Chrissy Teigen on Raising Black Kids

• In an interview for the fall issue of Marie Claire, Chrissy Teigen opens up about raising Black kids (opens in new tab) with her husband, John Legend (opens in new tab). 
• "When it comes to them being treated differently because of the color of their skin, I’m going to look to John for a lot of help with that because while they are Asian and white too, their skin color is Black," she says.
• Teigen and Legend's approach is to talk to their kids, Luna and Miles, like "little adults" and to encourage them to ask any questions they have.

Chrissy Teigen (opens in new tab) is famous for a lot of things (opens in new tab). She's a model (opens in new tab), a best-selling cookbook author (opens in new tab), an amazing host (opens in new tab)/TV judge (opens in new tab) (thanks, Quibi (opens in new tab)), but to fans who follow her online (and there are 43 million of them across Instagram (opens in new tab) and Twitter (opens in new tab)), she's just as famous for being amazingly outspoken (opens in new tab) and an amazing mom (opens in new tab). Balancing those last two hasn't been the easiest lately, though.

In an interview for Marie Claire's fall cover story (opens in new tab), the model and mother of two revealed that she recently cut back on social media at the suggestion of her therapist, who she started seeing during quarantine. Even though the break has been good for her mental health, Teigen feels conflicted about it.

"Part of me right now knows this is not the right time to go silent," she says. "It does feel very selfish and weird to say that my mental health is important when there are people being murdered by police and murdered in their own homes. Who gives a fuck about someone making fun of me when people’s livelihoods are being threatened just for telling their stories? I have Black children, so is it really the right time to not want to step on anyone’s toes?"

Teigen says she's read books about having difficult conversations with your kids and discussing traumatic situations, but raising Black children (opens in new tab) is something no book could have prepared her for. Instead, she looks to her husband, John Legend (opens in new tab), to take the lead.

"Regardless of money or status, they’re always going to have their skin color," she says. "When it comes to them being treated differently because of the color of their skin, I’m going to look to John for a lot of help with that because while they are Asian and white too, their skin color is Black. We just try to talk to them like little adults, saying it in words they’ll understand, making it known that it’s very serious, and letting them ask as many questions as they need."

Read the rest of Teigen's in-depth interview here (opens in new tab).