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When it comes to parenting, Ice-T and Coco Austin are battle-hardened veterans, accustomed to taking fire and ducking flak over how they raise their daughter, Chanel (6).
Like many Americans, the rapper-actor and his model wife got together with their loved ones to celebrate Thanksgiving this past weekend and in between the turkey and festivities, it was their daughter who their stole the show.
In a now-deleted video shared to Coco’s Instagram Stories, Chanel was seen teaching her grandma, Tina Austin, Coco’s mom, how to twerk.
The little girl, who also celebrated her sixth birthday this weekend, proved she was a mini dancing queen next to her granny who is also known as “mamaw”.
“So, you go like this,” the little girl says, as she shows her grandmother how to bend over and shake her butt.
“But what are you doing? Do I do squats, or what are you doing with your butt?” her grandma asks.
Coco (42), known for proudly sharing plenty of footage and photos of her daughter on social media, was behind the camera to capture the moment.
"Wait, what are you guys doing exactly?" Coco chimes in. "What are you doing?"
"Twerking!" comes Chanel's enthusiastic reply.
"Oh my God," says Coco as she laughs. "This is what you do when family's over. Oh my gosh."
Although the child’s dance wasn’t at all sexual, the internet was divided on the risqué move that’s often sexualised in music videos.
“OMG she’s so cute,” said one commentator, while others were unimpressed.
“Absolutely disgusting. A child should not even know what twerking is… pathetic parenting…” one person said on the video that was reposted on Instagram.
“She shouldn’t even know at her age what twerking is or how to do it. I’m literally speechless,” said another.
Back in August, self-described “supermom” Coco defended breastfeeding Chanel, who was five at the time. They also made headlines when Coco allowed her “little baby doll” to get acrylic nails with a French manicure done for her school photo.
Ice-T (63), however, was quick to point out that their family is unconcerned with critics or internet trolls.
“Rule 1 on the internet: Do not pay attention to what anyone says,” the Law & Order: SVU star said on an episode of The View in October. “Worry about the people that walk up to you and say things in your real life.
“Those are the people you should be concerned with. The internet is the world. It’s the world talking, so I don’t pay attention.”
“Like I said, every house has its own constitution. We’re doing OK. Our baby’s okay."
Coco has said that her daughter’s love for performing in front of family might just make her a child star.
“I see her personality. That’s where it’s kind of going automatically. She likes to perform. She likes to act out for you,” the proud mom told In Touch Weekly.
“She likes to be a comedian in your eyes. She likes to sing and dance. And that’s kind of what ‘star’ entails, you know, they want to be that shining light.”
SOURCES: INTOUCHWEEKLY.COM, HOTNEWHIPHOP.COM, USMAGAZINE.COM, EONLINE.COM, WEGOTTHISCOVERED.COM, PAGESIX.COM
