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Home • Love & Sex

Monica On Being Honest With Her Kids and Protecting Their Privacy: 'I Don't Force Them On TV'

The singer and reality star says she gives her children a choice on whether they want to appear on 'Friends and Family Hustle.'
Monica On Being Honest With Her Kids and Protecting Their Privacy: ‘I Don’t Force Them On TV’
ATLANTA, GA-NOVEMBER 05: Singer Monica speaks onstage during the ‘Atlanta Ultimate Women’s Expo’ at Georgia World Congress Center on November 5, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia (Photo by Marcus Ingram/Getty Images)
By Jasmine Grant · Updated October 23, 2020

Singer Monica has been giving her fans a small glimpse into her personal life on the reality show T.I. & Tiny: Friends and Family Hustle, but that doesn’t mean anything goes when it comes to her three kids.

While stopping by ESSENCE’s Yes Girl podcast, Monica confirms that despite what people might assume, she never likes to use what’s happening in her personal life (namely her pending divorce from basketball player Shannon Brown) for TV or as inspiration in her music. “I never want people to merge the two,” she told ESSENCE’s Love & Relationships Director Charli Penn. “None of the records I’ve been blessed enough to say were hit records were based upon anything that was happening other than the music being solid.”

In addition, Monica believes her children deserve a certain level of privacy, which is why she’s careful not to pressure them to appear on her reality show. “Even though they’re on television, I give them choice. Sometimes you’ll see my daughter more than you’ll see my sons because if they just want to play football, and my oldest likes to focus on his production, I don’t force them on television. They have choice in that, because they don’t necessarily want to be me. That’s cool. I enjoy that.”

View this post on Instagram

The Reason….. @romelohill @laiyahbrown & @rockohill 💜 Each of you have been a significant part of molding me!! I may fumble but because of you I never fold !! Tune in to Family & Friends Hustle April 15th on @vh1 I’ve made some difficult decisions & dealt with a lot while facing the obstacles of being an independent artist ! But one things for sure , NOTHING comes before them !! 💜

A post shared by Monica 🖤 (@monicabrown) on Mar 25, 2019 at 11:33am PDT

We also learned that Monica has a 100% honesty policy with her children. “We have open dialogue,” Monica explains. “I have a teenager now. We talk about dating. I talk about drugs [and] everything you can think of with my children including the five-year-old. They’re picking things up whether they’re at school, basketball game or camps. I would rather raise my children than things amongst them be raising. When they listen to rap music, they know exactly what those guys are talking about and they know the repercussions of it.”

Watch Monica’s Yes Girl interview below.

TOPICS:  black celebrity moms family hustle Monica yes girl podcast
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