If you dealt with an emotionally unpredictable parent as a kid, you likely did whatever you could to keep them calm. So pushing back by establishing your own boundaries likely wasn’t a common, or even safe-feeling occurrence.
“If they tried to set [boundaries] as a kid, there would either be intense pushback to the point where it becomes not worth it, or a blow up to the point where it becomes not worth it,” Santorelli said. “Or even in extreme cases, it could feel dangerous, certainly emotionally unsafe, to set a boundary.”
This could make boundary-setting now feel really tough, and you likely find that you struggle to set boundaries with your eggshell parent, in addition to other people in your life.
If this sounds like you, there are ways to deal with it.
Both Moore and Santorelli noted that being aware that you were raised by an eggshell parent is the first step. With awareness, you can acknowledge that this pattern is going on and examine how it might have impacted you throughout your childhood.
From there, you should determine what you need to do to feel more comfortable around your eggshell parent, according to Moore. This could mean establishing boundaries around certain conversation topics that could trigger you or not agreeing to certain activities that result in you feeling bad. As you set these boundaries, it’s important to check in with yourself.
“When we start changing our behavior, especially when we start setting boundaries with people, is we get pushback, there’s going to be some resistance,” Moore said. “People don’t generally like it when we make changes, because they have a certain expectation about how we’re going to behave, and when we change that, it’s not matching their expectation.”
When it comes to setting boundaries with an eggshell parent, they tend to have rigid ideas about how you should behave with them, and when you set boundaries, you’re “essentially breaking the rules of that relationship and breaking the rules of the family system,” Moore noted.
This is going to feel hard and sad, and could even bring on feelings of guilt and shame.
“It’s not going to be easy. It’s probably going to require you having some support, whether that be some professional support, like working with a therapist or a life coach, or whether that be the social support of talking to a supportive friend who maybe has gone through something similar and can be a cheerleader for you,” Moore said.
As you heal and make changes, it’s important to have self-compassion if you struggle to stop people-pleasing or find yourself questioning your new boundaries, according to Santorelli.
All in all, it’s important that you recognize that “you have emotions, that your emotions are OK, and that you are not responsible anymore ― and never really were for [your parent’s] emotions,” Santorelli said.
All across the world, people are having fewer children. The birth rate is declining quickly in countries ranging from the United States to Finland to Mexico and Turkey.
Fertility data used to be a fairly esoteric concern. Not anymore. Vice President JD Vance talks about it regularly, Elon Musk calls it civilization’s greatest threat. There’s even a convention for “pronatalists,” Natalcon, taking place later this month in Texas. While worry about the falling birth rate has become a right-wing shibboleth, some Democrats are also leaning into “pro-family” rhetoric.
Why birth rates are declining is hotly debated. Some point to the increase in women’s education and income, others to the cost of childcare and housing. King’s College London social scientist Alice Evans has another theory.
“What has happened everywhere, all at once, is that we see a rise of singles,” Evans told Today, Explained co-host Noel King, “and it precisely correlates with the decline in fertility.”
King talked to Evans for a recent episode of Today, Explained. Click the link below to hear the whole thing The following is a transcript edited for length and clarity.
Give me your name. Tell me what you do and your area of expertise.
My name is Alice Evans and I’m a senior lecturer of international development at King’s College London, and my research focuses on gender…[and the birth rate]. My research has taken me from Mexican villages to the Atlas Mountains to Uzbek towns, through Korean universities. And by talking, learning from young men, older men, and women across the world, I’ve started to think: Why is fertility collapsing? What’s going on? And my interviews have really helped me understand this massive global problem.
So birth rates are going down all across the world. What are the leading theories as to why this is happening?
There’s the right wing, the left wing, and then there’s the Alice Evans take.
I think the conservative right in the US will blame childless cat ladies, right? So they’ll say that, yes, women are over-educated, they’re living with their cats and they’re very, very selfish.
But here’s the thing: That theory has two major omissions, because the collapse in fertility is happening at vastly different political economies. I mean, in Tunisia and Turkey, female labor force participation is very low, around 30 percent, and yet their fertility is only 1.5 (children per woman) — so even in places where women aren’t even getting jobs, they’re not having kids. India is an extremely patriarchal casteist society, but in Tamil Nadu, in the south, it’s got exactly the same fertility rate as England and Wales. That’s 1.4.
So it’s not just about these over-educated women pursuing their careers. Also, there’s also a class-based variation. The US right tends to blame these overeducated women — in Sweden and in Finland, the rate of childlessness is actually among the most disadvantaged people. They’re least likely to have children.
I wonder if JD Vance knows any of this.
All right, so that’s on the right, and then we heard earlier the theory on the left. There’s one theory that you often hear is that it’s just become too expensive. Women would like to have more children, but they can’t afford to. There’s not enough support. People aren’t making enough money, etc.
Absolutely. So many people across the world experience economic difficulties, and so these could be like very high house prices in New York, making it much more expensive to have an apartment with an extra room. Or the very expensive cost of childcare. You know, when I was in San Francisco, people would say, [childcare] might be $30,000! Super, super expensive, and that’s prohibitively difficult for many families.
Now those difficulties are real, and governments should take those economic concerns seriously. And I’m all here supporting more affordable housing, greater access to safer, accessible childcare. However, I don’t think that explanation is a full story, because it won’t explain why it’s happening everywhere, all at once, even at very, very different levels of income.
So that brings us to the Alice Evans theory.
Yes, exactly. So what has happened everywhere, all at once, is that we see a rise of singles… Now, previously, from the 1960s onward American couples had fewer children, but now what’s happening is they’re not even forming those couples. So in America, for example, over half of 18- to 34-year-olds are neither in a steady relationship nor living with a partner. Furthermore, most single Americans don’t feel much pressure to find a partner. Half say they’re not even looking.
Are we sure that sexy singles are to blame? Because for many years, people have had kids without being married or without living with someone, without being in relationships.
Oh, that’s a great point, but that’s actually going down too now. In America, it’s always been the least educated who are less likely to marry and that’s where there’s been the steepest decline in fertility.
All right, so I’m assuming you looked into why more people are staying single and also saying, “I want to be single.” What’s going on?
So here’s the thing, I think, historically, people would have married for one of three reasons. Very crudely: love, money, or respect.
In conservative societies where singledom is totally stigmatized, then you have to marry for respectability. In India where it’s so important, lots of aunties and uncles might be pestering people, you know, when are you getting married? When are you getting married? For my grandparents, it was just the done thing to get married.
But now, as society liberalizes, you know, Miley Cyrus championing flowers, “I can buy myself flowers,” there’s more permissibility. So that’s one thing.
There’s also economic convergence. As women earn their own incomes, they can increasingly be more independent. So compatibility increasingly depends on love, whether people really enjoy each other’s company. But of course, there are lots of frictions. People might be manipulative, deceitful, unfaithful, and if there are lots of frictions, they may call it quits. So that might be one aspect of it, economic convergence between men and women’s earnings, and cultural liberalization, making singledom more permissible.
On top of that, I think the big change that we see across the world, all at very different levels of income, is the massive improvement in hyper-engaging online entertainment: TikTok, video games, Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Bridgerton, Netflix. You can browse Blackpink’s livestream, or go on PornHub — anything you like! All these technological advances enable instant access to the world’s most charismatic, charming content. Or maybe you prefer to do sports bets and gambling. And so why venture out when everything is at your fingertips, from Netflix to Zoom meetings? And so we see tracing the data over time that there is growing isolation, young people are spending much more time alone. In recent surveys, 65 percent of young American men say “no one knows me well.”
And 28 percent of Gen Z didn’t socialize with anyone they didn’t live with in the past week. So we just see this global trend, and it is absolutely global. So for example, last year, I was in Mexico and lots of different Mexican little towns, and mothers would say the biggest problem here is that our teenage sons are spending all their time in their bedroom. And I’ll hear the same stories in little Indian villages, in Bangladeshi villages, all these people being hooked on hyper-engaging media.
Are there any countries that buck the trend?
Well, yes, actually. I was in Uzbekistan for a month last year, and there, there’s been an increase in fertility. When I’m in Uzbekistan, people will typically ask me four questions, and the answer should always be yes. Do you like Uzbekistan? Do you like Uzbek food? Are you married? Do you have children?
Hah! And that tells you a lot about people’s priorities: a strong and a national pride, and also this strong onus that women should be married and have children. So that’s one option.
You [can also] just pump up the status of marriage and fertility. In Georgia, their Orthodox Patriarch similarly bumped up the status of children and fertility [by promising to personally baptize any baby born to parents who already have at least two children]. In Hungary, they tried to give people cheaper mortgages if they promised they’d be married and have children.
But what I’m saying about the Alice Evans theory of the collapsing fertility is that these pronatal incentives of saying $2,000, $5,000 to have an extra child, they’re simply too small if the prior constraint is that most people are increasingly single. Most governments are putting the cart before the horse, by focusing on couples, rather than realizing this prior constraint. If I’m right, that the problem is technology, this hyper-engaging media, distracting us, and driving this digital solitude, which ultimately prevents people from forming couples, then we need to think: Well, we have various options. Could we regulate technology in some way? Could we introduce further restrictions? Or what can we do in schools to ensure that we’re fostering social skills?
Because just as we see declining maths and English reading skills across the OECD, simultaneously, my interviews suggest that if people aren’t spending time socializing, then they’re not necessarily developing the capacity to bond and charm and woo. You know, if you’re not mixing and mingling, then you get a little bit anxious if you go out into a crowd of unknown strangers.
This is such a good point. And so the question becomes: What do we do that doesn’t simultaneously make us feel like we are losing personal civil liberties? The government could take my phone and send me to speed dating, but that would feel like a real invasion. And, you know, personal freedoms, people feel pretty strongly about those, so in terms of how we should change the conversation around what went wrong here, what is going wrong here, and what we should do about it — what’s your best idea?
So my message for the world, based on my globally comparative research, is: let’s focus on the core problem, and that’s the rise of singles. Now, how can we address that? First and foremost, we need to understand and tackle the problem. Let’s have a range of pilot initiatives to build community groups, to build local clubs and societies, to support communities so that people can mix and mingle and fall in love. I’m a great advocate for romantic love, for sharing our life stories, for empathizing and understanding with each other, that’s quintessentially what makes us human. So if we put that problem front and center and start working on that tricky conundrum, then maybe we can, you know, address loneliness and boost up fertility.
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When Charlotte Church arrives, she starts to cry. “I break down,” she says, “every time I reach here. It’s the first thing I do when I set foot on this soil.” It’s a two-hour drive from her home in Barry to The Dreaming, the retreat centre she opened in 2023, a pilgrimage across Bannau Brycheiniog and into the myth-steeped hills of the Elan Valley in Powys, central Wales. “Two to three weeks,” she’s explaining, icy ground crunching underfoot, “is the longest I can stay away before I start clucking. As I get closer, I feel myself relaxing, a calm coming over me, my nervous system resetting.” That bodily response, she’s sure, is physiological. Tears stream. “This land holds me like nothing else. It feels like coming home; I’m enveloped here.”
It’s early January when I visit. Through the small market town of Rhayader and out into dramatic landscapes, snow-dusted peaks atop rolling hills. A hand-carved sign marks a single-track turning. Through morning mist, The Dreaming comes into view: a three-storey manor almost built into the valley, flanked by moss-lined rocks and woodland. Fresh from being photographed alfresco, Church greets me outdoors: “It’s bloody lush, love, isn’t it?”
It sprawls to 50 acres, 33 of it Celtic rainforest. We pass the waterfall, Nant Gorwen, and yomp deeper into the trees. There’s such joy in her voice as she talks about the seasons changing and wildlife here, and what it means to be this land’s custodian. Visiting practitioners run workshops: womb yoga, willow weaving, night-sky gazing; retreats for grief, queer people, goddesses and another she’ll be leading with “two other witches”.
It’s tempting to be cynical, but Church is aglow, at ease with herself: in a flowy sky-blue dress, sheepskin coat and cowboy boots, the 39-year-old has gone full Earth Mother. There’s a yurt down by the redwoods where Church stays when on-site. “Then in the morning, I’ll come up here and sing to the land.”
‘Voice of an angel’: Charlotte Church at the height of her popularity in in 1999. Photograph: Alamy/Allstar
And that is…? She grins. “Going round the land and having a little sing at it,” she says, “obviously.” A burst of laughter. “It can be whatever you want it to be.” She looks around then hums, a mournful, melancholic tune. “It’s a dialogue to connect with nature, but your own emotions, too. So much of the time we’re in the dark. Start to sing, everything comes to the surface.”
Church opened The Dreaming to offer respite to guests. Really, though, it became immediately clear, for Church it’s also a much-needed sanctuary. For years, she took regular, vicious poundings in the tabloid press. A child star, her early classical albums went multiplatinum worldwide. In adulthood, record releases have been less forthcoming. “Part of all this for me has been having the time to cocoon and to heal my wounds inflicted in that exposure. I was made such tabloid fodder, for such long periods of time, lots of people just saw me as a celebrity.” A pause. “A piss-head celebrity, really. It was a time with lots of misogyny flying about, especially towards working-class women, or women who were outspoken.”
She came of age in the early noughties: lad mags, body-shaming, a rabid tabloid press capable of unrestrained cruelty. “I was out there, in a toxic culture and environment. I have had to rehabilitate my little creative self. I think I was really exploited. My artistry and talent wasn’t taken seriously. It’s taken some time to remember that I am an artist; to refind my own creativity.”
In November 2020, Church came with her newborn to Rhydoldog House – on the market as a private, residential property – to look around. “It was out of my price range,” she says. “I was just here for a nose: this used to be Laura Ashley’s gaff.” Church was hunting for something else entirely. “A glamping thing, to house an educational, family holiday place.” A neat follow-on from the Awen Project, the free-to-attend, democratic forest school she co-founded in 2019, focused on reconnecting families and rewilding childhood. “And on a personal level, I also didn’t want to have to make a living from show business any longer. I wanted to make art and music, but not be reliant on celebrity; to live more in line with my values. With the money I had left, I wanted to invest in the land.”
‘I was really exploited. I have had to rehabilitate my little creative self’: Charlotte Church. Photograph: Gareth Iwan Jones/The Observer
Arriving here, she felt a pull. “I cancelled everything else, I knew right away, I could feel it.” We come to a halt. “I stood right here,” says Church, “on this very spot, and realised: ‘Ah, right, this is my life now.’” She waves at the thick, verdant forest ahead. “I had this vision of people full of wonder, play and joy here. I could see women with their feet in the waterfalls crying; writing love-letters to themselves in the trees. What exactly I’d do with a whopping great house I couldn’t afford in need of complete renovation? I didn’t have a fucking clue.” The plot cost £1.5m. “I was going to have to put myself in a really precarious position. Friends and family said I was mental.” They’d be proved right: budgets were blown; Church sunk her life savings long before planning permission was granted. “We’re not breaking even yet here. I’ve taken a lot of financial risk. But I fell in love, and that was it.”
Still and silent, we stand, for a minute, absorbed by nature. “Right, love,” she interrupts, “you have a wander around the woods and I’ll meet you inside. I’m busting for a wazz, see.”
I’m shown around the house by Naoko, the general manager. Guest bedrooms are upstairs. Below, there’s a workshop, library and office, all wooden floorboards, candles and draped curtains; earth tones, gongs everywhere. In the refectory, two long tables. A blackboard sets out the next retreat’s schedule: “celestial blessings” in the elemental garden; “farewells at the fairy door”, etc. Church appears with a loaf of bara brith. “Fancy a tea?” She sings to herself as she puts the kettle on to boil: “I’m a little teapot, short and stout…”
“This land, this project,” she continues, “has taught me a lot.” There’s the practical side of running a business, yes. “I didn’t have a fucking clue, but also about myself. I’ve always been incredibly open, porous as a cloud. Which is sort of insane, considering how much shit I’ve had thrown at me. Here, I’ve learned to have boundaries.”
‘I was growing up, getting a hold of myself, with a towering brain box partner by my side’: Charlotte Church and Jonathan Powell in 2017. Photograph: Polly Thomas/Bafta/Shutterstock
How so? “I’d always been very free with my trust and care,” she says. “I’m the opposite of misanthropic. I’ve a deep love for people, even when they’ve been awful. I always held that as a badge of honour. That no matter what happened to me, I kept faith. Only, it’s really fucking naive.” She laughs from the belly. “I do still have that,” she clarifies, “but also, get real, babe.”
Being here has taught Church just how desperately she longed for an escape; a place to shelter and take refuge. First, from the strains of family life. She lives with her two teenagers, four-year-old and husband, Jonathan Powell. “I love being a mother, but it’s complicated… bringing up teenagers.” She recently relocated in part to be close to family. “Looking after the rest of them is a lot, particularly my dad, who is terminally ill.” Her stepfather, Stephen, has AL amyloidosis, a rare disease affecting the internal organs. Church’s mum has bipolar, and her parents separated when she was two. Her biological father, Stephen, from whom she was estranged, died of coronavirus in 2021.
“It means I have a massive amount of care duties,” says Church. “I’m back and forth from the hospital, and lots of other things are going on with my extended family. So coming here is a balm. It’s also allowed me to become more of who I am, to drop some of the façade and pretence.”
Primarily, for Church, that has meant being more forthright in her politics. Since her 20s, she has been outspoken. Proudly left-wing, her activism traversing anti-austerity movements, the climate crisis, Palestine: “I’m less afraid of what people think about all that now.” At times, she used to feel almost embarrassed about her ideals. “I’d make out like I couldn’t help that I cared, or act like I was just being rebellious. Now, I feel more backed up, stepping into my integrity. The only way we’ll sort out the right fucking mess the world is in is to come back together, in community. There is no alternative and I will battle until my last breath to do it.”
‘I’m proud that I’ve survived. That even as a little one, I’ve had courage’: Charlotte Church at The Dreaming. Photograph: Gareth Iwan Jones/The Observer
A colleague plonks down a plate of roast dinner in front of Church. “Do you mind if I munch?” she asks, tucking in. “I’m absolutely fucking ravenous.”
Church can tracethat steadfast spirit back to her Cardiff childhood. “My family,” she says, “instilled a fierceness in me: that we fight and love and live with every fibre of our beings. And a sense that you have to battle – my family has struggled for generations; there are scars and intergenerational trauma. I grew up with this sense of who we were, as a working-class family. There was a lot of humour and music, alongside the really fucking dark shit.”
Church was just 11 when she landed her music industry break, singing a phone-in rendition of Pie Jesu on This Morning in 1997. That same year, she performed on an ITV talent show. It catapulted her to international fame: the nation’s sweetheart, “voice of an angel”. Within 12 months, she’d released her first classical album. She performed with orchestras around the world. Music itself, she always adored. “But I was in a hardcore capitalist machine,” says Church. “A child star in a psychological grinder making a lot of money for big corporations. Sure, I fucking hated bits, but I wouldn’t change a thing. I’m deeply grateful for it, what a privilege.”
As she approached her late teens, however, the tabloid press made Church the subject of obsessive attention. There were hidden cameras outside her home, fake stories galore, up-skirting attempts by paparazzi. She believes a suicide attempt by her mother was “at least in part” down to a looming story about the family. Radio DJ Chris Moyles publicly offered to take her virginity as she turned 16, the age of consent. The Sun published a story about her pregnancy before Church had even told her family. “I feel my character,” Church says, “the narrative of who I was in the world, was taken from me, and made into something salacious, or something to be ridiculed.”
‘I want to do something’: Charlotte Church marching with pro-Palestinian supporters in Bath in 2024. Photograph: Alamy
She’s confident that “this isn’t me being overly sensitive”. Take her appearance on Question Time in 2015. “I suggested, as was being presented in research at the time, that climate change and drought played a role in war breaking out in Syria.” It was a position posited by a host of experts. “When I said it, it was all over the papers: ‘Voice of an Angel, Brain of Angel Delight: Charlotte Church blames climate change for jihadis.’ I’ve been made into this caricature: sexualised, patronised, ridiculed.”
In 2021, Church detailed the effects in evidence to the Leveson inquiry. “I started to understand deeply what the experience me and my family had at the hands of the press really was,” she says. “How dramatic and painful and shaming and ugly it was for us all. It really politicised me, seeing the insidious relations between police, press and government. Especially meeting Milly Dowler’s family. It ignited that fierceness in me, latent before then, maybe, but deep within the female line of my family: right, fuck you fuckers, I’m coming for you all.”
For a while, the attacks intensified. “It was revenge,” Church believes. “They tried to discredit me as hard as they could. To make me a figure of ridicule who was thick, and a tart, and a drunk.” The diatribes, she’s sure, were brimming with classism and misogyny. “Now don’t get me wrong, I got myself into certain…” She comes to a stop, reassessing. “Well did I, actually? I mean, I had sex. I went clubbing with friends. Only the tabloids were always right there, poised to orchestrate any sort of downfall.”
Through her 20s, Church had become an impassioned activist. “It started with having kids. It started to prickle things in my soul. Thinking about society – about others – in a way I hadn’t as a pretty egocentric teenager.” Church had her first of two children with rugby player Gavin Henson at 21. The couple split in 2010.
She met her current husband 15 years ago. “We started writing music together.” He plays guitar and viola. “He really introduced me to the more formal political sphere. Before then, I’d never voted; I wasn’t remotely interested. I felt it had nothing to do with me, aside from being certain I paid too much tax when I was a teenager.” Aged 14, at the Labour party conference, Church set out this very stall to Tony Blair, then prime minister.
So when the media intrusion escalated after Leveson, Church felt emboldened. “I was growing up, getting a hold of myself, with a towering brainbox partner by my side,” she says. The pair jointly wrote her statement after she settled her phone-hacking claim against the News of the World in 2012 for £600,000. The now-defunct paper admitted her voicemails were hacked repeatedly over a number of years, and that they’d “unlawfully obtained” then published “private medical information” about Church and her mother. “They basically forced us to settle,” says Church, “otherwise I’d have happily taken it all the way and tried to nail them to the floor. But they were putting my mother in far too much danger.” She cuts herself off. “I can’t really talk about that, blah blah blah. More tea, love?”
The tabloid drubbings have died down in recent years. Based on the speed at which any sniff of a story spreads across gossip columns and sidebars-of-shame, it’s likely to be a consequence of Church’s relative absence from the public eye, rather than a lack of malintent or interest. Her recent public positions on Palestine have, however, attracted headline-making criticism.
Today, she’s wearing a keffiyeh; Church has spoken at marches, fundraised and performed at Palestine solidarity events. “What’s happening there,” she says, “is the greatest spiritual awakening of our time. Children are being killed in the most cruel way. To me, it’s an absolute no-brainer.” Loud and public accusations of antisemitism have been directed her way. “It’s unpleasant to weather those things,” she says, “have my name dragged through the mud and my family’s security put at risk. But what else is there?” She’s resolute. “I don’t know what the alternative is – its so fucking serious.”
And then, of course, there’s all of this. Does she not worry about being painted as a hippy-dippy tree-hugger? She sips her herbal tea. “I don’t mind being castigated or ridiculed for it,” Church says. She leans in, and drops into a whisper. “Because I know the gold, the feeling. How much more enriched life becomes when you embark on this journey. There’s such beauty here, living in the world this way.”
With that same resolve, she’s making new music, too. “I’m going to release an album,” she says, “hopefully, in 2026.” It’ll be her first since 2010. It doesn’t sound like a commercial proposition – “I’m meeting indigenous elders in Peru, Burkina Faso, Australia… I want to sing about nature, healing and sisterhood” – but that’s of little concern. “I want to create experiences,” she says, “to really make people feel. Pop Dungeon did that, in a way.” Long, sweaty nights spent dancing to the cover band she fronted became the stuff of legend. “We would get people excited, ecstatic and into hysteria. So much of modern society is trying to manufacture a minor emotional reaction from you with fake shit. To really whip people up in music, song and rhythm is the greatest magic.”
We speak for almost two hours about sound healing, creating ritual and communing with the cosmos. It’s striking how appealing she makes it all sound: not preachy or tiringly tedious. She’s foul-mouthed, quick-witted, great company. In this new dawn, Church is still a laugh, basically.
“Listen,” she makes clear, “I’m not holier-than-thou. Life is difficult; do what you need to do to get through it. All last year I was smoking.” She’s now quit again. “I have, naturally with age, stopped going out drinking so much. But I still dance my tits off, regular, do not worry. Just now, it’s less drunk in a club, more at home with friends, or at 6am, alone on a beach, absolutely shaking my arse as an act of devotion. So no, I’m not rebranding.” A shake of the head. “I fucking hate all the pious wellness industry shite. So much of that multi-billion-dollar pile of crap says ‘do this’, ‘buy that’, ‘subscribe to me’, ‘swallow a pill’, and this result will happen. It’s all bollocks.” She gestures out the window. “All this is much more esoteric. We’re not trying to get people to subscribe to a programme. It’s not all peace, love, light; stillness and meditation. It’s exploration. Have a go, and see what works.” That’s been Church’s approach. “I’m not an expert, I’m just following my nose and intuition.”
She knows it could have gone so differently: child star turned tabloid target. “I’ve certainly done my hard yards,” she says. “I’m proud that I’ve survived. That even as a little one, I’ve had courage.” The sun is starting to set. Her yurt awaits. One final question.
When Church first set foot here, feeling all she did, was she not tempted to snap it up for herself? Shut the world out and raise her family? She smiles, then turns towards the dusk-drenched valley. “Well,” she replies, “I’m a socialist. I believe in public luxury. Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve been driven to heal and help. I don’t think it’s any coincidence that the early Celtic and religious songs I sang were found by many to be healing.” What she’s doing now feels full circle. “I see people suffering, whether in my immediate network of family and friends, or out among my kin and peoples. I want to do something about it. That first day, I asked: how could this beauty belong to one family? It might be the way it is in the world today, the wealthy owning vast swathes of the best of nature, but it’s bullshit. This beauty right here is a thing for sharing.”
Kian Mills’ parents said he had so many detentions, exclusions and isolations for ‘tiny things’
10:02, 23 Mar 2025Updated 10:03, 23 Mar 2025
Kian with his parents Julie and Aldon(Image: Abbie Wightwick/WalesOnline)
A school was forced to apologise to a pupil after a tribunal found it had discriminated him.
St Joseph’s Catholic School in Port Talbot, south Wales, failed to reasonably support Kian Mills, an Education Tribunal Wales hearing ruled. Kian’s parents said his ADHD and dyslexia weren’t taken into consideration as part of the school’s behavioural policy.
Aldon and Julie Mills said that rather than being helped, Kian, 15, had so many detentions, exclusions and isolations for “tiny things” that they were “worried for his wellbeing”, Wales Online reports. They took their son out of St Joseph’s last June and now home educate him.
Matters came to a head in June 2024 when Julia was called in to be told their son, then 14, would receive another spell in isolation. She said that to that point Kian had had more than 250 sanctions , including exclusions, isolations and detentions during two years at the school and “enough was enough”.
We took him out of school in June of year nine because they were going to give him isolation again and I thought that enough is enough,” she said.”
“The system is not working for many, many families. At school Kian was so unhappy he was getting depressed.”
Kian enjoyed primary but when he moved up to secondary problems started and they believe he was labelled naughty and “persecuted”. Under strict Covid lockdown return rules at the time pupils had three 100 minute lessons in the same classroom each day broken up by breaktime and lunch.
The letter of apology from the school(Image: Abbie Wightwick/WalesOnline)
Staying in one room and focused for such long periods were especially hard on their 11 year-old son full of energy and with at the time undiagnosed ADHD. When Kian couldn’t stay still and work like other pupils, without additional needs, he got in trouble until it became a cycle, they said.
“I started to question the sanctions,” said Julia, who suspected her son had ADHD and paid £950 for an assessment Kian’s ADHD diagnosis came through the following year when he was in year eight and Julie said the school was informed.
But Kian still didn’t get the help he needed with his ADHD. Julie said that at one parents’ evening it became clear that not all his teachers knew of the diagnosis and his schoolwork was suffering..
The boy’s worried parents contacted the school, its governors, the local education authority and even the Children’s Commissioner to get him the support he needed but said that never came. Julie, who works for the NHS and Aldon, who works for the probation service, want to share their story to help others’ with ADHD and other additional needs, who may be going through the same thing.
They said their son had enjoyed primary but arriving at secondary he couldn’t always focus or regulate his behaviour in the strict lockdown return rules because of his ADHD. The schoolboy was finally given an Independent Development Plan in June 2023 after Julie raised the matter with the then Education Minister Jeremy Miles.
But she said by that time it was too late and Kian’s relationship with school had broken down. A year later after scores more punishments and sanctions and isolations and knowing he wasn’t even progressing in his work his parents took him out..
Julie then took her son’s case to an Education Tribunal for Wales where she represented her son herself and the school was represented by the headteacher listed as Dr John Felton, also known as Anthony Felton.
“No one was listening to me,” Kian said. “It was frustrating.”(Image: Abbie Wightwick/WalesOnline)
Kian’s mother believes the system failed her son and wants to see change to help others. She fears many children are in the same situation and losing their education rather than getting support to stay in school.
The tribunal, which began in December 2024 concluded in Kian’s favour on January 9 this year. St Joseph’s appealed the decision but permission to appeal was denied by the tribunal service earlier this week.
The successful claim was brought by Julie against the responsible body of Saint Joseph’s under the Equality Act 2010 on the basis that the school discriminated against Kian. The teenager and his parents have now received separate letters of apology from the school.
In its final order the tribunal stated that: “St Joseph’s Comprehensive School has discriminated against Kian Mills by failing to put in place reasonable measures to support him at school and by its application of its behaviour policy”
In his conclusion tribunal judge Paul Allen found that: “(the school’s) approach that pupils should be on time for lessons, should be present in lessons, should not fidget or move around or distract others, and should all produce the same amount of work, would put a disabled child at a particular disadvantage, and put Kian at a substantial disadvantage compared with a pupils who were not disabled”.
He said: “from the evidence presented the breakdown of mainstream education was entirely preventable” but added that the head and senior management should be credited for “reflection and taking a fresh look at its policies”.
Julie said while apologies and the tribunal’s ruling and proposed remedies are important they aren’t enough to persuade her to send the teenager back to school.
The Education Tribunal For Wales panel chair judge Paul Allen also ordered that the following remedies be put in place:
The school will write a letter of apology to Kian, couched in terms that are appropriate to his age and understanding, and a separate letter of apology to Mrs Mills, for the school’s discrimination towards Kian by its failure to put in place reasonable measures to support him in school, and by the application of its behaviour policy to him, by the 31st of January 2025. A copy of the letters will be provided to the Tribunal.
Kian’s education records will be added to, to show that there has been a tribunal decision that he has not been adequately supported in school and has been discriminated against, by January 31 2025.
The behaviour and additional learning needs policies of the school will be updated and approved by the school governors 23 by March 28 2025 and a letter confirming that is has been carried out will be sent to the tribunal by the school’s headteacher by March 31 2025.
Training of school staff and school governors will be carried out in relation to the newly adopted behaviour and additional learning needs policies and how they must be applied by the30th of April 2025 and a letter confirming that is has been carried out will be sent to the tribunal by the school’s headteacher by the 5th of May 2025.
Training of school staff and school governors will be carried out in relation to neurodiverse pupils and the challenges they face, and in relation to the Equality Act 2010 and disability discrimination, by the end of the summer term 2025, and a letter confirming that is has been carried out will be sent to the tribunal by the school’s headteacher by September 30 2025.
Julie cried when the matter ended because she was so relieved. While she and Kian’s father would he was in school with the support he needs they are not confident that will happen.
For now they will continue to educate him at home in Port Talbot. But Julie worries many children taken out of school for similar reasons don’t get the support they need for quality education at home and that the system isn’t working.
“There was nowhere we could turn when things went wrong. Home education is not a choice and we do it with great difficulty,” she said, “with the right support in place I would love him to be in school with his friends – it’s sad that he’s not with his friends and learning social skills.”
Julie, who went to St Joseph’s herself, and whose three older children also attended without problems, believes that schools and policy makers need to consider why there are growing absence rates and problems with behaviour and rising numbers of home educated children.
She thinks the education system needs changing and isn’t working for some children and teenagers, especially those with ALN. Isolation was a particularly cruel punishment that could just make things worse and many sanctions “serve no purpose”, she believes.
“Things go wrong for children like Kian and they can be failed. We will try our best (at home education) but some parents don’t have a clue. “The system is not working for many, many families. At school Kian was so unhappy he was getting depressed”
Aldon agreed: “I really did not want him to go to school because of the way he was treated. No one seemed to be listening.
“Children going through this don’t have a voice. Sometimes things are just allowed to continue.
“There is no clear way to complain or make a query and no obvious route to navigate what happens if a child has ALN. Kian was in a dark place and it was not him to be that low.
“He did not suit the system because he was persecuted. He lost his trust and confidence, but it’s coming back now.
“Councils should do more to support schools. They seem so defensive if you question them. The bottom line is Kian has gone through damage. To prevent other children being affected we want to highlight this.”
The teenager, who enjoys sport, nature, DIY and cooking, hopes to be a chef one day. He said he is happier now not being in school because it was so upsetting constantly being in trouble and “not heard”.
“It’s a lot better not being in school,” he said, “No one was listening to me. It was frustrating.”
Kian said he had wanted school to work but felt he was “labelled”: “I wanted to ask if we could do something about it,” he said.
For now “doing something about it” means learning at home and he is happier with that.
Asked to comment on the tribunal’s ruling a spokesperson for Neath Port Talbot Council said: “The council is unable to comment on individual cases and it would be inappropriate to comment on specific issues.”
Six wounded remain in hospitals as a result of an enemy attack on Zaporizhzhia on Saturday night.
This was reported in Telegram by the head of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration Ivan Fedorov, Ukrinform reports.
“Six wounded remain in hospitals as a result of an enemy attack on Zaporizhzhia on Saturday night. Among them is a nine-month-old boy. Doctors assess the condition of the victims as moderate. All are being provided with the necessary medical care,” the post reads.
Real Madrid officially announced at the close of last season that they will trade starlet Nico Paz to newly promoted Serie A team Como. The trade was completed for a nominal fee, but Los Blancos kept certain stipulations.
According to reports, the transfer agreement had three provisions that benefited Real Madrid. These were the following: the club may purchase back the player for 8 million euros in 2025, 9 million euros in 2026, or 10 million in 2027. Additionally, a 50% sell-on clause was kept.
Paz is enjoying an excellent season in Como. In the Italian league, the player has an average starting rate of 82%. In 27 club appearances, he has scored 6 goals and given 6 assists. The 20-year-old is heralded as football’s next great thing, and Real Madrid aren’t ignoring the buzz.
Nico Paz’s father speaks about his future at Como
The Argentine kid is tearing up Como. Under Cesc Fabregas, he is now regarded as one of the world’s hottest young stars. Amidst speculations of Real Madrid’s renewed interest in him, Paz’s father talked to the media and stated what the player believes about his future.
He said, “I think if you ask Nico what he’d like to do, he’d definitely like to stay another year at Como: he feels great, he’s happy, and with Fàbregas on the bench it’s like doing a master’s degree. He likes everything here: the team, his teammates, the people… And I would also agree with staying in white and blue.”.
From his statements, it is clear that the athlete and his entourage are not in a hurry about his future, and properly so. He is only twenty years old and has a very bright career ahead of him. Another year in Como wouldn’t hurt. However, Paz’s father acknowledged something else during the conversation.
He said, “It’s clear that there are also more important interests at stake, but for us it would be fine to stay another year at Como.”
While finishing another year at Como would not harm their ambition, his father concedes that other considerations are at play, and the future may not be as clear as it appears. If Real Madrid calls, there is just one option: travel to the Santiago Bernabeu.
Karan Kundrra and Tejasswi Prakash, one of television’s most adored couples, often find themselves at the center of wedding speculations. Recently, Tejasswi’s mother appeared on Celebrity Masterchef where she revealed on Celebrity Master Chef that the couple is set to get married this year. Karan recently addressed the rumours in an exclusive conversation with Times of India TV. While expressing his love and openness about their relationship, he made it clear that when it comes to marriage, the final say rests with their families. Reacting to the ongoing buzz, Karan initially joked that it was not Tejasswi’s mother but the use of AI, “I think it was AI and not aunty. Woh aunty the he nahi. The Masterchef team is very mischievous. I am telling you they used AI for that sequence (laughs). Today, Artificial Intelligence has advanced a lot and it was not aunty.” However, when asked if he feels the desire to settle down anytime soon, he said, “Yes, haan woh toh hai, bilkul. I think it is a very natural kind of a feeling, woh toh dikhta bhi hai. We are pretty open about our feelings for each other and our families and everything. But when specific questions (regarding marriage) come to me which is not my place to answer, woh hamare parents ka place hai. Toh yeh unse hi poocho humara bolna accha nahi lagta ye…(It’s a very natural feeling, and it shows. We are quite open about our feelings for each other, our families, and everything else. But when it comes to specific questions about marriage, it’s not my place to answer—that’s for our parents. So, it’s better to ask them, as we don’t feel it’s right for us to speak on it.)” Karan made a comeback to Laughter Chefs season 2 in last night’s episode and has teamed up with Elvish Yadav. When asked if he has returned for a cameo, he said, “I am definitely not here for just a cameo. The way the show is progressing, we haven’t been informed that it will end soon. My travel plans are set, and my dates are properly scheduled.” Karan and Tejasswi met on Bigg Boss 15 and fell in love with each other.
Karan Kundrra: It’s great to always have Tejasswi around; she is a firecracker
Shot in one take in each episode, Adolescence stars Line of Duty’s Stephen Graham and Owen Cooper in his debut onscreen role as Jamie Miller, a 13-year-old boy accused of the murder of a girl in his class.
We quickly discover he did do it, but the question then remains of why.
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In its exploration of the radicalisation of young boys on the internet, viewers see the impact the murder had on Jamie’s schoolmates, his own family coming to the realisation they weren’t aware of this side of him, and Owen’s incredible acting switching his behaviour in front of a psychologist (played by Erin Doherty).
The Netflix series follows Jamie Miller, 13, murdering a girl in his class (Picture: Netflix)
Since its launch, parents across the world have been questioning if they need to be doing more to protect their kids from the dangers of extreme misogynistic ideologies like incel culture and the ones spouted by the likes of Andrew Tate.
Commenting on a recent Metro post, hundreds of parents have shared what they’ve learnt from Adolescence, with one called Abi saying: ‘I finished it last night (in a puddle of tears!) – absolutely incredible. The acting was amazing and the way it was filmed was so immersive. Terrifying as the mum of a tween but crucial viewing.’
Sharon added that the ‘harrowing and haunting’ series will have ‘shaken many parents across the land and that has to be a good thing’.
Lucy echoed several others in saying the Netflix show needs to be played in schools.
She wrote: ‘Every school in last year of juniors through to secondary should play this out to the kids, and I think for the sake of our beautiful children phones with out internet till they are at least 16 , computers out of bedrooms, and set up in living rooms so parents can parent, don’t want our kids quiet and shut in bedrooms [poisoning] their brains, talk to them, encourage them talk , because we are forgetting how to!!’
Peter also said: ‘As a parent of a teenage child this was tough watch. So well made, we watched all episodes back to back; it kept me awake after as I was asking ‘are WE doing enough?’ when it comes to her up bringing. This should be shown in high schools perhaps to highlight the impact of knife crime…’
Iulia said the responsibility lies with the parents, writing: ‘I think that what we need to take from this is that we are too tolerant towards our kids and we need to close the neat a little bit. Let the responsibility be on us and not to the school, society, other parents etc…we are responsible for what we raise.
‘We are responsible to give them a good education and impose some restrictions. They need to know what boundaries are. Children work very well if they have limitations…if they have everything because that is what we offer them they don’t know where to stop.’
The harrowing series explores the radicalisation of young boys on the internet (Picture: Ben Blackall/Netflix)
She did however argue that it wasn’t about ‘knowing what the emojis are’, adding: ‘It is about the facts. Let start thinking like our parents. They’ve done a pretty good job raising us.’
Adolescence has pointed out how unaware some parents are of the language young people are using online, including emojis coded as sinister messages.
‘The red pill is like “I see the truth”. It’s a call to action by the manosphere,’ his onscreen son Adam (played by Amari Bacchus) says in the second episode.
‘She’s saying he’s an incel, dad. She’s saying he always will be. That’s why they say you’re an incel, they’re saying you’re going to be a virgin forever.’
In one scene, Ashley Walters’ character discovers the meaning behind emojis he innocently thought to be friendly (Picture: Netflix)
He explains that a dynamite emoji represents ‘an exploding red pill’, meaning that someone is an incel, before saying the kidney bean emoji can also be used to self-identify as an incel.
Some Metro readers have admitted they had ‘no clue’ about such things – reflected by the rise in Google queries of ‘the meaning of incel’ – with Jason writing: ‘I’m 31 and assumed I knew about these sort of things. But wow I had no clue. Proves us parents need to up our games and educate ourselves more on the current trends and meanings of things.’
His comments echo digital safety development officer Laura Simpson, who said parents should not ‘bury their heads in the sand’ about the safety of their children.
She told the BBC: ‘I think my key takeaway from the series was a moment in the last episode when the parents looked at each other and asked: “Should we have done more?”
‘That acknowledgement that they were not involved enough in aspects of their son’s life which had ultimately led to tragedy should be a wake-up call to everyone who is a parent, carer or professional who works with kids of any age.’
The series has been branded a wake-up call for parents (Picture: Netflix)
She added to the BBC that her advice to parents would be to talk to their children about their online lives and use parental controls on the internet.
Metro reader Natalie added: ‘So many different issues that this has dealt with but I think we as parents need to take better responsibility for our children. 13 year olds out at 10pm at night while they should be in bed and allowed a phone and T.V in their room, where they can stay up till all hours watching whatever they wish.
‘When a child or teenager is told to go to bed it should be to sleep at that appropriate time so that they can get up in the morning and have enough energy to concentrate at School
‘Not all but a lot of parents are failing their children by giving them to much freedom to do as they wish and far too much access to social media!’
Danny Dyer has been among celebrities who are parents also speaking out, with the EastEnders actor and dad-of-three saying: ‘I think this is something we need to tap into, and I think this has maybe done it.
Danny Dyer is among the celebrities speaking out about the importance of series (Picture: Jed Cullen/Dave Benett/Getty Images for Disney+)
‘We need to find out what’s going on with our young boys, and weirdly, television is the platform, because it ain’t going to be politicians, let’s have it right.’
Father of two sons Jeff Brazier has also shared he’s ‘grateful’ to the Netflix series for ‘highlighting what we all struggle with as parents’.
‘How much is too much for me to be able to storm into the room and say, “I think you’re having a dangerous conversation. I need to look at your phone” – the fallouts,’ he said, according to The Mirror.
‘In the end, we try to avoid that because we want a peaceful, calm and happy home but they’re in their bedrooms and their in their phones. Everything’s calm but it might not be.
‘I’ve had nightmares as much as the next parent, to be honest.’
Jeff Brazier admitted he’s had nightmares around the issue (Picture: Ian West/PA)
In an exclusive interview with Metro, rising star Owen also shared his hopes from the show.
‘I hope that to the parents it’ll open an eye to them, definitely. Kids’ social media is them. It’s their personal life, but you never know what your child’s doing online, especially with Jamie,’ he said.
Following the fallout of the series, creators Stephen and Jack Thorne have accepted an invitation from Labour MP Josh McAlister to attend a meeting in Parliament to discuss online safety with MPs.
It comes after Jack advocated for the show to be shown in Parliament and schools, with Sir Keir Starmer indicating that it should during Wednesday’s Prime Minister’s Questions.
The Prime Minister said he watched the programme with his 16-year-old son and 14-year-old daughter, and added that ‘this violence carried out by young men, influenced by what they see online, is a real problem, it’s abhorrent, and we have to tackle it’.
His comments came after Gareth Southgate spoke of the fears he has that young men are spending too much time gaming, gambling and watching pornography, in a speech discussing the importance of better male role models and not just online influencers.
During an interview with BBC Two’s current affairs programme Newsnight, creator Jack said he hopes ‘we can use this moment to provoke this government to consider quite serious change’.
He referenced that the Australian senate has passed a social media ban for young children, saying: ‘I would extend it further, it is about gaming too, and it’s about getting inside all these different systems.’
He admitted there were ‘good’ things about social media and gaming, but stressed the government should legislate to protect teenagers and see ‘what change that could bring to our society’.
Creator Jack Thorne has stressed the importance of Adolescence in sparking change (Picture: Ian West/PA Wire)
Presenter Richard Bacon has questioned if we treat the crisis unfolding in the same way we have with smoking, asking on Question Time this week whether ‘we should treat smartphones like cigarettes and just say they should be illegal until you’re 16’.
In an interview ahead of Adolescence’s launch, Stephen – who shares two teenage children with fellow actress wife Hannah Walters – gave a warning to parents, telling The Independent: ‘It’s just being mindful of the fact that not only we parent our children, and not only the school educates our children.
‘But also there’s influences that we have no idea of that are having profound effects on our young culture, profound effects, positive and extremely negative. So it’s having a look at that and seeing that we’re all accountable.’
‘When we were kids, if you got sent to your room or if Kenny Everett was on the telly, and it got a bit racy, you’d be sent to your room and then you couldn’t watch it,’ he added.
‘But today even within the context of that home, when lads and girls go to their bedrooms, they have the world at their fingertips.’
Adolescence is available to watch on Netflix.
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Hailey Bieber, 28, gave her fans a rare glimpse at her baby son Jack Blues in a sweet snap uploaded to her Instagram stories on Saturday; seen earlier this month in Beverly Hills
In the photo, Jack sported a yellow shirt that had his last name ‘Bieber’ printed in green lettering on the back
On her stories, the media personality additionally included a picture from her latest trip to Paris.
The star put on a leggy display wearing a pair of sheer black tights as well as a black top and miniskirt.
She completed the stylish look with an oversized black leather jacket and slipped into a pair of closed-toed heels.
Hailey’s locks were swept up into a chic up do, and the beauty accessorized the outfit with black, oval-shaped sunglasses.
The model struck a pose while cradling an assortment of tasty snacks in the crook of her arm as she explored a shop in the city.
Her recent posts come shortly after husband Justin took to social media on Saturday to give a mental health confession to his Instagram followers.
The Baby singer shared a long video of a jam session with musicians, including DJ Tay James and Judah Smith.
He wrote in the caption, ‘I think I hate myself sometimes when I feel myself start to become inauthentic.’
On her stories, the media personality additionally included a picture from her latest trip to Paris
Her recent posts come shortly after husband Justin took to social media on Saturday to give a mental health confession to his Instagram followers
He wrote in the caption, ‘I think I hate myself sometimes when I feel myself start to become inauthentic’
The father-of-one added, ‘Then I remember we’re all being made to think we’re not enough but I still hate when I change myself to please people.’
It comes shortly after he admitted to having ‘anger issues’ in another online post.
Saturday’s post saw the Canadian crooner in a yellow beanie hat, black jacket, and light-colored pants as he banged away on a keyboard.
Despite his self-critical caption, he generally appeared upbeat in the footage, losing himself in the music.
He went on to share a post from fellow music artist Jensen McRae, in which he flashed his megawatt smile in a sun-drenched selfie.
Earlier in March the former teen star wrote in a message shared on the internet, ‘People told me my whole life “wow Justin u deserve that” and I personally have always felt unworthy.
‘Like I was a fraud, Like when people told me I deserve something, it made me feel sneaky like, damn if only they knew my thoughts. How judgmental I am, how selfish I really am, they wouldn’t be saying this,’ he added.
The Honest hitmaker concluded, ‘I say all this to say. If you feel sneaky welcome to the club. I definitely feel unequipped and unqualified most days.’
He went on to share a post from fellow music artist Jensen McRae, in which he flashed his megawatt smile in a sun-drenched selfie
Earlier in March the former teen star wrote in a message shared on the internet, ‘People told me my whole life “wow Justin u deserve that” and I personally have always felt unworthy’
Before that, days earlier, he advised his fans, ‘We have nothing to prove today. Nothing is owed to us and we [don’t] owe anyone anything ♥️.’
Days later, the performer shared a cryptic message to his Instagram stories and sparked concern for his mental health.
‘I was always told when I was a kid not to hate. But it make me feel like I wasn’t allowed to have it and so I didn’t tell anyone I’ve had it.
‘Which made me feel like I was drowning, unsafe to acknowledge it. I think we can only let hate go by first acknowledging its there. How couldn’t we feel hate from all of the hurt we’ve experienced,’ the star concluded.
And this week on Monday, Justin clapped back at haters and wrote, ‘If they aren’t talking s*** U must not be goin brazy enough.’
Brazy means: ‘crazy but you replace the c with a b because if you are a blood you don’t use c because has to do with the crips,’ per Urban Dictionary.
Despite the concern, both the singer and Hailey have continued to brush aside the worries by stepping out together on recent outings and also appearing on each other’s social media pages.
Earlier this week on Friday, Justin and Hailey were seen grabbing a bite to eat at a celebrity sushi hotspot in West Hollywood.
Days later, the performer shared a cryptic message to his Instagram stories and sparked concern for his mental health
The performer ditched his recent unkempt appearance while sporting an oversized, white button up and black trousers. He also opted to not wear any hat for the outing.
After the pair were spotted, social media users quickly shared their thoughts on the singer’s latest appearance, with one penning on Reddit: ‘He looks better than ever to me. He’s aging, but it’s just making him look finer.’
Another wrote, ‘Looking good!!!’ and one fan typed out, ‘His most decent look in months. I think this kind of look like casual capsule wardrobe but yet loose suits him.’
Earlier this month, Justin fueled worry among fans once again when he shared photos of himself smoking from what appeared to be a bong.
The singer had also shared a video to social media of himself smoking what appeared to be a joint.
Late last month, Justin’s rep addressed worries over his disheveled appearance in a statement to TMZ.
Earlier this week on Friday, Justin and Hailey were seen grabbing a bite to eat at a celebrity sushi hotspot in West Hollywood; seen in 2022 in Las Vegas
‘The recurring narrative that Justin is using hard drugs is absolutely not true,’ the rep said, adding that the performer is currently ‘in one of the best places in his life’
‘The recurring narrative that Justin is using hard drugs is absolutely not true,’ the rep said, adding that the performer is currently ‘in one of the best places in his life.’
The star is also ‘actively parenting his newborn son’ Jack with wife Hailey and putting focus into making new music.
According to the rep, Justin has had a ‘very transformative’ year and ‘ended several close friendships and business relationships that no longer served him.’
Speculation about his appearance and marriage is ‘exhausting and pitiful and shows that despite the obvious truth, people are committed to keeping negative, salacious, harmful narratives alive.’
