ABC Jessie James Decker was "confused" about the hate she got online after posting photos of her children.
“Dancing With the Stars” alum and country music singer Jessie James Decker admitted she was “confused” about the hate she received online in late 2022 after posting a photo of her children flexing their abs.
In an interview with Us Weekly, James Decker, 34, said she’s “proud” of her children.
“You know what’s really funny is there are times where I will post something on Instagram and I will be like, ‘That may cause this but whatever’ or ‘That may be taken in a funny way, I don’t care.’ I literally posted that and didn’t even think twice. So hours go by and all of a sudden I’m like, ‘Wait, what?’ Like, I couldn’t believe the reaction. I was so confused out there was never one moment where it upset me.”
James Decker and her husband, Eric Decker, took their three children, Vivianne, 8, Eric Jr., 7, and Forrest, 4, on a tropical vacation for Thanksgiving.
During their time there, James Decker shared photos of the children on vacation, which showed that each of the kids have defined abs. Some of her followers went to the comments to share that they thought there was some type of filter on the photo and others shamed James Decker for her parenting.
The country star later defended her children from those comments and in a separate post where she called the criticism “bizarre.”
James Decker Previously Said She Encourages Her Children to Be Active
In an interview with Life & Style ahead of ABC’s “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve,” which she’s cohosting again this year, Decker shared that she felt compelled to stand up for her children.
“You know, I think for me, I’m proud of my family, and I’m proud of my kids,” she shared. “And I’ll always want to encourage them to do what they love and what their heart wants. They love sports, and they’re active. And so, for me, I am so proud of them, and I will always encourage their passion for sports and being active.”
She added, “And I just draw the line when it comes to criticizing my kids. And so, I felt the need to respond, and I’m a mama bear, but I’m proud of them.”
James Decker’s daughter, Vivianne, does gymnastics, which James Decker sometimes shares videos of on Instagram.
Vivi swept first place in bars and beam!!!” she wrote. “Not only was my baby girl sick and not able to practice for almost 2 weeks she still came in fearless, strong, brave, and ready to conquer!!! The whole gang came to watch and it was such a fun and exciting day for her first meet back for the season.”
She said that her daughter earned second place in the floor category.
“Vivi whispered ‘great job’ and smiled at the sweet girl standing next to her who got first place and it made me so proud of her kindness and sportsmanship!” she wrote.
James Decker Would Not Compete on ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Again
James Decker made it halfway through season 31 of “Dancing With the Stars” before being voted off the show.
The singer opened up to E! News on the CMA Red Carpet about the experience and whether she’d do it again.
“I don’t think I would do it again,” she told the outlet. “But I’ll watch it now all the time! The kids are completely hooked now. But no, that was a one-time thing for me.”
Decker also shared that the experience was “really hard,” but she feels she did well in the competition.
“I feel like I would have missed it if I didn’t make it as long as I did,” she shared. “I made it seven out of the 10 weeks. For me, that was a long experience.”
“Dancing With the Stars” is set to return in the fall of 2023 on Disney+.