How Sterling K. Brown Uses Social Media to Protect His Sons
The ‘Paradise’ star shared his thoughts on how social media can be a tool to help keep his kids safe.
Sterling K. Brown at Hulu's "Paradise" Season 2 Los Angeles Premiere held at Paramount Theatre on February 18, 2026 in Los Angeles, California.
Photo by Tommaso Boddi/Variety via Getty Images.
Sterling K. Brown is taking a somewhat unusual approach when it comes to his children and social media. The Paradise star shared his thoughts on parenting in the age of social media during an appearance on Dax Shepherd’s podcast, Armchair Expert with Dax Shepherd. While many parents are working to keep their kids off social media, Brown explained that he and his wife, Ryan Michelle Bathe, view the situation differently.
Shepherd and his wife, Kristen Bell, have two children, and he explained that he and his wife keep their kids out of the limelight. Brown shared his thoughts.
“Your children are obviously white. My children are Black,” he said to Shepherd. “I feel like the more I put them on social, the safer they are. Any proximity that Black boys can have to some sort of celebrity or access or… status [or] leverage. I’m trying to make sure that they make it home.”
While he views social media as a potential protector, he’s much more guarded when out with his family. Brown and Bathe have two sons, Amaré, 10, and Andrew, 14, and Brown explained that the family has to set very clear boundaries with the public.
“If I am out with Ryan and the boys, we have a policy of no pictures. And the policy is because they deserve to have a regular night out. It’s their time,” he shared. “Because Ry and I have a certain amount of spotlight or whatnot, doesn’t mean that they should receive less of us.”
Last year, Brown talked about navigating how to parent a teenager.
“I mean, the kid makes straight As,” he said about his son. “He’s a great athlete. He plays soccer like nobody’s business. And he’s a great friend. The people that he’s close to, he is ‘ride or die.”
Brown admitted that he wished they talked more.
“Teenage boys, I don’t know if they’re different than [teenage] girls. I have nothing to compare it to except for This Is Us,” Brown said in reference to his character on that hit show, Randall Pearson, who was a dad to three girls. “But I say this. He has a tendency to [be] very close to the vest, my oldest son. So I want to give him his privacy and his autonomy, but I need to let him know that your dad cares about every facet of your life, so if and when you want to share with me, you can share whatever you want with your boy.”
