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Kristen Bell

Decade in Review: 10 Celeb Parenting Trends That Are Now Outdated

Having covered celebrity pregnancy, parenting and the “bump watch” for over a decade, I pride myself in being an institutional memory of the trends in this space.

As we close out on another decade, I’ve identified 10 trends that have come and gone from the past decade, including old ones that have faded out of style over time and new ones spearheaded by the recent popularity and usage of social media.

Let’s start with the trends that are

Outdated and going bye bye:

10. Million Dollar Deals for First Baby Photos

In 2007, Julia Roberts reportedly was the first celebrity to demand a six figure payday ($250,000) from PEOPLE magazine to get the rights to publish the first photos of her twins Phinnaeus and Hazel. OK magazine got a steal and paid merely a little over a half a million for pics of Gwen Stefanie’s 2 week old son, Kingston. OK Magazine lost their $2 million dollar bid for Britney Spear and Kevin Federline’s first baby pic to People magazine. Nicole Richie reportedly received $1M for her photo of son, Max and Christina Aguilera for her son.

With magazines, along with newspapers, losing tons of revenue as people start to rely on digital forms of media for news and information, it no longer made business sense to pay these astronomical amounts of money.

Also, with the advent of social media and more conscious celeb couples publishing their babies on Instagram for free, the less famous personalities who used to shop for first photo deals found there was no longer a market for them.

9. Pregnant Nude Covers

After Demi Moore posed on the cover of Vanity Fair magazine in 1991, it became a thing for stars to do the same.  Since then, Christina Aguilera, Mariah Carey, Nia Long and many more graced covers in the buff while expecting.

Soon, it became more of a quick and easy way to get publicity and attention, and eventually the public interest in them waned.

The last big photo issue was of Alanis Morissette in 2016. She did an undercover water shoot but the naked baby bump photo thing is more or less passe and not a public rosy stunt many will do.

8. The Celebrity Bounce Back

Around the same time that gossip magazines started to cover celebrity parents, we saw a lot of photos about the “bounce back”. It was as if it was a competition to see who could pop up slim and trim months or even weeks after baby.

It was ridiculous for several reasons: 1) a lot of the covers were photoshopped; 2) some of the celebs either genetically were predisposed to lose weight fast or underwent surgical procedures to quickly trim down after baby; 3) it set up a dangerous standard given that a lot of celebs have private chefs and trainers to help them lose weight fast; and 4) it sent a damaging message to women who should be concerned with safely healing from delivery and focusing on nursing and connecting with their newborns.

In any event, those magazine covers are not as common as before. In fact, a bunch of celebrity women like Chrissy Teigen, Blake Livey, Mila Kunis and others have spoken out about the ridiculous expectations on them to return to their pre-pregnancy form after baby.

The industry has gotten the message and do not sensationalize the bounce back as much as before.

7. Sponsored Baby Showers

Once upon a time, celebrities were approached by companies and brand representatives to host a baby shower for them in exchange for promotion of their products. The companies knew there were tons of promotions that came with the exposure.

Amazon.com sponsored Khloe Kardashian’s baby shower in 2018. Although the trend is dying out, over the past decade, Danielle Jonas and her husband Kevin celebrated a baby shower thrown by Fit Pregnancy magazine.

Also, Burt’s Bees was among the sponsors of Kourtney Kardashian’baby shower when she was pregnant with daughter Penelope. Similarly, Le Bebe CoCo  was among Kristin Cavallari‘s baby shower sponsors. Target hosted Beverley Mitchell’s baby shower. Several liquor companies provided the libations for cocktails served up at Love and Hip Hop’s  Yandy Smith‘s baby shower.

Jaime King enjoyed some fab brand goodies at her shower.  Ecoya‘s Sweet Pea & Jasmine home fragrance collection, a pink Quinny Buzz Special Edition stroller, a mamaRoo baby swing, a pink Hoppop Bath tub, a pink Little Giraffe Luxe Blanket, a Timi and Leslie diaper bag and a 5 ft. custom-made giraffe by Melissa and Doug all contributed to Victoria Beckham‘s baby shower.

Finally, Belly Bandit sponsored Jewel’s baby shower.

While this trend continues, audiences do not respond as favorable to them any longer and the comment section on sponsored baby showers are sometimes filled with negative commentary from fans who want less rich new parents to be showered with the gifts.

SOCIAL MEDIA DRIVEN

6. Hiding Children’s Face in Social Media

We famously were contacted by Stella McCartney’s reps over 10 years ago to remove paparazzi photos of her traveling with her children in the street posted on the blog. A few years later, Kristen Bell and husband Dax Shepard launched a campaign in 2014 to get a California state law passed to protect children of celebs from paparazzi. Others have done the same.

Eva Mendes and Kerry Washington do not show their kids in public or social media at all.

In the social media era, a few refuse to feature their children in social media or they hide their faces when they do: Zoe Saldana, Beyonce, brit star Rochelle Humes, Kylie Jenner  and Jenna Dewan all have done that in the past or continue to.

5. Celebrity Kids Instagram Accounts

On the flip side, several less famous stars realize the tremendous money making and marketing opportunities in giving their children their own account and branding their name and fame from birth.

It’s a pretty recent phenomenon, but starting with , DJ Khaled who launched an Instagram account  for his son Asadh in 2016 when Baby Khaled was just one month old, many celebs have created accounts for their kids as well.

Little  Asadh now has 1.8M followers, Gabrielle Union and Dwayne Wade‘s 1 year old daughter Kaavia James boasts 1M followers and Michael Phelps’ 3-year old son Boomer Phelps  now has 665K followers of his Instagram page.

I think the youngest baby to get an Insta was Cali Clay Shephard, daughter of model Chanel Iman and Sterling Shepard whose account was opened at just 16 days old.

This is a trend that is not getting old but is growing as more realize the revenue generating options that open up with having a massive engaged following.

4.  Hiding Pregnancy to Late Trimester

From my memory in covering this topic, I think that Kylie Jenner, Anna Kournokova and a few others did the best job at hiding their pregnancies for all 9 months. It’s pretty hard to hide from the paparazzi and shield their bump during events, filming and promoting a project.

But in 2011, Evangeline Lilly managed to almost completely disguise her entire pregnancy until papps found her in Hawaii while almost done gestating her first child. Jennifer Lopez and Adele managed to hide their respective pregnancies for over 5 months.

Given how common miscarriage is, a lot of women, whether a celebrity or not, wait until the latest time possible when they feel comfortable that they will be able to carry their baby to term to announce baby news.

Hiding an early pregnancy while building a career in front of the public is not easy to do as Cardi B learned but it can be done and the more private or celebs are learning from others how to do it.

3. Launch New Career/Re invigorate Career

Also during the height of the interest in celeb baby bumps, a lot of stars who were formerly very popular but whose fame had waned were able to reinvigorate their respective careers after having a baby.

For example, Kim Karadashian West once lamented that she saw a spike in paparazzi photos whenever she is expecting.

About 10 years ago, Mommyish published a gallery of celebrities who became more famous after becoming pregnant or becoming a mom.

It is not clear is the general public is as enamored with celebrity pregnancy as it once was before so a baby may not be the career boost as it was in the past.

2. Launch a Maternity or Parenting Related Brand

Tia and Tamera Mowry famously launched a breastfeeding brand called Milky after becoming parents for the first time.  Others like Jessica Simpson, Heidi Klum and Jessica Simpson, Heidi Klum launched maternity lines or added children clothing to their existing lines as with Stella McCartney and The Kardashians after they became a mom, respectively.

Instagram famous women shift their feeds and started featuring their babies and promoting parenting and motherhood related brands as part of their new post baby rebranding.

So at least in social media, a new baby can create opportunities.

1. Being Open and Honest about Miscarriage

Micarriage is a taboo among many families. It is unspoken and women who go through it suffer in silence or keep it a secret. It occurs more often than many would believe, yet women usually keep it a secret from family and friends. It certainly taints and colors one’s journey to motherhood, whether it happened in the early weeks or mid term. A woman will earnestly never be the same after suffering through one, especially she and her partner were planning for the baby they lost.

In recent years, a lot of celebrities have been open and transparent about having gone through a miscarriage.

And a lot more are being open and transparent about losses they’ve had in the past.

From many of the stars of BravoTV‘s Real Housewives of Atlanta to Pretty Little Liars star Shay Mithcell to Michelle Obama to Beyonce and Carrie Underwood and Gabrielle Union, openly sharing about a miscarriage or pregnancy loss is the thing to do.

Because of their influence, platform and reach, it’s awesome that these women are sharing their stories to help comfort and empathy for those who have endured it or may be unknowing about how common it is.

In the coming decade, let’s hope the trend of being relatable and real continue and we can leave behind those trends that created stress and anxiety among their followers behind.

 

Emmy Awards Moms on the Red Carpet and Winners

Emmy Awards red carpet looks

The Primetime Emmys went down tonight at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.

In contention for awards were several of the celeb moms we’ve featured on the blog in year’s past including Anna Chlumsky (in J. Mendel) for Best Lead Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her role in Veep and Christina Applegate  (in Vera Wang) who was nominated but didn’t win Best Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her amazing role in Dead To Me and finally Laura Linney who did win the Lead Actress in a Drama Series for Ozark.

On the Purple Carpet, we spotted Padma Lakshmi, my fave dress tonight in Christian Siriano; Busy Phillips in Lela RoseKerry Washington in Alexandre Vauthier; Taraji P. Henson also in Vera Wang;  Regina King in Jason Wu; Betthany Frankel in stunning Alex Perry dress, Iris & Ink shoes, and an Audemars Piguet watch.

Kristin Cavallari  interviewed stars as part of the E! Live from the Red Carpet event wearing a sunny yellow strapless Nicole + Felicia Couture dress with Stuart Weitzman  pumps.

Oh and The Good Life‘s Kristen Bell stunned as well celebrating her show’s nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series.



Kristin Cavallari



Padma Lakshmi

Anna Chlumsky

Regina King

Taraji P. Henson

Kerry Washington

Chrisinta Applegate

Kristen Bell

Busy Phillips

Celeb Moms at 2018 Teen Choice Awards Red Carpet

Nickelodeon‘s Teen Choice Awards went this weekend at The Forum on March 24, 2018 in Inglewood, California. The event isn’t just for teens but some of the stars they admire including adults.

Our Bellyitch Bumpwatch alums who are among our fave celeb moms  Kristen Bell, Heidi Klum and Tiffani Thiessen also walked the red carpet. Bell  and Klum presented awards, and Klum and our other alum Mel B, both America’s Got Talent judges,  got slimed.

Frequent feature Gal Gadot won for Choice Film Actress. 

 

 

Mel B posed on the carpet with her children, daughters 19-year old Pheonix Chi Gulzar,  10-year old Angel Iris Murphy Brown and 6-year old Madison Brown Belafonte, with ex-husband Stephen Belafonte‘s daughter Giselle. Melanie Brown wore a silver catsuit! Grrrrr!

Bell wore a top and skirt by Emilia WicksteadFaris earrings, and Jimmy Choo shoes while carrying a Meli Melo bag.  Klum wore a dress by Redemption, Christian Louboutin shoes, and Lorraine Schwartz jewelry on the red carpet. While presenting, Heidi wore a Vatinika top, Rosacha pants, Giuseppe Zanotti heels, and Lorraine Schwartz jewelry.

Fun times!

SAG Awards Red Carpet, Winners

We are still in the era of #MeToo and #TimesUp when it comes to outing sexual harassment, assault and disparity in Hollywood and it too center stage again at the 24th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at The Shrine Auditorium on January 21, 2018 in Los Angeles, California.

Our Bellyitch Bumpwatch alum Kristen Bell was the first host (of any gender) of the annual show.

Also, women made all the presentations of awards during the event.

Unlike during the Golden Globes, we saw a lot of color on the red carpet. Attendees showed their solidarity to the movements with lapel pins and speeches.

Along with Bell, other celeb moms featured on the blog attended including Kate Hudson, Halle Berry, Maya Rudolph, Giuliana Rancic, Nicole Kidman, Laura Linney, Reese Witherspoon and Allison Janney. The latter four were nominated for awards with Janney and Kidman walking away with the top honors for their respective categories.

Are you Ready for ‘A Bad Moms Christmas’? (WATCH TRAILER)

Our favorite Bad Moms are back! This time, three under-appreciated and over-burdened women now have to host and entertain their own moms for Christmas.

By the end of the journey, our moms three, played by Mila Kunis (Amy), Kristen Bell (KiKi) and Kathryn Hahn (Carla),  will redefine how to make the holidays special for all and discover a closer relationship with their mothers, played by Christine Baranski, Susan Sarandon and Cheryl Hines.

Jay Hernandez and Wanda Sykes return and Peter Gallagher plays the character Amy’s mom.   Watch the Trailer! Start getting your mom friends together now! The film hits theaters on November 3, 2017!



We Love Kristen Bell’s Comments on De-Stigmatizing Mental Health Treatment for Moms

The Good Place‘s Kristen Bell was on The Real daytime panel show this week and we love what she said about the importance of treating anxiety and depression with any other disease or condition that has less stigma.

While visiting the ladies which include our bumpwatch alum Tamera Mowry-Housley and our other alum as a guest panelist, Melanie Brown, Bell shared her feelings about feeling inadequate about being a parent.

Actually, the Veronica Mars alum speaks often about destimatizing mental health problems by sharing her own experiences.

“I talk to someone and we have a check in once a year,” Bell opened up. “I take a pill if I need to. I make sure to exercise. I basically know my issue.”

Perhaps to counter the shame that is associated with seeing a therapist and taking psychosomatic drugs, Bell said, “It’s like for me, knowing if you have Diabetes. You wouldn’t deny a diabetic medicine.”

She also expressed what I think is beautiful about her union with hubby Dax Shepard who is a super supportive husband.

“If I have spent four days on the couch, my husband goes, ‘hey you want to go for a hike or do you want to go out with your girlfriend?,'” Bell shared,  before adding, “You have to stay aware and take care of yourself.”

Watch:

 

Given the #WHCD was Light on Celebs This Year, Let’s Look Back At Celebs Who Walked Its Red Carpet Pregnant

The annual White House Correspondents Association dinner has increasingly been a haven for Hollywood Celebrities who walk the red carpet on their way to hob nob with journalism’s elite that cover the White House.

This year was much different.

 

The current sitting president Donald J. Trump choose to sit it out, a first time since Ronald Reagan  that a President opted to skip the event which usually features a comedian roasting the prez and the media and the pres himself giving a monologue full of self-deprecating humor.

[Even when Reagan skipped it, that was because he was shot on the way in, though to be fair other presidents who were very unpopular at the time Jimmy Carter and Richard Nixon have skipped the elite dinner in the past, the only other two since Calvin Coolidge]

This year, the event was also super light on the usual parade of celebrities. That might be a good thing in the eyes of many who have heavily criticized the dinner for becoming to glamourized and Hollywoodized.  Celebrated national TV broadcast journalist Tom Brokaw famously skips it and has been vocal as to his reasons why.

Nonetheless, we usually can spot several celebrity moms we’ve covered in the past to feature on the blog. In the very recent past 8 years, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Kristen Bell, Jessica Simpson, Cynthian Nixon, Adriana Lima, Neve Campbell, Emma Watson, Tracee Ellis Ross, Regina King, Anna Chlumsky, Julianna Margulies, Katie Couric, Sofia Vergara, Shonda Rhimes, Rosario Dawson, Candace Cameron Bure, model Emily Ratajowski, Vivica A. Fox, Lupita Nyong’o, Jada Pinkett and Will Smith, Kendell Jenner, Laverne Cox, Lucy Liu, Gabrielle Union have all attended as guests of various news organizations that purchase tables.

Not this year. We didn’t see any. There were a few celebs and some of DC’s A-listers [read: TV journalists and broadcast reporters] there but that’s about it.  And with Trump declaring war on the media, the White House press corp and DC establishment, none in his administration or celebs friendly to him failed to show up as well.

So…we’re doing the next best thing and flashbacking to all the ones who did show up in years past. Interesting enough, most of them were preggers at the time!

Last year, in 2016, while pregnant with her second child, daughter, Isabella, Kerry Washington attempted to conceal her bump in an A-line one shoulder black mini Victoria Beckham mini dress.

In 2015, Glee alum Naya Rivera looked radiant in a white floor length  Tadashi Shoji evening gown and model Anne V ‘s lovely floral gown rocked that year as well.

In 2014, TODAY show anchor Savannah Guthrie was six-months pregnant with her first child when she showed up in a pink dress to the event.

Going further back, Anna Paquin was expecting her first children, a pair of twins, with husband Stephen Moyer in 2011 when she attended the event, also affectionately known as the “Nerd Prom”, wearing a chic and elegant silk jersey gown by French designer Herve L. Leroux.

That same year, Reese Witherspoon was also expecting her third child, but first with second husband Jim Toth. She also went with black in a Monique Lhuillier  gown showing her barely there bump at the time.

 

There you have it! The White House Correspondents Association dinner  has been noteworthy for Bumpwatch coverage history.

I’m Not Sure If I Agree With This Author’s Assessment about the Evil of Celebrity ‘Bump Watch’

celeb-bump-watch

The Atlantic interviewed the Drake University professor who wrote a book about the celebrity baby bump watch craze. In the October 2015 book,  Pregnant with Stars, Watching and Wanting the Celebrity Baby Bump (The Cultural Lives of Law), Renée Ann Cramer, an Associate Professor and Chair of Law, Politics and Society at Drake, examines the American fascination with, and judgment of, celebrity pregnancy.

The piece launches with Cramer’s response to Beyonce‘s twin pregnancy. Cramer gives her perspective that the celebrity bump watch phenomenon is part of a proverbial “pregnancy industrial complex.”  Cramer analyzed Beyonce’s pregnancy with Blue Ivy in her book.

According to the description of Cramer’s  book in Amazon, Kramer “exposes how our seemingly innocent interest in “baby bumps” actually reinforces troubling standards about femininity, race, and class, while increasing the surveillance and regulation of all women in our society.”

To do so, she compares media coverage of pregnant celebrities, including Jennifer Garner, Angelina Jolie, Beyoncé Knowles, Kristen Bell, M.I.A., Jodie Foster, and Mila Kunis, and then applies sociology pedagogy to criticize said media coverage.

Essentially, she blames bump watch articles for promoting unattainable post-baby bodies, something I’ve blogged about often over the past few years. But Cramer goes further. She actually makes a tremendous leap to link bump coverage with government control of women’s bodies, I suppose via social and legal regulations surrounding access to birth control and abortions, and the like.

It seems to me to be a tenuous connection to say “frivolous celebrity gossip” is part of a larger, and perhaps, covert strategy to control survey, commodification of and control women’s bodies.

I disagree.

I think pop culture and society’s obsession with celebrity pregnancy is just part of the admiration and hero-worship of stars, in general.  It’s just among the newest aspect of celebrity life to become enamored with, nothing more. The media cover what the people want to see. And when we see them click more links on bump watch, guess what, we post more.

The people express interest in it and they click articles about baby bumps, and the gossip rags and blogs, including this one, report on what the people want. It’s symbiotic.

In the Atlantic article, Cramer makes racial distinctions in the coverage and suggests that pregnancies of women of color are hypersexualized and less favorable than of white celebrities.

As a person who has covered celebrities and monitored the other sites coverage, I question that  assessment.  The media coverage is the same for the most part, in my opinion.

What is different is how the pubic reacts. It may be different because a lot of members of the general population already view Beyonce and Jennifer Lopez, for example, as sexual people. These women are sexy and their performance on stage and their clothing is revealing and we talk a lot about their bodies as their bodies are part of their image, their craft and their public persona.

Mila Kunis and Jennifer Garner are not known for that.

Also, celebrities of color aren’t given that much mainstream gossip press that is why niche sites like this one, Black Celeb Kids and Latina magazine fill in the void and the coverage of celebrity pregnancy in our sites are usually more positive.

I do agree that societal views of pregnancy are shaped by what people see when they read media articles about celebrity pregnancies, but I am not wholly convinced that there is a connection with control over women’s bodies. Perhaps, I will read the book and see if there is more to the analysis but from the synopsis and the Atlantic interview, I’m not buying it.

 

 

It’s Golden Globes Weekend and the Party’s Already Started (GET THE LOOK!)

golden-globes-2017

It’s Golden Globes weekend which means tons of opportunities for Hollywood’s A-Listers and elites to hobnob with one another at various events, pre- and after-parties.

We spotted at least four of our Bellyitch Bumpwatch alums working the “red carpet” at the The Art of Elysium presents Stevie Wonder‘s HEAVEN – Celebrating the 10th Anniversary at Red Studios yesterday, on Saturday, January 7, 2017 in Los Angeles, California.

Kristen Bell opted for a gorgeous copper-colored sleeveless sequined gown by Maria Lucia Hohan and gold Charlotte Olympia heels and clutch.

Chrissy Tegien was radiant in a white Tiered Ruffle Long Sleeve Lace Dress by Jonathan Simkhai. Ashlee Simpson Ross too wore a black lace dress by the same designer, which she accented with smokey eye and a black choker for a Gothic look.

Jaime King went with a lace Altuzarra slip dress, Jimmy Choo shoes, a Sophia Webster clutch, Vhernier earrings, and a Tacori ring.

They all looked fab and all the dresses were off the rack! Get them here:

 

Celeb Moms Gathered to Celebrate at 5th Annual Baby2Baby Gala

baby-2-baby

Kristen Bell, Jenna Dewan Tatum, Jaime King and Kate Hudson attend the 5th annual Baby2Baby event.

Plenty of our Bellyitch Bumpwatch alums attended the Fifth Annual Baby2Baby Gala, Presented By John Paul Mitchell Systems at 3LABS on November 12, 2016 in Culver City, California.

The event honored actress Jennifer Garner who received the Baby2Baby Giving Tree Award for her ongoing dedication to children in need around the world.

Our faves attended the event that raises funds on behalf of the organization that collects clothing, diapers and other personal items for impoverished women and raised $3 Million dollars, E! Online reports.

Many of the women are honorary or official board members and looked fabulous while supporting.

Jessica Alba wore a black fringed Valentino dress and carried an Edie Parker box clutch as did others at the event including Kristen Bell who wore a David Koma and a pair of silver Christian Louboutin pumps and Kate Hudson in J. Mendel.

Miranda Kerr looked exquisite at the event in a Reem Acra gown and Jenna Dewan Tatum was there too and she rocked it out in pink and embroidered one shoulder cut out Marchesa dress

baby2baby2

Other attendees included Camila Alves, Kelly Rowland, Rachel Bilson, Molly Sims, Christina Aguilera, Busy Phillips and Miranda Kerr. They each looked stunning!

BoyzIIMen performed.  Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors Foundation, John Paul Mitchell Systems and Volvo sponsored the event.

 

 

 

 

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