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Home · Celebrity

13 Celebrities You Probably Didn't Know Were Adopted

From Bo Diddley to Jamie Foxx, here are a few celebs who've been open about their adoption story.
By Sydney Scott · Updated October 26, 2020
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01
Keyshia Cole

Cole was adopted at the age of two by family friends and met her biological father in 2016.

13 Celebs You Probably Never Knew Were Adopted
getty images
02
Jamie Foxx

The Academy Award-winning actor was adopted by his maternal grandparents as a baby.

13 Celebs You Probably Never Knew Were Adopted
Getty Images
03
Colin Kaepernick

The quarterback was adopted by Rick and Teresa Kaepernick as a child, gaining two siblings and becoming the youngest of three. 

13 Celebs You Probably Never Knew Were Adopted

Tom Szczerbowski

04
Eartha Kitt

It’s widely reported that Kitt was conceived by rape and due to her pale complexion was shuffled between various family members after her mother, Annie Mae Keith, moved in with a man who refused to accept Kitt.

13 Celebs You Probably Never Knew Were Adopted
Getty Images
05
Gary Coleman Tvland 300×260 Jpg

The late actor grew up in a town outside of Chicago, raised by a nurse practitioner and forklift operator who adopted Coleman when he was a baby.

13 Celebs You Probably Never Knew Were Adopted
06
Nicole Richie

With or without reality TV, we have a feeling Nicole Richie would have become a star somehow. She stepped out of her dad’s, Lionel Richie, shadow long ago with reality hit The Simple Life, which she starred in with bestie Paris Hilton. Now, Richie has her own fashion line, House of Harlow, has written a New York Times best-selling book, The Truth About Diamonds, and starred in her own reality show, Candidly Nicole. 

13 Celebs You Probably Never Knew Were Adopted
getty images
07
Jesse Jackson

The civil rights activist was adopted by his stepfather when his mother married, but maintained a close relationship with his biological father. 

13 Celebs You Probably Never Knew Were Adopted
Jemal Countess
08
Nelson Mandela

After his father’s death, Mandela was adopted by Chief Jongintaba Dalindyebo, the acting regent of the Thembu people. 

13 Celebs You Probably Never Knew Were Adopted
Mirrorpix/Courtesy Everett Collection
09
Allan Pineda Lindo

Known as one-third of music group The Black Eyed Peas, Allan Pineda Lindo, aka apl.de.ap, was born in the Philippines and later adopted by Joe Ben Hudgens. 

13 Celebs You Probably Never Knew Were Adopted
Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images
10
Darryl ”DMC” McDaniels

A founding member of Run DMC, McDaniels was placed in foster care at birth and later adopted. In recent years, he’s been in contact with his birth mother, who he connected with through a genealogist.

13 Celebs You Probably Never Knew Were Adopted
James Goulden Photography
11
Bo Diddley

The influential musician was adopted by his mother’s cousin, whose surname he took. Born Ellas Otha Bates, he later dropped Otha, going by Ellas McDaniel. 

13 Celebs You Probably Never Knew Were Adopted
Getty Images
12
Tommy Davidson

The comic and actor was left in the trash at 18 month and rescued by the woman who would later adopt him.

13 Celebs You Probably Never Knew Were Adopted
Rachel Murray
13
Rachel Crow

Singer, actress, and former The X Factor contestant, Crow was adopted by a former hospital counselor and her husband.

13 Celebs You Probably Never Knew Were Adopted
Randy Shropshire
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