Halle Bailey defends protecting her pregnancy and baby from the public — but shouldn’t have to
Halle Bailey shouldn’t need to defend her choices. (Getty)
Halle Bailey has defended the choice to protect her pregnancy and baby from the public eye, but she shouldn’t have to.
The Little Mermaid star announced her son Halo’s birth in January 2024 after she and her rapper boyfriend DDG kept her pregnancy hidden from the media; a personal and completely valid decision.
“Welcome to the world my halo the world is desperate to know you,” she wrote at the time, explaining that her baby was born in 2023.
Speaking at the ESSENCE Black Women in Hollywood Awards event this week in Los Angeles, Bailey was honoured for her work in the industry. In a speech, the actor spoke about “one of the biggest highlights… and challenges” of her life, “becoming a mum to my perfect little angel, Halo”.
“These lessons that I shared with you today led me to a place of protection,” she explained. “There was no way in hell I was going to share the biggest joy of my world with anyone.
“Halo was my gift, he is the greatest blessing, and I had no obligation to expose him, me or my family to that spotlight,” she said, earning cheers and applause from attendees.
But it’s not the first time that Bailey has been forced to defend her decision. In January, the singer-songwriter responded to an X (formerly Twitter) user who accused her of “lying” and “gaslighting” people who questioned whether she was pregnant.
“I never lied or even said anything about it honey , making a joke about my nose was the farthest i went,” she replied. “i’ll never understand why you are mad i protected my own peace, wouldn’t you do the same? and i’m gonna share my pics now if i want to because my son is here safely, if u don’t wanna see it just keep scrolling baby lol God bless you !”
There are many reasons why somebody might want to keep their pregnancy and baby private from the prying eyes of others. Some people have been subjected to such intense trolling that they’ve had to remove themselves from social media entirely, while women are disproportionately subjected to abuse online.
Women don’t owe you anything, not even celebrities.
