FRIENDS.
020. ❛ natalia defense squad. ❜

NATALIA DICAPRIO HIDDEN CHILD?

Back in 2011, Natalia was dubbed by her cast members 'the best secret keeper' and boy was that true! Today, Natalia unveiled a secret that none of us would expect in the slightest. She took to Instagram to present us to her daughter, Penelope, and express why she's kept it a secret for so long.

nataliadcaprio:
In the past couple of months, I've been wondering if it was an appropriate time to introduce my daughter. And it started to dwell on me that there would be no perfect time for an introduction. So I present to all of you my beautiful daughter, Penelope. I was young when I had her, and her father [Phillip Hayworth] and my mother loved her very much.
I know that this will bring a lot of media attention and many people will wonder if I've doing this to gain attention or fame but if you're a fan you know that I never do anything for attention because that's not who I am. I've kept this a secret for a long time and frankly I have my reasons, the major one being that I didn't want her to grow up under the spotlight. I have and I sometimes wish that I didn't because it puts a lot of pressure on you as a child and at that age I had to act a certain way as to not defame my father. I wanted to give her a better life, for her to be a kid. But slowly I noticed that Penelope loved acting, and that while I was reciting auditions to her, she already knew the script better than I did. She wanted to act and I couldn't deny her of her talents, and when she wanted to audition she wanted to use her full name. Her surname, DiCaprio. You can judge and debate whether it's a publicity stunt but I didn't care because it's my child and her future that I'm looking out for.
I hope that all those who respect me and have been loyal fans to me still look at me the same way, because I didn't mean to hide this from you. She isn't my burden, she's my future.

______

Many do wonder whether or not Natalia is doing this for publicity, since facts from what we know is that she's hidden Penelope from us for 10 years. But it isn't our day whether or not we have the right to know because celebrities are still people at their core. Natalia announces that her [Penelope's] father is Phillip Hayworth, who tragically passed away back in 2007 from a heart attack. These two were never seen together only appearing on Gilmore Girls back in the day, but even then they were practically 18 when they met.

A lot of the responses to Penelope have been positive with a few negative comments circling around but Natalia has always proven to have a Marvel Army on her side with her costars rushing to her defense and protecting the blonde actress and her child. Not only her closest friends were there to support her but her godparents and anyone who's an A-list celebrity came to her defense.

NATALIA DEFENSE SQUAD

"She [Natalia] has sacrificed so much to give her daughter a better chance at having a childhood, and no one more than her and I gets what it's like to be in this industry at a young age. You're under a microscope, the media waiting for you to do something bad. And Natalia was protecting her child and everyone should get that."
- Isabella DiCaprio

"She's a wonderful mother and she's blessed me to have a granddaughter. Natalia has always been honest with everybody and keeping Penelope away from the press and media was something I wish I could've done with my daughters."
- Leonardo DiCaprio

"I've been blessed to have a niece and Natalia choose what was best for Penelope. None of us should judge her for looking out for her daughter's interests."
- Jenna DiCaprio

"It's crazy what's happening with her. She's such a close friend and the fact that she's getting back lash from this is absurd. She did what she thought was best and frankly I would've done the same thing."
- Sebastian Stan

"As a father, we do the best for our kids and that's what Natalia was doing. Anybody who's going to belittle her isn't a fan of hers and isn't a fan of mine."
- Neil Patrick Harris

"Natalia is part of my family even though we don't share the same blood. Her daughter is the kindest human being and shouldn't be subjected to other people's hatred because of a decision Natalia did for her life."
- Kate Winslet

"My goddaughter shouldn't be criticized on what she did for her daughter. If you aren't a parent, then it's hard for you to understand why she did it. Come back to this in 5 years or 10 and then you'll get it."
- Harrison Ford

"I predicted various things in the past. And I predict that this hate will go away because people will gain common sense and see that Natalia was following her maternal instinct like a mother should do and we can't blame her for that."
- Ellen DeGeneres

"Penelope is the kindest human being on the planet. And seeing some of the comments left on Natalia's hurts me. Natalia has done a of job raising her kid, it reflects on Penelope's character. And if she is a child with a smile on her face then Natalia has done her job as a mother."
- Chris Evans

Not only people in the acting industry came to her support, she gained a huge defense following online thanks to our favorite quirky Youtuber.

"Haters go away, my queen Natalia doesn't need people like that in her life."
- Tyler Oakley

"I agree #Nataliadefensesquad"
- Zoë Sugg

With so much of a defense behind her, it was hard for the haters to hate anymore because of the rally.

Natalia has reported that Penelope was going to be staring in a new role on ABC's Once Upon A Time, as Emma Swan's younger self. And we can't help but see if Penelope has the acting skills like her mother and father because it will certainly do her justice in the future.

Since the reveal, Natalia has been spending time with her family as they all flew out to Georgia (where Civil War is being filmed) to support her. Various reports also claim to see Chris Evans around the DiCaprio household often, usually after filming and with red roses ( Natalia's favorite). Making us wonder if Natalia is also hiding another secret from us. Ellen predicted it after all.

Regardless, we wish Natalia and Penelope luck and hope in the future because they deserve happiness like the rest of us.