As we gear up to celebrate another Father's Day with gifts and tributes to the dads in our lives, we also want to give a special shout-out to the celebrity dads out there who have, well, totally failed. Now, we're not talking about the actual failures. We're not here for the absent, abusive, or disengaged dads. We've got no patience for those guys or for any dude who has ever described caring for his own kids as "babysitting" (miss us ENTIRELY with that nonsense).
No, we're talking about the celebrity dads who seem to be trying their best to be loving and engaged parents but who have also publicly confessed their biggest dad fails to the world. The celebrity dad fail can take many forms (we all know that's true for mom fails too, right?). There is the classic "accidentally swearing in front of a kid and teaching them a very scandalous new word," of course. We've also got the "uh-oh, the kids interrupted special mommy and daddy time and now daddy has some explaining to do" and the "accidentally embarrassed kids on social media" move, too.
In the spirit of Father's Day fun, we've rounded up 15 celeb dads who were willing to confess their biggest dad fails for our amusement!
Ashton Kutcher
Will Smith
For actor Will Smith, bringing his son Jaden into the family business by costarring in the movie After Earth resulted in deeply felt dad fail feelings. The movie flopped, and Jaden got terrible reviews. As Will shared in his memoir, Will, "After Earth was an abysmal box office and critical failure. And what was worse was that Jaden took the hit. Fans and the press were absolutely vicious; they said and printed things about Jaden that I refuse to repeat. Jaden had faithfully done everything that I'd instructed him to do, and I had coached him into the worst public mauling he'd ever experienced."
President Obama
While he was president, Barack Obama was one of the most powerful men in the world. He was also still a dad and had an unfortunate tendency toward terrible dad jokes, much to the dismay of daughters Sasha and Malia. In fact, he even had to assure an audience in Pittsburgh in 2016 that he had finally kicked the habit. "Don't worry. I don't have any more bad jokes. These are so corny, I know," he told them.
Dax Shepard
Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell may not be afraid of oversharing stories about their lives, but that doesn't mean that Dax doesn't feel super awkward when his daughters catch their parents in the act! His dad fail was having to explain "why we're taking, like, a nap in the afternoon while [the kids] were loose." He said it was "full coitus interruptus" after they put on the TV in the living room and then "stole away for a minute, an afternoon delight," only to have the kids walk in and bust them in the act.
Tom Brady
Tom Brady might not have the most relatable life, but his dad fail feelings make sense to any parent who has an intense job. In the 2021 documentary Man in the Arena, he admitted that he worries that he's not been as present in his kids' lives as his own father was in his. "When I think about being a dad, I think about him because of what my dad meant to me. I know I'm not as good a dad to my kids that my dad's been to me," he said.
"I think maybe what I'd wish for my children is to find something that they really love to do like I have, but I think I have taken it to an extreme, too. You know, I hope they don't take things as far as I've taken them. I want them to experience great success in whatever they do, but there's a torment about me that I don't wish upon them."
Anderson Cooper
Anderson Cooper's dad fail resulted in him wishing he'd been lied to! He shared the story with Stephen Colbert in 2021. "I was going to Israel last week. It was my first work trip for 60 Minutes, and I was doing an interview, and I get this text from Wyatt's other dad, Benjamin. He said, 'He just walked!!'" Anderson said that he wished Benjamin would have lied to him about it, explaining, "In my household, when I grew up, you would lie about everything. He should have just lied. He should have lied and said, 'Oh no, he's not walking at all.' So when I got home, and he walked, we'd all be like, 'Oh my god! It's the first walk!'"
David Beckham
Any parent with more than one kid knows that it is all too easy to call them by the wrong name, but it's a bit of a dad fail when David Beckham does it on Instagram in front of an audience of 74 million followers! In 2020, David posted a picture of himself with sons Brooklyn and Cruz, but tagged son Romeo instead of Cruz. The mistake was fixed after fans gave him some good-natured teasing about it in the comments section.
