Nicole Richie, Jamie Foxx and More Celebrities Who Were Adopted

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Nicole Richie, Jamie Foxx and More Celebrities Who Were Adopted

Chosen families! Nicole Richie and more adopted celebrities have opened up about their experiences over the years. Lionel Richie took in the Simple Life alum when he realized that her “family situation was falling apart” six or seven weeks after meeting Nicole at a 1983 Prince concert. He told the fashion designer in a June 2016 Huffington Post interview: “I think we decided that ... what we'll do to kind of give you some stability, we'll be like legal guardians, but nothing more.” This led to the “All Night Long” singer and his then-wife, Brenda Harvey, adopting Nicole, and the former reality star joked that she was “just irresistible.” Lionel added, “I remember you had abandonment issues for obvious reasons. You'd been handed around to every relative in the family. I remember what I said to you. I said, 'I’m never, ever going to leave you.’” Nicole chimed in that “yep,” she remembered that conversation. She went on to become a big sister to Miles Richie and Sofia Richie in 1994 and 1998, respectively. [jwplayer i867TzJ4] As for Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi, the Jersey Shore alum was adopted from Chile by her parents at 6 months old. “They said that right when they saw me I was like, 'Mama. Dada.' So it was, like, meant to be,” the former reality star explained in a July 2018 YouTube video. “I could tell because, you know, things just work out that way. It's called fate. … They didn't have to sit me down at 10 and be like, 'Nicole, you're adopted.’ Like, I knew. I'm like, 'We don't look alike. I'm brown, you're white. This doesn't make sense.' But I always knew in my heart that I was adopted and I was totally fine with it." The Shore Thing author found out in her 20s that her birth parents had other children and weren’t able to afford her. “I can't even imagine, because I have two kids, putting up a child for adoption to give them a better life,” the former MTV personality said. “Like, that's so amazing for them. That shows how much they loved me. But also I could never do that." Polizzi joked, “I always wonder if I was never adopted and I stayed with my birth parents would I still be a hot mess like this, just in Spanish? Probably!” Keep scrolling for more celebs’ adoption journeys, from Faith Hill to Simone Biles. [podcast_block]

Credit: Shutterstock (2)

Nicole Richie, Jamie Foxx and More Celebrities Who Were Adopted

Chosen families! Nicole Richie and more adopted celebrities have opened up about their experiences over the years. Lionel Richie took in the Simple Life alum when he realized that her “family situation was falling apart” six or seven weeks after meeting Nicole at a 1983 Prince concert. He told the fashion designer in a June 2016 Huffington Post interview: “I think we decided that ... what we'll do to kind of give you some stability, we'll be like legal guardians, but nothing more.” This led to the “All Night Long” singer and his then-wife, Brenda Harvey, adopting Nicole, and the former reality star joked that she was “just irresistible.” Lionel added, “I remember you had abandonment issues for obvious reasons. You'd been handed around to every relative in the family. I remember what I said to you. I said, 'I’m never, ever going to leave you.’” Nicole chimed in that “yep,” she remembered that conversation. She went on to become a big sister to Miles Richie and Sofia Richie in 1994 and 1998, respectively. [jwplayer i867TzJ4] As for Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi, the Jersey Shore alum was adopted from Chile by her parents at 6 months old. “They said that right when they saw me I was like, 'Mama. Dada.' So it was, like, meant to be,” the former reality star explained in a July 2018 YouTube video. “I could tell because, you know, things just work out that way. It's called fate. … They didn't have to sit me down at 10 and be like, 'Nicole, you're adopted.’ Like, I knew. I'm like, 'We don't look alike. I'm brown, you're white. This doesn't make sense.' But I always knew in my heart that I was adopted and I was totally fine with it." The Shore Thing author found out in her 20s that her birth parents had other children and weren’t able to afford her. “I can't even imagine, because I have two kids, putting up a child for adoption to give them a better life,” the former MTV personality said. “Like, that's so amazing for them. That shows how much they loved me. But also I could never do that." Polizzi joked, “I always wonder if I was never adopted and I stayed with my birth parents would I still be a hot mess like this, just in Spanish? Probably!” Keep scrolling for more celebs’ adoption journeys, from Faith Hill to Simone Biles. [podcast_block]

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Frances McDormand

The Oscar winner was adopted at 18 months old and went on to adopt a son of her own in 1995.

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George Lopez

The comedian was adopted and raised by his maternal grandmother at 10 years old.

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Ice T

The rapper was raised and adopted by his aunts after his birth parents both died of heart attacks.

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Sarah McLachlan

The singer found out at age 9 that she was adopted, telling Parents magazine in 2005: “It was like, 'Oh, OK, good to know, you're still my mom and dad.' Perhaps I was too young to understand it really, but it just never was a big issue to me. I never had this empty place in me thinking that I've missed out somewhere, or that I was abandoned."

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JC Chasez

The former 'NSYNC member was raised by parents who had previously fostered his birth mother. “I was really fortunate,” Chasez said in 2008. “Any time that she wanted to talk or come by or anything like that … it was like an open-door policy.”

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Jamie Foxx

The actor was raised by his grandmother but reconnected with his birth parents at age 45. “That’s one thing I’ve learned: Always keep the door and your heart open,” he revealed in 2012. “I don’t hold a lot of grudges.”

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Jenna Ushkowitz

The Glee alum was adopted at 3 months old, writing in a 2016 essay: “My parents Judi and Brad always told me that I was their little gift from God and I've always felt that with their unconditional love.”

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Nicole Richie

“I think you ... changed my life a great deal in terms of softening my heart, because everything up to that point was about songwriting and the business and touring,” Lionel told his eldest daughter in 2016. “All of a sudden I found something that I could actually fall in love with that was never going to leave me.”

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Faith Hill

“I had a spirit that was completely outside what my family was,” the country singer told Billboard in 2017 of her adoption. “I didn't know anyone I was related to, biologically, which gives you a sense of not ­knowing who you are." Hill tried to locate her birth mother shortly after moving to Nashville to pursue a music career. They met in 1993.

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Nicole Snooki Polizzi

“They gave me an amazing life and they deal with my s--t, which is crazy,” the Dancing With the Stars alum gushed of her parents.

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Kristin Chenoweth

“I’m lucky that I have wonderful parents who chose me," the actress wrote in a January 2017 Huffington Post essay. "I often say adoption is a full-circle blessing, and I truly believe it. Adopted children were not abandoned, we were chosen.”

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Simone Biles

During an April 2017 Dancing With the Stars episode, the Olympian gymnast said that her parents “saved” her, explaining, “Growing up, my biological mom was suffering from drug and alcohol abuse and she was in and out of jail. I never had mom to run to. I do remember always being hungry and afraid. At 3 years old, I was placed in foster care. Whenever we had visits with my grandpa, I was so excited. That was the person I always wanted to see walk in to the foster home." The athlete’s grandparents went on to adopt her, asking Biles to call them mom and dad.

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Keegan-Michael Key

The Game On! host was adopted at birth by a couple who later divorced. He told Title in August 2018 that he had "a lot of parents," noting that he is close with his stepmom and reunited with his birth mom at age 25.