Besides being one of the most dedicated actors in the industry, Mark Wahlberg also finds the space to be a full-time dad to his four children. He once accompanied his youngest, Grace, to a school dance and confronted a DJ for playing inappropriate songs. Wahlberg also remains a loving husband to Rhea Durham, whose birthday was celebrated by the family earlier this month.
Wahlberg and Durham started dating in 2001 and tied the knot in August 2009. They had their children Ella Rae, 20, Michael, 18, and Brenda, 15 before they got married and Grace, 13, in 2010. The Family Plan actor is open about his personal life, sharing great words about his wife and stories with his children.
Mark Wahlberg Confronted A DJ Who Played Inappropriate Songs At His Daughter’s School Dance
When Mark Wahlberg appeared on The Ellen Show in 2019, he shared the story of how he accompanied his daughter Grace to the school dance. Wahlberg shared that he had clear instructions from his daughter not to embarrass her. However, he had to intervene when he felt that the music played at the school dance was not appropriate for 10-year-olds.
Wahlberg, a pop star himself three decades ago, noticed that the DJ wasn’t playing an edited version of the song as he was supposed to be. The song had explicit lyrics and the Ted actor was not going to let it happen to his daughter. He confronted the DJ who apologized and said that he thought it was the edited version. Wahlberg shared with Ellen:
[Grace] sat there on the edge of the stage, by the DJ. And then I’m sitting there with one other dad and I’m like, ‘This is not an edited version of this song. There are explicit lyrics being played at a school dance for girls and I’m like, not good.’ I told the DJ and he’s like, ‘Oh, I thought it was.’ I said, ‘What are you doing?’ I’m hearing F-bombs and that’s not okay.
The studio audience was impressed with his protectiveness for his daughter. Sadly, Wahlberg revealed that he didn’t get a dance from his daughter. The Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch alum had plans to do a big circle during his father-daughter dance. But Grace specifically asked him not to embarrass her. He shared:
I didn’t get one dance. And I told her we were going to do the whole big circle and I was going to go off. And she said, ‘Dad, if you embarrass me, I will never talk to you again.’ But what she did do is she hung out with me.
Ellen DeGeneres couldn’t believe that he didn’t get a dance. She asked the Boogie Nights actor whether Grace had seen any of his old songs. Wahlberg replied, “She has. And she said, if I ever see that again, I won’t talk to you.” Hopefully, there comes a time when his daughter appreciates his Marky Mark moves like his fans.
Mark Wahlberg Revealed His Kids Make Fun Of His Rapper Career
Mark Wahlberg shared that his kids liked to laugh at him and his earlier rap career. They would call him “cringe”, especially when they get a chance to see him sing. It happened in his last movie, The Family Plan, where his character sings Vanilla Ice to his children. He shared that his kids laughed so hard at the scene. He shared with The Telegraph (via Daily Mail):
For them, it’s cringe. They definitely don’t want to hear that. They did get a big laugh out of that particular scene. They like to laugh at me.
On a serious note, he shared that all parents go through such a phase when their kids believe they are out of touch. He shared that as a parent it was his duty to pass on his experience and knowledge to his kids so that they don’t end up making the same mistakes as him.
Mark Wahlberg has a handful of films at the time. His upcoming films include the spy action-comedy The Union and the action thriller Flight Risk.
