While Sofia Richie may have a head start because of her father’s success, it doesn’t mean her father doesn’t want her to work hard. Lionel Richie thinks tough love is important when it comes to raising a kid in show biz. He wanted his daughter to grow a thick skin when she decided to pursue a career in the entertainment industry even if that means she needs to fail a few times. According to Perez Hilton, he expressed these sentiments at an American Idol event.
“I told [Sofia], ‘I wish you lots of failure, young,’” Richie admitted to reporters.
“We’re in a business where it’s how you recover and ‘yes, yes, yes’ does not feel terrible, so you have to get smacked in the face. I said, ‘You’re going to have a little bit more of a different time because you’re coming from a family where they expect a little bit more,’” he said. He explained that he learned this advice after supporting Nicole Richie’s showbiz career.
He explained that in a way having the famous family name puts more pressure on a young performer trying to making it in the industry.
“When Nicole was about 4 years old, she went on a talent show,” Lionel Richie recalled. “She’s about to go on to do her little act and they said, ‘And now we have Lionel Richie’s daughter’ and she froze. She said, ‘Dad I don’t want to be here.’ I remember that being, what a terrifying moment.”
Sofia Richie has recently announced that she’s going to leave her reality TV days behind and that she’ll be quitting ‘Keeping Up with the Kardashians.‘ Instead she’ll be focusing on pursuing her own acting career. Lionel Richie has faith that she’ll be successful.
“She’s got the attitude. She sings too. I’m so excited about her… Sofia’s doing fabulous right now. I don’t step in, though. You can’t step in there. It just doesn’t work. If you’re a parent, you’ll understand,” Lionel said.
Sofia Richie started appearing on ‘KUWTK’ when the 21-year-old began dating the 36-year-old Scott Disick. Disick had previously been in a long term on-again-off-again relationship with Kourtney Kardashian. The pair had three children together before breaking it off for good. Disick and Sofia’s relationship got serious fast with the two taking vacations and spending holidays together. They have now been dating for more than two years. Lionel Richie didn’t initially approve of their relationship, but he has recently given them the ok.
