Natalie Portman Claps Back at Pregnancy Rumors: "Do Better"
The actor asks that people stop speculating on the shape of women's bodies.
Let the record show that Natalie Portman is not pregnant—and also that she doesn't stand for people basing their guesses on the look of women's bodies. As reported by Entertainment Tonight, on Friday, Feb. 5, the Oscar-winning actor responded to a report that said she "seemingly" had a baby bump. Portman both denied the pregnancy rumors and asked that the publication that reported them "do better."
"Hey. So I'm totally not pregnant…" Portman wrote alongside a screenshot of the report in her Instagram Story. "But apparently it's still OK in 2021 for anyone to speculate and comment on a woman's body shape whenever they want? Do better. @nypost." She also added an eye-roll emoji to drive home her point.
Portman is not pregnant now, but she does already have two children with her husband, choreographer Benjamin Millepied. The 39-year-old generally keeps her private life private, but below are some of the motherhood moments she has chosen to share over the years—on her own terms. And for a sweet family moment from another celebrity parent, check out Heidi Klum Just Posted a Rare Photo of All Four of Her Kids Together.
Posting a pic of her kids on Instagram
Portman has two children, nine-year-old Aleph and three-year-old Amalia. She doesn't usually post photos of her kids on social media, but on the day after Mother's Day last year, she shared a photo of herself with both kids, without their faces showing. She captioned the photo with three heart emojis and tagged her husband as the photographer.
For more celeb kids, read Madonna's Daughter Lourdes Looks Just Like Her in New Ads.
Explaining one challenge of being an actor and a mother
When Portman starred in the 2016 film Jackie as former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, she had to adopt Kennedy's speaking voice. But, in an interview with People, she said that she didn't take her work home with her. "I just think it's weird with your own family. My kid would be like, 'What are you doing, Mom?' if I was trying to talk to him in a Jackie voice," she said. "You have to just go on and off."
She added that she believes some men in Hollywood might not find themselves in the same position. "I always think it makes women more flexible actors than men because I think men can get away with whatever [they need], living in a cabin and talking like President Lincoln for months. You can't really spin that when you're a mom," she told People.
For the films that cinephiles loved last year, check out This Is the Best Movie of 2020, According to Critics.
Sharing the meaning of her son's name.
Also in 2016, when Portman was pregnant with her daughter, she appeared on an episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show and talked about the meaning behind her son Aleph's name. "It's the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet," Portman said. "It's not really a name in Hebrew, usually, but it has a lot of mystical, symbolic meanings of humility, strength."
During the interview, host Ellen DeGeneres guessed that Portman was having a girl. They made a bet—of $1,000 and pizza—that DeGeneres was right, and she was! A couple years later, during a new interview, it was revealed that Portman donated $1,000 to the Ellen DeGeneres Wildlife Fund.
For someone who isn't welcome on that set, here's The One Guest Ellen DeGeneres Banned From Her Show.
Writing a children's book.
In 2020, Portman released a children's book called Natalie Portman's Fables that reimagines classic children's stories with more varied gender representation among the characters.
"I didn't want to introduce the concept that there are obstacles to girls at such a young age. [My daughter is] only three," Portman said during an interview on The View. "So I just wanted to instill these values in her of caring about other people and of treating people equally." She explained that in the retelling of "The Three Little Pigs," one pig is a boy, one is a girl, and one is non-binary. "What if I took classic stories, but made the animal kingdom reflect the real world?" Portman said of coming up with the idea for the book.
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Not showing her kids Star Wars—yet.
In the same interview on The View, Portman said that she hasn't shown her kids the Star Wars movies that she's in yet. "Well, first of all I have a boyfriend in it who's not their daddy. I have kids who are not them in it. And I die in the movie," she said. "So I think that all of those things are a little early for them to process." She added that they are aware that she plays a character in the universe. "They know I'm in it and they feel that that is cooler than the normal dorkiness they think of me as," she added.
For more family ties, check out 13 Celebrities You Had No Idea Were Related.
