Ice-T is a proud father to his and Coco Austin‘s 7-year-old daughter, Chanel, and in a new interview revealed they all sleep together. “I’m in a cruise pattern. I was there when Coco was pregnant, I went to the hospital, and Chanel still sleeps in the bed with us,” he explained on the May 9 episode of iHeartMedia’s Black Effect Podcast Network show, That Moment with Daymond John. He made the admission after confessing that he is “so much more connected” to Chanel than his older kids. He shares a 47-year-old daughter, Letesha, with his high school girlfriend Adrienne, and a 31-year-old son named Tracy with his ex, Darlene Ortiz.
Ice-T, 65, admitted that he was “distracted” by his career from being super hands-on with his first two children, and feels that having a kid in his “second half of life” was life-changing. “It made me want to live forever. It made me create new goals. It’s the best gift I could ever get,” he noted. The rapper welcomed Chanel into the world in 2015 when he was 57.
Ice-T has been very open about how he and Coco, 37, parent their daughter — despite the backlash that comes with it. In May 2o22, they were shamed by online trolls after they shared an image of then 6-year-old Chanel in a stroller while they were on vacation in The Bahamas. Both of Chanel’s doting parents immediately clapped back. “Oh lord!! Really people? The world loves to criticize [literally] everything i do!” Coco tweeted at the time. “MFs ain’t got s—t else to talk about. F em all. Smh. Lol,” Ice-T slammed in his own tweet. A few months later, they caused commotion again after Coco posted a TikTok video that showed Chanel taking a bath in the sink.
One year earlier, the “Colors” rapper and Coco made headlines after the latter revealed a then 5-year-old Chanel was still breastfeeding. “Chanel still likes my boobs. It’s a big bonding moment for a mother and your child,” Coco said while chatting with Us Weekly in 2021. She said her breastmilk isn’t Chanel’s main source of food, but described it as “a little snack.” She added, “Why take that away from her? … If she doesn’t want it, all right, that’s where you stop it. But I’m not just going to say no.”
The family of three made a public appearance together earlier this year at Ice-T’s Walk of Fame ceremony. During the February event, the Judgement Day actor mentioned his entire family. “Let me shout out my family,” he said, per PEOPLE. “My son, my daughter, Coco my wife. [Chanel], who obviously is in the position to stand behind one of these podiums one day. She has no fear of the stage.”