Pitbull may be one of music‘s biggest stars, yet little is known about his private life.
That, he said in a recent interview with Billboard, has been by design.
‘If You Love Something … You Protect It’
While a wild rumor once circulated claiming Pitbull was the father of nearly two dozen children, one reason why information about his kids has been so scarce is because that’s exactly how he wants it.
“I feel that if you love something, you don’t want the world to know about it. No, you protect it,” he said.
“So look, when my kids get to a certain age, which some are, and they wanna make their own decisions as far as how they wanna live their life and how they want to welcome the world to it, that’s on them,” Mr. Worldwide continued.
“But if you’re a kid, three years old, five years old, early teens, and you’re taking a picture with me and we’re posting it to the world, I’m letting you into my world now,” he explained.
“If today or tomorrow I’m in a certain country, and I come across some situation that has nothing to do with me because my name will always put me in a situation to be guilty by association. That’s why I’m very private on what I do,” he added.
“I don’t wanna put them in my world ‘cause they’re not built for it yet,” he said. “And then it’s my responsibility as a parent to protect them. So if I put you in my world and now you go to school and everybody like, ‘Oh, ‘cause you’re Pitbull’s kid, and you’re Pitbull’s. Come here.’ How are you gonna ever know who’s your friend? I protect them ‘cause I love them”
‘I Have a Lot of Kids’
Pitbull reportedly has six children, a number he will neither confirm nor deny.
However, he did tell Billboard that he had more than one.
“I have a lot of kids. I love them all deeply. Very proud of them,” he shared. “I love to see kids grow character, what they do, how they do it and at this point most of my ideas in music come from the kids.”
Asked whether his children enjoy their dad’s music and videos, the “Fireball” singer insisted they do.
“No, they love it,” he said. “They lose their mind.”
How Many Kids?
Back in 2023, a TikTok comedian was riffing about celebrities who’d fathered multiple children.
As Rolling Stone reported at the time, at one point in his routine the comic quipped that Pitbull is a “Hawaiian island volcano — he’s got 21 kids with 18 different women in 13 different countries. He sees them all twice a year, and he’s never missed a child support payment.”
That video reportedly racked up more than 4 million views, and led to a widespread belief that the joke was based on fact.
Rolling Stone reached out to a rep for Pitbull to confirm whether there was any truth to the claim.
“That is completely inaccurate and obviously comedic humor,” the rep told Rolling Stone.
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Pitbull Shares Rare Comments About His Kids, Explains Why He Keeps Them Out of the Public Eye