s brutal and backstage is just brutal,” Brooke went on, also describing Grier as “ridiculously stunning” to Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos. “I never did runway, I don’t think I would’ve been able to handle it,” she explained. Ultimately, Brooke saw her daughter’s passion and work ethic before “giving in” to her career wishes — but not without rules.
“‘You are going to have a great work ethic, it’s not going to be comfortable, and you’re going to listen to me, those are my rules,’” Brooke revealed of her conditions.
Brooke also shares 20-year-old daughter Rowan with husband Chris Henchy, who she wed in 2001. Her elder daughter has been a red carpet regular with her mom, but less so in recent years as she has been studying at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
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