Alex Rodriguez has two daughters, Natasha, 14, and Ella, 11. And if he makes good on his engagement to Jennifer Lopez, he’ll add 11-year-old twins Emme and Max to his brood. So what kind of parent is Alex? Is he a Tiger Dad? Fun Dad? Helicopter Dad? Turns out, he’s Spy Dad – but not in the cool way. Alex recently claimed that he set up a fake Instagram account so he can track his kids on social media.
Alex Rodriguez has a contract with his daughters about what he’s allowed to post to social media — but little do they know that he has his own way of finding out what they’re posting too.
The former Yankees star, 44, revealed on an episode of Barstool Sports’ Chicks in the Office podcast that he uses a “burner” Instagram account to see what his daughters are up to on social media.
“My daughters don’t let me follow them on social media. It’s awful,” he told co-hosts Ria Ciuffo and Francesca Mariano.
But Rodriguez revealed he has his ways of keeping tabs on Natasha Alexander, 14, and 11-year-old Ella Alexander‘s Instagram posts — when Ciuffo and Mariano asked if he had a “dad burner account,” he said “absolutely.”
But just because Natasha and Ella don’t want their dad following them, it doesn’t mean that they don’t weigh in on their famous father’s content.
“Oh my gosh, they are like the COO and the CEO of my social media craziness, whatever I do,” Rodriguez said. “They’re so good. Every time I post something, usually like, five out of 10, both of them would DM and say, ‘Dad, are you serious? Dad, you know I’m going into high school this year. Dad, this is how bullying starts.’”
“I have contracts with both of them that if I post something — now, you know, they’re getting to be teenagers, they have to approve everything — and I’m like, ‘Okay, I got it, I’m sorry,” he added.
I think Alex is trying to come off as a dad who just cares so much but this branding reads more like, “I spy on my family” and it’s not a great look. I’m having a hard time getting past the part where his teen and pre-teen daughters forbid him from following them. But the part that really stands out to me is the cloak-and-dagger of a “ dad burner account.” That would’ve sent a hormonal-teen me into an absolute rage. Although, the hormonal-perimenopausal me would post the most illicit, controversial content possible just to give him a heart-attack.
Now, because I am nothing if not fair (I can’t believe I got through that sentence without laughing) this could be only half the story, picked up for the soundbite. Alex said later in the interview that his daughters used to like when he dropped them off but now, they ask him to let them out two blocks away. Famous kids, they’re just like our own kids. Anyway, it could be that his daughters know his fake IG presence and they just don’t want the famous A-Rod following them because he’d probably get more attention. If this is the case, it’s actually a really smart way to monitor your kids openly but allows them to save face. I might even do this myself.
Holy sh-t, am I taking parenting advice from A-Rod now?
Photo credit: WENN Photos and Instagram
I follow my kids on IG using a name that’s not my own to save them the embarrassment of having mom as a follower…but they rarely post anyway. Snapchat is where they spend the bulk of their time. Plus most kids (including one of mine) have “finsta” accounts where they post the stuff they don’t want parents to see. Sigh.
I will say now that both my kids are away at college, I can check to see if they’ve been on IG as a way of making sure they’re alive. Lol. I haven’t told them because I have a feeling if they knew they’d block me.
Yeah, I don’t see the big deal about this. There’s no privacy on social media! And I’m sure his kids would rather their friends not see his comments on their social media.
I know a lot of parents who do this. My boss has big kids (24, 22, 19) and none of them let him follow them on insta. But I follow them. Some Monday’s he comes in and is just like hand it over. I never had an issue with my parents following me on social media. When facebook first came out I was maybe in 8th grade? and I let my parents follow me.
I think this is kind of smart, and I too can’t believe I’m taking parenting advice from A-Rod. Sorry today with the way social media is you need to lurk just to make sure the kids don’t get in over there head. Cause unfortunately, it does happen. What I always tell my kid, nothing and I repeat NOTHING on social media is private!!!! You may think you are being private, but people can hack your account and see. So always think your parent, a grandparent or someone else may see it.
Eh, you got to trust your kids at some point. Mother of 4 teen/adult kids. Lurking with fake names seems kind of Big Brotherish.
Honestly I do this in a professional capacity as well. And as a parent, if your kids are accepting people they don’t know and/or have public accounts you should be following them anonymously if you want to see everything they are showing the world. So easy to block content from parents…
Yeah but most teens have a “fake instagram” where they post stuff only their closest friends can see. They have a “regular instagram” for everyone else.
My parents don’t have social media, and I’m in my late 20s, they’re in their 50s. When I was in high school the agreement with my parents was that if I was gonna be on social media, my parents were gonna follow me. Period. I’m so grateful for that now! I never posted anything I didn’t want my mom to see, which means none of it can come back to haunt me. And I developed that habit of being cautious with what I post. AND, I never had big issues with strangers bc my parents could see everything. No joke, on my 18th birthday, she deleted her account. I work in a field where I’m a figure in the community so that would be a nightmare. I’m all for parents monitoring their kids! It’s the sneakiness that maybe rubs the wrong way. If it’s the expectation, that seems more than fair to me. Maybe I’m old school!
This sounds like a really good way to go about it!
I don’t see what the complaint is about. It’s obvious that A-Rod is a big part of his kids’ lives even though he split from their mom. He didn’t bail on them like a lot of dads (mine included). Give him a break.
Joke is on him, as they probably both have finstas that he doesn’t know about and can’t follow with his own finsta.
Yeah, but does he know about their finstas?
Yeah, 11 year olds shouldn’t be on Instagram anyways so I’m fine with this.