Beninese actor, Djimon Hounsou, has opened up about an incident where his 10-year-old son was called the N-word by another kid. He also revealed what he told him when he reported the incident to him.
Speaking on SiriusXM’s The Clay Cane Show on Tuesday, the A Quiet Place 2 actor revealed the incident occurred when he went to pick his son, Kenzo Lee Hounsou, from a soccer game. He recounted the incident when he was asked about how he talks to his kids about issues pertaining to racism.
“It’s tough especially if you don’t live with your kid,” he started. “Because how do you get to have those moments?”
“I went to pick up my son from a soccer game one time and he says to me some other kid called him the N-word. That’s how early it starts,” the 55-year-old actor recollected. “He’s wondering, ‘Why do you have to call me that word?’ I was wondering, ‘When do they start to get treated like a second class citizen?’”
When asked about his reaction and what he told his son, Hounsou said: “I said, ‘Which kid?’ So the kid was getting in the car and left. I said, ‘Well, don’t take that personally. Some people just feel insecure, and they just feel like they have to call you some kind of derogative, you know.’”
Hounsou, who shares Kenzo with ex-wife, Kimora Lee Simmons, is in a custody battle with the model and Baby Phat founder, according to Page Six. The Blood Diamond actor is seeking joint custody of their son.
Last year, he told TMZ he hadn’t seen his son in a while, claiming he did not even get to spend Father’s Day with him.
