Bradley Cooper Under Fire for Comments About Daughter

Bradly Cooper is being criticized online for comments he made about his 6-year-old daughter, with some going as far as to call them "idiotic."

The Maestro star co-parents his daughter, Lea de Seine, with Russian model Irina Shayk, with whom he had a relationship from April 2015 to June 2019.

In the episode of Dax Shepard's podcast, Armchair Expert, that was released Monday, Cooper said he struggled to bond with his daughter when she was born.

"The first eight months—I don't even know if I really love the kid. It's dope. It's cool. I'm watching this thing morph," he said. "That's my experience. Fascinated by it. Loved taking care of it. But would I die if someone came in with a gun?"

Cooper explained that while he struggled to connect with his daughter for the first few months of her life, those feelings eventually changed. The actor added, "And then all of a sudden, it's like no question."

When Page Six shared a post to X, formerly Twitter, about Cooper's comments, it went viral. "Bradley Cooper didn't feel connected to daughter Lea at first: 'I don't even know if I really love the kid,'" the post said.

At the time of writing, the post had been viewed 4.4 million times—and social media users took to the comments to express their shock.

Newsweek contacted a spokesperson for Cooper via email for comment Thursday.

"You sound awesome here man. keep going," one user wrote alongside a screenshot of Cooper's comments.

"Some things are just not meant to be shared, and for the sake of his poor little girl this was one of them," another said.

"This guy needs a copy of Jerry Maguire's 'The Things We Think But Do Not Say' memo," a commenter added.

Another said: "Having these feelings—valid. Publicizing them (outside of a therapy session) and having them on record for the end of time as your child grows up—idiotic."

Other commenters defended the actor and said his feelings were normal.

"What Cooper says here is very normal & the experience of MANY parents if you speak with them. It's all the caring that forms the bonds, deepens the love. He obviously loves his daughter, don't take this disgusting bait," one user wrote.

"Everyone wants more honesty from actors. Bradley Cooper has spent the last 6 months being honest and vulnerable and he's just consistently been taken out of context," another said.

Elsewhere in the podcast episode, Cooper said having a child encouraged him to be a better person.

He added: "I'm not sure I'd be alive if I wasn't a dad. I just needed someone to say, like, 'We're gonna drop this massive anchor.' I'm like, 'Why? We're speeding! I just got an upgrade on the boat, and I know where the wind's coming in.' They're like, 'No, no, no. There's a tsunami coming in, and you need an anchor, and we're gonna drop it.'

"Because this is gonna dictate everything you do from now on. Your DNA is going to tell you that there's something more important than you."

Cooper is on the Oscars campaign trail, as he's been nominated for Best Actor for his role as composer Leonard Bernstein in Maestro. He also directed and co-wrote the film, which was nominated for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay.