Kelsey Grammer Confesses to 'Trying to Make Up' for Neglecting His Older Kids When They Were Little
Nobody would ever give Kelsey Grammer a Father of the Year award for the way he raised his oldest kids. That's because the 70-year-old said that he was never there for his first two children. But, the good news is that he's willing to try and make up for his absence all these years later, and he has some advice for other fathers who may be in the same boat.
Related: Ben Affleck Says His Kids Hate His Movies
Grammer has seven children, three that he shares with his wife Kayte Walsh, and then four adult children from past relationships.
"I have neglected a couple of the kids in my life, especially the first two," Grammer told People magazine. "I'm trying to make up for a little of it now. I'm still their dad, so you can always have [a] chance to show up."
The father of seven reveals that he didn't have much patience for his older kids when they were younger, and he never really communicated what he wanted from them while they were growing up.
"I probably should have been a little more clear and maybe less tolerant with the older ones," he recalled. "I'm pretty tolerant with the young ones, but I'm clear about how there's certain expectations and certain ways to navigate through a social situation: keep it close to the vest and play it straight, and you're going to be well-served in your life."
These days, Grammer says he's a little more specific with them about doing their homework and being ready for whatever life has to throw at them. "[I tell them], 'What's your job in life? Showing up.'"
Another lesson he's trying to instill in his children? Letting go of the past. That's something Grammer himself struggled with after his then 18-year-old sister was raped and murdered by Freddie Glenn.
"They say stuff all the time, like, 'I want to kill [Freddie],'" he revealed. "I tell them, 'I understand it and respect you for it, but you're going to want more from life than that.'"
His new approach to fatherhood appears to be working, too. That's because four of his seven kids seem to be following in their father's footsteps by entering the entertainment business. "I know it was tough sometimes and maybe I wasn't around all the time, but you're doing what your dad loves doing, and that's a cool thing," Grammer said of his kids.
Well, it's never too late to start over, and it seems like that's exactly what Grammer is trying to do with his kiddos these days. Kudos to him!
Up Next:
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Atlantic
29 minutes ago
- Atlantic
The Moral Heart of The Simpsons
In 1992, The Simpsons was one of the most beloved sitcoms on television. Critics adored it; the ratings were climbing higher and higher; the show had entered what fans would eventually come to regard as its funniest period, roughly Seasons 3 through 8. But the animated series still scared some adults. There had never been a boy on network TV as openly irreverent as Bart Simpson, who said 'hell' and 'damn' and talked back to his teacher. Mere months after the show debuted, in December 1989, schools across the United States started banning a T-shirt declaring, 'Bart Simpson 'Underachiever': And Proud of It, Man!' James Dobson, the founder of the evangelical organization Focus on the Family, weighed in on that particular piece of merch, writing that it made the 'pervasive problem of underachievement' even worse. As quaint as Bart's antics might seem now, he and The Simpsons as a whole represented youth in revolt. The moral panic was misplaced, but not unusual—part of a long national tradition of culture wars waged under the pretense of politics. But what critics of the prime-time cartoon either fundamentally misunderstood (or conveniently overlooked) was its core truths. Bart loved his parents. He went to church with them. The Simpsons sometimes struggled to make ends meet, and they didn't always get along, but they stuck together. They were a typical middle-American family—and, despite Bart's rude language, not the symbol of societal rot that culture-war targets are often imagined to be. There are numerous early-season examples of the family's underlying integrity. Marge's bowling instructor, Jacques, woos her, but she resists and dramatically reconciles with Homer, whom she'd been arguing with. Homer decides to steal cable, but eventually stops when Lisa, the show's voice of reason, convinces him it's wrong. Lisa exposes a corrupt congressman at the expense of personal glory. Homer gives up religion only to realize that his faith is important to him. Sure, there's a scene in the series premiere in which Bart gets a real tattoo—but the story ends sweetly, with the family adopting a greyhound track reject named Santa's Little Helper. 'Look, this show's good,' the Simpsons writer Jeff Martin once told me. 'It's essentially moral. It's for everybody.' In its early days, The Simpsons was everywhere: on TV, on merch, on magazine covers (back when that still moved the needle), in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The show's ubiquity is likely what put it on the radar of George H. W. Bush's administration. In May 1990, a news story mentioned that the White House's drug czar, William Bennett, had noticed a Bart Simpson poster at a rehabilitation center. 'That's not going to help you any,' Bennett reportedly said to the residents. (He later claimed that he was kidding.) In a People interview later that year, first lady Barbara Bush called The Simpsons 'the dumbest thing I've ever seen.' In the first case, the show's producers responded with a snarky statement: 'If our drug czar thinks he can sit down and talk with a cartoon character, he must be on something.' In the second, they decided to take a kill-'em-with-kindness approach, sending the first lady a letter written in the voice of Marge, who politely defended her family. 'Ma'am, if we're the dumbest thing you ever saw,' Marge wrote, 'Washington must be a good deal different than what they teach me at the current events group at the church.' Barbara Bush sent an apologetic reply: 'Clearly,' she wrote, 'you are setting a good example for the rest of the country.' At that point, the Bush-Bart beef was dead. Then, early in his reelection campaign, the president brought it back to life. On January 27, 1992, he spoke at the National Religious Broadcasters convention. His speech wasn't terribly memorable, except for one section. 'The next value I speak of must be forever cast in stone,' Bush said. 'I speak of decency, the moral courage to say what is right and condemn what is wrong. And we need a nation closer to The Waltons than The Simpsons —an America that rejects the incivility, the tide of incivility, and the tide of intolerance.' The Waltons was a Great Depression–set drama about a good-natured blue-collar Virginia family that aired on CBS for most of the 1970s. The smash-hit show was a temporary antidote to the tumult of the time, and Bush's speechwriter Curt Smith was a big fan. He thought that The Waltons embodied a kind of propriety that appealed to Middle America. To him, The Simpsons did not. When I interviewed him in 2022, Smith told me he felt that the sarcastic animated series looked down on the heartland. 'You had two cultures at war in this country. And I say that sadly,' he said. ' The Waltons with red America and The Simpsons with blue America.' To play up that divide, Smith added the Waltons/Simpsons comparison into Bush's address. According to Smith, his boss approved. As soon as the president said the line, it became a sound bite, which satisfied Smith. 'I felt deeply that the line was germane,' he told me. 'I thought it was true. And it would help us politically.' He turned out to be wrong about that last part. Bush's broadside pushed the creators of The Simpsons to fire back by tacking on a scene to the opening of that week's episode, a rerun. The family is gathered around the TV, which is playing footage of the president's insult. As soon as it's over, Bart perks up and says, 'Hey, we're just like the Waltons. We're praying for an end to the Depression, too.' The mainstream media also pointed out the irony of the president waxing poetic about an old TV show that took place during a terrible economy. 'Yes, ma and pa,' the syndicated columnist Ellen Goodman wrote on January 31, 1992, 'George-boy is leading us back through the haze of nostalgia to those wonderful yesteryears of the 1930s.' It was an example of how out of touch the sexagenarian incumbent was in the eyes of many voters—at least compared with his opponent, a saxophone-playing Baby Boomer. As Bush's campaign progressed, he doubled down, bringing back the Waltons/Simpsons line for his arrival speech at the Republican National Convention. In the end, Bill Clinton won fairly easily in '92—with the help of the independent Ross Perot, who yanked some votes away from Bush—taking chunks of Middle America with him. It would be a stretch to say that Bush's decision to poke at The Simpsons cost him a second term. But it did demonstrate how silly politicians can look when they try to use pop culture to score easy points with their base. People in the heartland watched the show, too—partly because the Simpsons had the same issues as millions of Americans. The second-season premiere of the show, for example, focuses on Bart's academic troubles. The anxiety he and his parents have over whether he might have to repeat the fourth grade feels real. ''Bart Gets an F' is not only funny, it's touching,' the Washington Post critic Tom Shales wrote in his review. 'You really find yourself rooting for this bratty little drawing.' When it came to family life, The Simpsons certainly felt realistic. There are episodes centering on Lisa's feeling unseen and unappreciated by her parents and turning to a substitute teacher for guidance, the stress caused by the cost of Homer's looming triple-bypass surgery, Marge's breaking down when the pressure of motherhood becomes too much to bear. But every week, they all manage to work through their problems and regroup. That basic blueprint helped The Simpsons become an institution. The show was at its core wholesome, even if the president at the time didn't acknowledge as much. It wasn't the first time, and wouldn't be the last time, a politician who claimed that a pop-culture icon was threatening American values left out key information about his target. Just last month, after Bruce Springsteen criticized him onstage in England, President Donald Trump responded by going after the musician on social media. 'I see that Highly Overrated Bruce Springsteen goes to a Foreign Country to speak badly about President of the United States,' he posted on Truth Social. 'Never liked him, never liked his music, or his Radical Left Politics and, importantly, he's not a talented guy.' Springsteen has never made his music just for the 'radical' or the 'left'; he's piled up millions of fans by speaking directly about the everyday anxieties of small-town life. His music has reflected America, in other words. And even in the face of threats made by the president, the rock star hasn't backed down. He included his remarks against Trump as an intro on his new live EP, Land of Hope & Dreams —the kind of burn that The Simpsons might have come up with. Back then, it wasn't just defiance that made the counterattack so effective—the show understood itself better than the president did.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Glen Powell's Ex Gigi Paris Breaks Her Silence on Sydney Sweeney Romance Rumors After Their Public Split: 'I Hope They're in Love'
Gigi Paris appeared on Emma Klipstein's Too Much podcast on June 10 and opened up about her public breakup with Glen Powell The model and actor's split was confirmed in April 2023 amid speculation about Powell's chemistry with then-costar Sydney Sweeney as they promoted their rom-com Anyone But You, though a source told PEOPLE there was no truth to rumors about Sweeney playing a part in the breakup Addressing the rumors, Paris said of her ex and his costar, "I hope they're in love"Gigi Paris is speaking out about her highly publicized split from Glen Powell more than two years later. The model joined influencer Emma Klipstein for an honest conversation in a recent episode of her Too Much podcast. During the episode, which was released on Tuesday, June 10, Paris broke her silence on their split and how a phone call from Powell changed everything — and addressed the romance rumors between the star and his Anyone But You costar Sydney Sweeney while they were dating. Paris revealed that the pair's relationship, which PEOPLE confirmed was over in April 2023, began to break down six months before their eventual split, which came amid fan speculation about a romantic relationship between Powell, 36, and Sweeney, 27. While not naming Powell or Sweeney, Paris referenced the speculation online about the pair and shared, "It was just, this is what I have to do for my job. I had two options. I could either pretend like I was going along with everything and have everyone wonder, like, 'Are they hooking up? Are they not hooking up? Is she okay with this? What the f---?' Or stand up for myself and say, 'No, I'm actually not okay with this, and I'm walking away.' So that's what I decided to do ... I was shattered." "I just wanted respect, especially if it's gonna be public," she continued. "Like, don't make an ass out of me. Like, just don't make a fool out of someone you've been with for over three years talking about forever with. Just have some decency, you know? And at the end of the day, it was like, well, work comes first. And if that's the case, power to you, that's your priority. I gotta walk away. What sucked was how it was handled. I felt like I was just fed to the dogs." Paris then went on to criticize Powell for not shutting down the rumors at the time. "Where are you when you just need to stand up and say, 'No, I would never cheat on my girlfriend. I wouldn't do that.' That's all that needed to be said. And that wasn't said ... Never once." "It was serving them for their PR. Later on, it turned out that it was all, I don't know if there was a relationship there or not, but then they came out to say it was all a PR scheme at the expense of our relationship. Like, it was just crazy." "Just to sell a movie or not, who knows?" she continued, "And I honestly hoped that they'd end up together, because I was like, at least it would make it worth it for me, you know? I hope they are in love or whatnot." Representatives for Powell and Sweeney did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment. Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. During the promotional tour of Anyone But You in April 2023, Powell and Sweeney touted their chemistry during an appearance for the rom-com at CinemaCon in Las Vegas. Months later, Sweeney addressed the romance rumors during an interview with Variety. "It's a rom-com. That's what people want!" she said. "Glen and I don't really care. We have so much fun together, and we respect each other so much; he's such a hard worker, and I'm a hard worker." The Euphoria star added, "They want it. It's fun to give it to 'em.' During an interview with Insider in December 2023, Powell opened up about the tension in his personal life, between his breakup with Paris and his promotional appearances with Sweeney ahead of their rom-com's premiere. "Well, look, the only reason it made things harder for me to lean into that stuff was that I was going through a very real breakup amidst a promotional tour," Powell said of his and Sweeney's decision to "lean in" to their onscreen chemistry. is now available in the Apple App Store! Download it now for the most binge-worthy celeb content, exclusive video clips, astrology updates and more! "I was with someone that I really loved and cared about and was trying to kind of make sense of a lot of stuff," the Twisters star shared. "It was a lot easier for Sydney to lean into something like that because she's in a very committed and wonderful relationship and she's very happy. So it was a little harder for me." (At the time Sweeney was engaged to Jonathan Davino, though they called it off earlier this year.) Klipstein went on to ask Paris if she ever got "clarity of whether or not you were cheated on," to which Paris responded, "I have heard so many different sides of the story. I have no confirmation of what actually happened. I just know what my standards are. And for me, it just wasn't okay the way it was handled, period." In April 2023, PEOPLE confirmed that the actor and Paris broke off their relationship after three years of dating. According to a source, their relationship had previously been on the rocks, and his various filming locations put a strain on the dynamic. "Gigi and Glen had broken up several times," the source told PEOPLE in 2023 at the time of their breakup. "They had been on the rocks since Top Gun came out. Gigi was never happy with the long distance filming and when she came to Australia [where Powell was filming Anyone But You] they both decided to break up for good." During her podcast appearance, Paris denied distance was behind the split and detailed flying to Australia — where Powell was filming Anyone But You — to end things with the actor after a phone call she got from him changed everything. "I got a phone call from him right when I was about to go to Australia to work," Paris said, adding that "all this s--- was coming out on the Internet." "And he called and said, the producers and I have discussed that I think it's best that you don't come to visit ... And that's when I hung up. And I was like, this motherf----- is done to me," she added. "That phone call really is what broke me," she continued. "I thought we had hope, like, maybe when I got there that, like, things would maybe get better. But once I got that phone call, I just knew it was done. I had lost whoever that person was that I loved." "I went anyways just to look him in the eye and break up with him," Paris said, adding "it was the hardest thing I'd ever had to do." "But then I was stuck there for two weeks doing my jobs. And there was a rule, like, I was not allowed near set. I was not allowed anywhere near production. It was very bizarre," she added. The Hit Man star and Paris were first linked in early 2020 when they were spotted on a romantic vacation in Mexico. The couple made their relationship Instagram official a year later. Amid their split, some speculated that Powell's chemistry with Sweeney played a role, especially after Paris unfollowed the Euphoria actress on Instagram. However, another source told PEOPLE there was no truth to the rumors. "Gigi only unfollowed Sydney on social media because Sydney never followed her back. This had nothing to do with Glen and Sydney. Gigi is aware that Glen and Sydney never hooked up," the insider said, adding that the model felt the distance when Glen was on set. "He takes his work very seriously, and it was tough on the relationship." Paris also addressed the more recent rumors about Powell and Sweeney amid Sweeney's breakup from her fiancé Davino. "Like I said, like, I hope that if they're meant to be, that they're meant to be. It's really none of my business anymore. Like, that's what I really wanted the end to be, is to just to walk away from that, because it's a f------ circus," she said, adding, "Like, the way that they handle things for headlines or whatnot, like, I don't live that way. So you do you. It's none of my business anymore." Read the original article on People🚨 Do you have a relationship problem that could use the help of Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes, our celebrity advice columnists? Fill out this form or email us — askamyandtj@ — your question (the juicier the better).
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Yahoo
Conner Smith's Rep Gives Update After Nashville Fatal Accident
Rising country star Conner Smith's representative has now responded to the news that Smith was involved in a fatal accident in Nashville, TN, that left an elderly woman dead. Smith's rep told People that he was 'involved in a car accident that tragically claimed a life.' Smith was not injured. The crash occurred on the evening of June 8, and Dorothy Dobbins, 77, was killed after being struck by a pickup truck driven by Smith, the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department wrote in a news release. 'His heart goes out to Ms. Dobbins' family during this incredibly difficult time,' Smith's rep's statement said, according to People. 'Mr. Smith continues to cooperate fully with the ongoing investigation.' People noted that sources told the publication that Smith was not impaired at the time of the crash nor "distracted by his phone." Smith has 200,000 followers on Instagram. According to 9News, he is best known for the "viral hit 'I Hate Alabama' and released his debut album, 'Smoky Mountains,' in 2024." He "was nominated for New Male Artist of the Year at the ACM Awards last year," the station reported. "The pedestrian killed Sunday night after she was struck by a vehicle on 3rd Avenue North near Van Buren Street is identified as 77-year-old Dorothy Dobbins," police wrote. "The preliminary investigation indicates that a Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck, driven by Conner Smith, 24, was traveling north on 3rd Avenue North as Dobbins was crossing the roadway," the release says. "It appears that she was inside a marked crosswalk when she was struck around 7:30 p.m. Dobbins, who lived nearby, was transported to Vanderbilt University Medical Center where she died." "The preliminary contributing factor for this crash appears to be Smith failing to yield the right of way to the pedestrian. He showed no signs of impairment. There are no charges at present as the investigation continues," the release Smith's Rep Gives Update After Nashville Fatal Accident first appeared on Men's Journal on Jun 10, 2025
