Gigi Hadid has issued a plea for paparazzi, fan sites and media to blur out her young daughter's face in any photos so that the little girl "can live as normal of a childhood as possible."
The 26-year-old supermodel posted an open letter on her Instagram Stories Monday asking for privacy for her 9-month-old daughter, Khai, with former One Direction member Zayn Malik.
"As our baby grows up we have to realize that we can’t protect her from everything the way we wanted to and could when she was smaller," Hadid wrote. "She loves seeing the world! and although she gets a lot of that out near the farm, she also gets to experience other places- a true blessing.
"On our most recent visits to New York, she has started to want her sun shade lifted up (something she is used to at home) and helps herself to it! She doesn’t understand why she’s covered in the city, or what I’ve wanted to protect her from. I also want her to see the most amazing city in the world + the beautiful and diverse people that walk down the streets of NYC … that is, without the stress of the media circus that comes with parents who are public figures."
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Hadid has either blurred or hidden Khai's face in any photos she has shared since her daughter was born in September 2020.
"I write this all to say: to the Paparazzi, press, and beloved fan accounts, you know we have never intentionally shared our daughters face on social media," she continued in her message. "Our wish is that she can choose how to share herself with the world when she comes of age, and that she can live as normal of a childhood as possible, without worrying about a public image that she has not chosen. It would mean the world to us, as we take our daughter to see and explore NYC and the world, if you would PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE blur her face out of the images, if and when she is caught on camera.
"I know it’s an extra effort- but as a new mom, I just want the best for my baby, as all parents do… and I hope this can continue the conversation to protect minors in the media, even if they come from a public family."
Hadid also thanked paparazzi who have kept their distance while Hadid has walked Khai in a stroller on the streets of New York City.
"For a child, I can imagine that close or dramatic paparazzi frenzies must be overwhelming and disorienting… it still is as an adult that understands and deals with it often," she wrote. "I appreciate you taking the time to read this and hope you can understand where I’m coming from."
Hadid opened up in the March issue of Vogue about giving birth to Khai at home in Pennsylvania with Malik and her family by her side.
“I know my mom and Zayn and Bella were proud of me, but at certain points I saw each of them in terror,” she said. “Afterward, Z and I looked at each other and were like, ‘We can have some time before we do that again.’”
The last decade has seen a rise in celebrity parents pleading with paparazzi to stop sharing photos of their children when they are out with them in public. In 2014, actors Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard led a campaign to pressure responsible news outlets to stop showing paparazzi photos of celebrities' kids.
Actor Jennifer Garner told The Hollywood Reporter in March that she has no family photos of her children with ex-husband Ben Affleck because her kids are scared of cameras from being hounded by paparazzi. Garner and fellow actor Halle Berry helped get a California law passed in 2013 to protect the children of celebrities.