A few months ago, Cindy Crawford’s 10-year-old daughter, Kaia Gerber, made her modeling debut (as seen above) in a Young Versace ad campaign. The general consensus from many of you is that Kaia was way too young for such a competitive field that’s focused on looks, and she should just be a kid for at least a little while longer. Well, Cindy Crawford agrees and has taken Kaia out of the modeling field for the immediate future.
Cindy’s stated reason for pulling the plug on Kaia’s career is that there are simply too few jobs available for someone as young as her daughter. However, I have to wonder whether Cindy is merely trying to save face within the industry and possibly saw something happen that she didn’t like. As in, maybe some sketchy photographer wanted Kaia to seductivly pose in skimpy clothing, and Cindy said, “F#*$ that sh*t.” After all, Cindy knows the drill and was probably being extra vigilant just to make sure her daughter didn’t fall into the wrong hands. If that’s the case, good for Mom:
Looks like Kaia Gerber is going to have to wait a few years before she becomes a supermodel like her mom!
After attracting massive amounts of attention for her Young Versace advertising campaign, Cindy Crawford has revealed that she is putting her 10-year-old’s modeling career on hold – and RadarOnline.com has the details.
“At this point, she’s too young to pursue a career,” the 45-year-old supermodel told The Daily about her “mini me”. “There aren’t even a handful of jobs for a 10-year-old girl.”
However, Crawford isn’t against the idea of Kaia following in her footsteps down the catwalk in the future.
“But if she’s 17 and wants to try it, of course, what can I say?”
Crawford continued about her daughter: “She kind of jokingly said – I’m not even sure if it was jokingly – ‘I might model first because you don’t have to know how to do anything, but then I want to be a baby nurse.'”
“I’m so thrilled that Kaia was chosen to be part of the first Young Versace campaign,” Cindy stated in a press release about Kaia’s Versace campaign at the time of release.
“I have so many fond memories of the times I spent with Gianni and Donatella. There is something so very special about the House of Versace. Being on-set with my daughter watching her in front of the camera was a fantastic experience. I am so proud of her.”
[From Radar]
As far as Kaia’s hopeful aspirations to one day be a pediatric nurse? I hope that happens. I really do. However, this situation reminds me of Reese Witherspoon’s early acting career when she was just getting noticed in Fear. There was an interview (which has disappeared, but I clearly remember hearing about it) where Reese stated that she really wanted to be a doctor (her dad is a surgeon) and planned on quitting acting after making a few more films. Well, we know how that worked out, right? So Kaia might really want to be an nurse, but if she truly gets bitten by the modeling bug (and with those looks, it’ll probably happen), those plans will likely fall by the wayside. Hopefully, Kaia will prove me wrong on that note because the world could use more nurses.
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet
Good for Cindy. This is a nice counterstory to the Toddlers & Tiaras story.
I totally agree.
Hmmmm… interesting. She’s so young though, at her age I wanted to be a vet!
Yeah, but her mother was, and still is a model… So if you admire your parent, you often want to become like them: a doctor, a lawyer, and heck, even a model.
The big difference here, is that Kaia has pretty much successful parents, and unlike the Lohans, feels no pressure whatsoever to hold a job in order to support a family that relies on her looks and natural talent for posing.
Good for Cindy, to simply taking a step back, and making sure that her daughter does not get sucked into a pretty much competitive field at such a young age, and thus making sure that she has a normal childhood, and hopefully, an even bigger chance at being a normal teenager! I’m liking the Cindy Crawford even more now, than before.
Finally! Someone with half a brain in Hollywood.
I am sorry but the other half of her brain was not working when she agreed to let her daughter do the campaign to start with! She knows the industry very well, she should have known better. On the other hand I do not see anything special with the girls she looks as lovely as any other 10 or 12 year old pretending to be and playing to be a model, nothing more than that!
She’s the one who got the kid the modeling gig in the first place. She probably wasn’t prepared for the backlash against her. A little late to start showing parental concern, but late is better than never. Of course, I suspect the “concern” is just for show anyway.
Agreed!
Completely agree!
Exactly. So transparent.
Good, she should pull the plug, there is plenty of time for her to be a model. Obviously ,the daughter doesn’t need the money and there is plenty of fame in the house, so give her a childhood.
Good.
Let’s not forget that Cindy was enrolled at Northwestern for physics (I believe) when she started modeling – not too far off from the daughter.
Also – her family have not pimped her out like most celebrity families – I don’t think there’s any reason to believe that her concern is fake. There was one or two days MAX as far as negative comments are concerned.
I don’t know what physics has to do with this. Maybe if Cindy’s mother were a supermodel when she started studying it would hold more weight. But I would assume that Cindy was older than ten when she went to university, so…I’m probably just confused. Long week.
I think the backlash affected her. She has a skewed view towards modeling being entrenched in it so long and probably didn’t look at it the way others did for someone so young. Cindy always had a healthy outlook towards her body and weight in such a field. It doesn’t mean her daughter would. Her daughter is far too young and there was no rhyme or reason to have done this and definitely a misstep by Cindy. But Cindy is a good mom and has always been well-balanced and extrememly smart. Her daughter will be raised just fine.
I think you’re right. Cindy seemed to be so genuinely well-liked within the industry, and so… not crazy. Plus it was such a different time – a time when models had boobs and butts. Wouldn’t surprise me at all if, following the Versace campaign, an agent or someone suggested that Kaia drop a few pounds, or she started talking about dieting, and Cindy flipped out.
Modeling isn’t for everybody (I actually hated it). She has plenty of time. Good for Cindy!
She’s beautiful…..just like her mom.
her son is great looking too…even more so.
She might be too young for modelling at 10, but apparently a bikini is okay.
I wore a bikini when I was 3 and 4 and 5 . . . and 10 and 11 . . .
Of course, I was topless when I was 1. I just had the bottoms that had “I’m the boss” printed on them.
I think bikinis are wrong for kids…especially string bikinis. My sister’s friend let her 5 year old wear a cheetah print string bikini that kept coming undone at the beach and she thought it was cute but who knows what pedophiles are out there. Theres no need for children to be in a bikini or miniskirt.
There are miniskirts and then there are miniskirts. My 8 yo wears above-the-knee skirts with bike shorts underneath and they look perfectly age appropriate. There are also lots of age appropriate 2 piece swimsuits available for young girls. MV but the only thing I see wrong with this bikini picture is that it’s been posted on the Internet for adults to pick apart.
I don’t see a problem with the bathing suit she has on – it’s a pretty standard one, no g-strings, no loose knots…It’s not like she’s exposing her lady bits, and she’s still very young with no “breasts” or similar. Hell, at her age I didn’t even bother into wearing the top part, I used only boxer and the bottom bikini!
I didn’t wear a bathing suit at all until I was 5 or 6, and then I mostly wore bikinis because it feels good to swim in as little as possible. There is nothing sexual or inappropriate about a 10 year-old in a bikini.
And it is much easier to use the bathroom. I loathed the one pieces I used to wear as a teen, and went back to use 2 pieces, like i did since I was 2-3 until i was 11. I was too self concious in my teens.
Thank you! from a SoCal girl, you grow up in a bikini. AND they are easier to clean out. There is nothing wrong with it at all. It shouldn’t be sexual at all. It’s not a G-string.
I’ve got two tweens, both boys, and I can tell you that almost all young girls wear bikinis these days. It’s rare to see a one-piece at the pool. Even on the swim team!
We are so much more aware of pedophiles today, then we were ever before. And it has affected how we treat our daughters, and how we look at CHILDREN’s clothing.
But it really shouldn’t. We shouldn’t transmit our fears to our daughters, because we’ll be teaching them to be ashamed of their bodies, as their bodies are sin, and therefore, it would be their fault if they attract sinful ass**les.
Very, very wrong. Let them wear bikinis, short skirts, shorts, camisoles, and let them through it all show their skimmed knees, and blistered legs. Because children should be allowed to be children, and play outside in shorts, get hurt, be happy, and childlike.
The only difference today? We should find ways to teach our daughters how to recognize and fight off pedophiles, and talk to parents ASAP whenever they feel threatened.
Still don’t find anything wrong with the way Kaia posed, was dressed, and the little I’ve seen of her behavior, I can honestly surmise that she is in no way in danger of becoming another Stodden accident.
ITA.
well said. Making little girls dress differently because of fear of pedophiles is rather close to blaming the victim. Fear is not a life skill – teach your children strength.
Where was this message when I was growing up?!? My mother once told me I looked like a prostitute when I wore a v neck t-shirt and jeans…
Wow Sugar, I am so sorry! Adults at times make things so inappropriate for their children!
Like a priest at confession who keeps on repeating “had any sinful thoughts?” Some adults just put shame into children’s minds, where shame has no place in a child’s life.
Just look at #29 on this thread. I am trying to understand what @NM684 is trying to tell me (It’s true I’m having trouble understanding where he/she stands, it seems NM684 is mad at all, and contradicting… So please someone help me!)
I don’t understand how you can say that a SIX YEAR OLD CHILD is posing provocatively, and how a SIX YEAR OLD CHILD is posing topless.
No normal adult in their right mind would think that a 6 year-old child is posing TOPLESS!!! You cannot say that word in comparison to a 25-year-old woman posing topless. Why have we so sexualized our children? Why are we behaving like we are under Taliban siege? Children should be able to run around in their underwear, swim only in bikini bottoms, wear short skirts and dresses with sandals, without ever anyone making sexual connotations as to what they are wearing… Unless we are talking about the Toddlers and Tiara pieces of shit. That is beyond reprehensible.
But again, Kaia’s pictures are absolutely normal, INCLUDING the bikini ones. Only people with shameful thoughts would think anything is wrong with that!
I’m having a bit of trouble understanding where the big deal is. Maybe someone could help explain. Especially #29’s long comment.
I think a two piece is okay but the triangle top suggests the presence of boobs. What is wrong with staying innocent for as long as possible? They make kid appropriate two pieces.
Agree! My 10 year old wears bikinis, hell my two year old has a bikini, much easier for the bathroom….but, when I saw Kaia’s……i didn’t like the triangle top. It’s not like the worst thing I’ve ever seen but not age appropriate. I bought my daughter a bikini that had a deep V opening and she wore it once. Tankinis are age appropriate.
I doubt her concern was less than genuine, but agree that Cindy likely saw something she didn’t like. Being famous does not mean someone automatically lacks humanity.
My daughter started gymnastics in 2008 – her request after watching the summer Olympics. While we were nervous about her competing, she was very driven, and we eventually relented. However, after observing a couple of instances where prepubescent teammates were being encouraged to stay “trim” and the girls overworked, we pulled the plug. At the time we were very honest, but not confrontational, about our reasons for doing so with the gym, coach, and our daughter. It was super uncomfortable as some people took it as an insult, and at the same time we had been criticized by others for allowing her to compete to begin with (i.e. – “we told you it was a bad idea!”)
Ultimately, all of our decisions were motivated by the desire to provide a positive experience for our daughter. When the first choice we made was no longer the best one, we made a different one. I think that’s all that Cindy is trying to do as well, and do so in a gracious manner.
I think you handled that very well.
Nothing wrong for taking responsibility for your choices. Cindy is teaching her children how to take responsibility and change their mind or admit when they make mistakes. More parents need to model these behaviors. Good parenting!
I like the fact that you let her try it, even though you may not have been completely comfortable. It may be that Cindy’s daughter really wanted to try this as well. I wonder if, like you, she saw some things she thought weren’t good for her daughter and pulled her out.
But, like you, she did so without stifling her child.
I wish the US had laws against the papparazi like Europe when it comes to children. Imagine being a preteen and ending up on snarky sites all the time.
ITA
The Gerbers seem like good parents. They don’t pimp their kids and seem to spend QT together as a family. And look at Dad’s face in that picture at the water’s edge: he looks like he’s going to strangle the photog.
Great account to hear Michelle. Parenting is tough but I think you did the right thing. Your daughter is very lucky. Cindy’s too.
Speaking of Reese, she probably could’ve become a surgeon. She got into Stanford, but kept deferring. Even Katie Holmes got into Columbia and also did the deferring thing when the acting career paid off. Those are two women who come from moneyed, upper class backgrounds, but it’s rarely discussed.
I am pretty sure it should have been common sense that a 10 year old has no place in a business as brutal as modeling. Why did it take other people being outraged at what they allowed this child to do for her mother to pull her from the industry?
One thing I will say about Cindy Crawford is that she seems like a really grounded mom and is trying to do the same for her kids. She endorses a healthy sleep habits book, she refused to let her daughter watch Hannah Montanna because of the “sass talk” she learned from it, and now this. She wins in my book. Plus, she’s friggin’ Cindy Crawford.
Finally a responsible mom! Dina Lohan, Demi Moore and others should take a lesson or two from Ms. Crawford.
She isnt a caring mom. She got major backlash from public and probably her husband so she relented.
Good for Cindy, unlike the Toddlers and Tiara moms she has a successful career, self worth and doesn’t need to garner recognition and attention by using her child for it.
The Versace job was probably offered to Cindy’s daughter — I doubt she had to compete for it. It’s likely that when Cindy realized that to pursue further jobs her daughter would have to compete with countless other girls for few opportunities, she pulled the plug.
I think the argument that there are so few jobs available at that age is very odd. What she means, obviously, is that there are so few Versace jobs. The kid could model all day every day if they were willing to take the kind of jobs that help you work your way up the system, but Cindy’s kid isn’t going to start with a Sear’s ad.
Cindy had every intention of letting her 10 yr old model until people went ballistic about how young she was so now she is claiming she made the choice on her own because she is a caring mom- plleeaasssee!
She also says there arent enough modeling jobs for 10 year olds. Which one is it Cindy you think she is to young or there arent any jobs??? Seems like its more about there not being enough jobs than Cindy thinking she is to young.
100 per cent ‘yup’.
That is one adorable little girl. Her little boy is gorgeous, too. Randy and Cindy …very good genetics, those two…
She looks just like Laetitia Casta in that first photo…Wow.
I’m glad that reason prevailed, though I find the ‘too few jobs for a 10-year-old’ rationale a little sketchy.
That last picture is just odd.
I feel the same way about that last picture.
Think of where the pap had to be to take it – on a boat offshore, probably. The pic looks odd because it’s freakin’ odd to be stalked like that on a beach!
That picture is sketchy as hell. Look at how much of her thigh you can see. It’s like a crotch tease on a 10 year old. Good for her for being smart enough to nix that bullshit before it just got worse.
Please, Kaia already posed teasingly half-naked at 6 year old! Crawford has terrible judgement, I think it’s more the media backlash that prompted her to save face and her daughter.
A 6 year-old had TEASINGLY POSED HALF-NAKED.
1- please send the link so we can judge
2- before you know, I start judging you on making such a disturbing statement.
Unless this is a CHILD’s disturbing performance at a “pageantry show”, not too many children pose teasingly, unless of course, you’ve “stumbled” on a child pr0n site, where children are made to pose TEASINGLY.
I am obviously appalled at your wording, and hoping that I am not wrong, because if you are right, this is going to be beyond awful.
I wrote about it in a previous post about Kaia modelling.
Here my post where the link is provided to the picture from this thread:
http://www.celebitchy.com/203418/cindy_crawfords_11-year-old_daughter_kaia_gets_a_versace_campaign_way_too_young/
Yeah, considering Crawford let Kaia pose at SIX year old in a seductive pose with a tramp stamp WITHOUT a top, I’m not going to trust her judgement.
http://celebritybabyscoop.com/%3Fp%3D289
Imo, that’s much worse than a teenager like Lily-Rose who wears a top when it’s warm and not for a photoshoot. Seriously, if people find that sexy (EDIT to Capella: talking about LR here), I question their intentions more than a young girls’. Or are we going to judge girls with bikini’s too? Only pervs would think nasty thoughts with such innocent behaviour (EDIT: yeah so much for me being a perv going on pron sites…).
Furthermore, I would like to point out that Kaia has plenty of time becoming a model considering she obviously is blessed with good genes and she will have the connections so I see no point at giving her what she wants: an adult career. Childhood passes by so fast, why not let them enjoy these times where you can make mistakes and discover yourself instead of being coached by moneygrubbing, superficial doucheb*gs? I find it alarming that people find ways to defend a a child that wants an adult career. I mean, since when do children comprehend the repercussions of stepping into a world like that? If it was a regular job like cleaning, you wouldn’t want your child to it, or would you? If it’s just because you want to gloat about your beautiful daughter making lots of money than shame on people =(. It’s stories like these that make me scared of what the world will look like in 10 years and it’s the same thing that prohibits me to even think about putting a child onto this crazy f* world.
Rant over .
——
Oh and sorry, I was wrong, she was FOUR! I found the picture/story when googling Cindy Crawford, it was a HUGE deal so I’m not the only one who found this disturbing. You can make up your mind about this but refrain yourself from judging me before (yes, you did and insinuated more than I actually did)you actually saw the picture. If you cared so much, you could have googled it yourself instead of attacking me first for it and THEN asking to justify my comment. I do find the modelling pictures much less offensive (albeit suggestive lighting) than the picture I’m defending myself for now but it’s still very young to push her into that god afwul world. It’s capitalizing on a child, you take their innocence away by making them into products targeted at a much older audience. I doubt she understands that at 11 year old, her mother does but she clearly isn’t one to guide her properly. I might not like Minty (dumb me getting into personal attacks, ah good memories :)) but you should check her post on nepotism and how that world works behind the scenes.
Like Cindy said, she had fond memories of working with the Versaces and probably thought it would be cool for her daughter to appear in the first Young Versace campaign. It was probably just a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in Cindy’s mind and addressing the public criticism would have just put a damper on the whole thing.
I think in the first photo, she’s way too sexed-up for a ten year old!!! That’s our society…..don’t see young boys/preteens in jockeys.
Beautiful little girl – with emphasis on LITTLE GIRL. The world we live in exposes kids to so much these days and they grow up way too fast. Good for Cindy for putting on the brakes for whatever reason and letting her kid be a kid.
My God that child is BEAUTIFUL !!! Good decision Cindy
Am I the only one who thinks young girls shouldn’t wear two piece bathing suits ? It seems to reveal too much. Maybe Im just conservative.
Guess I must be conservative too then, b/c I only buy one-pieces for my little girl. I’m sure there will come a point when she’ll argue w/me about it, but at that point she’ll be lucky if I don’t put her in a wetsuit!! 😉
I wish you were my neighbor. 🙂 Our kids could hang.
LOL
Sane decision – i hate seeing celebrities kids ‘working’ – seems like they should be kids til 18 then be able to do that if they want to. It’s just such a hard industry i think parents who actually are in it would want to protect their kids and maybe make sure it’s for them rather than just the thing they’re surrounded by.
Cindy got her own daughter into modeling, so after the fact, she now decides “she’s too young” for modeling? How about the fact that Kaia seems to wear full makeup, skimpy clothing (including string bikinis), and always looks inappropriate for a child of her age?
I have to say children should be put in the business when they are able to drive themselves to audition. I love how Zooey Deschannel stated her parents did not allow her or her sister to get into the industry until they were mature and old enough to drive themselves. I’m not saying if I had talented kids that I would not encourage their dreams but I would want them to make sure it’s what they want and until they get older…especially modeling, it’s a tough business and they have to be prepared for it.
Glad to hear of this.
Being a peds nurse would be a better choice…
the reason is probably b/c Cindy’s people read the backlash and judgement of the mothers on the web and withdrew her support.
Mothers hate being judged, especially when it’s as simple as whether a 10 year old should model the gear. ugh cindy that answer was . .. .no.