Joel Madden Reveals His Honest Reaction to His & Nicole Richie’s 18-Year-Old Daughter Changing Her Name
Nicole Richie and Joel Madden’s daughter is now known as Kate, despite her full name being Harlow Winter Kate Richie Madden. Richie confirmed to PEOPLE earlier this year: “Yeah, she goes by her middle name. She has her whole life.” But how did Madden react?
Madden recently spoke about it on an episode of the Dumb Blonde podcast, saying, “That’s a narrative everybody ran away with because it gets clicks. She’s been going by her middle name since she was in, like, first grade. She chose it.”
He revealed that they went to an open house, where they learned she has gone by her middle name forever. “We went home, we’re like, ‘You go by Kate at school?’ She goes, ‘Yeah, I like it.’ And we were like, ‘OK, great,’” Madden added. “Everyone who knows her calls her Kate… It wasn’t a big deal. There was no discussion.”
RELATED: Nicole Richie Responds to Speculation About Daughter Harlow’s Name Change
For those who don’t know, Richie and her husband, Joel Madden, started dating in Dec 2006.
They married in 2010 and welcomed two kids beforehand: a daughter named Harlow, who now identifies as Kate Madden, born in Jan 2008, and a son named Sparrow, born in Sept 2009.
While the pair often kept their two kids out of the spotlight, Richie did say in an interview with People that she’s grateful that moms are more comfortable discussing parenting. “I know my mom didn’t have that,” she said to the outlet. “Women are no longer ashamed to say, ‘Oh, this is so hard! I’m worried I’m not doing a good job.’ Women are supporting each other in that space, which I think is so awesome.”
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