Dean McDermott had to have a tough conversation about web culture with his son Liam recently after online commenters body-shamed the 12-year-old.
As McDermott, 52, explained on the Monday, July 22, episode of his “Daddy Issues” podcast, Liam noticed the harsh comments after the actor’s wife, Tori Spelling, posted a now-controversial Instagram snap promoting Entenmann’s Little Bites baked goods.
“So she did this post about, you know, having a snack with the family, and all the moms got up in arms. ‘You feed your kids this? … No wonder they’re obese,’” he recounted. “So, Liam saw this. He saw it on my phone, and he took me aside, and he said, ‘Dad, am I obese?’ And I said, ‘Dude, no. You are not obese.’”
He continued: “I took him aside, and I said, ‘Look, you know what? People are going to say horrible things. We’re in the spotlight, Mom and Dad. People know who you are, and people are going to say nasty things. So you can fire back at them, or you can stop and think and send them some love. Because think of how horrible their life must be if they’re gonna take the time to go on Mom’s account, look at it, and write something horrible about somebody they don’t know. How messed up is their life? How sad are they? They probably live in their mom’s basement. They probably have no friends.’ So I said, ‘We can get mad about this, or we can take the high road, send them some love because they’re hurting.’ … Liam’s 12, going on 30. So, you know, he really got it.”
The Open Range star also used his oldest child — 20-year-old Jack, his son with ex-wife Mary Jo Eustace — as an example: “I said, ‘Look at your brother, Jack. Your brother Jack is 6-foot-4, and he’s, like, 170 [lbs]. He’s, like, beautiful, tall and thin, and he went through a phase where he wasn’t.’ I said, ‘Remember your brother Jack, when he went away to Canada and came back two months and he grew a foot?’ I said, ‘It’s in your DNA. Look at that. You’re not obese. You’re gonna sprout out, and you’re big and beautiful. You’re fantastic. Just never mind these haters.’”
That said, McDermott couldn’t shake off the criticism himself. “You know what, I went in the room, and I wanted to put my fist through the f–king wall,” he said.
The former Chopped Canada host has four other children with Spelling, 46: daughters Stella, 11, and Hattie, 7, and sons Finn, 6, and Beau, 2.
