Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys‘ parenting abilities became a topic of conversation on Dec. 28 after the music producer shared a snapshot of his 6-year-old son Genesis Dean flipping his middle finger.
The photo, captioned “Why is he like this my love😂😂😂😂😂,” shows the doting parents sitting alongside their son after celebrating his birthday. Although both Keys and Beatz accepted Genesis’ form of expression, many followers criticized the celebrity couple and felt he needed some form of discipline.
“You never this bold in the family pictures. He dont get whoopins😂.”
“Nah he need some discipline.”
“Where’s my belt? 😩😂.”
“So kids don’t get pop pops anymore? Because sir.”
“Hope y’all nipped that with the quickness!”
As others questioned the couple’s parenting skills, a few people brought up Keys and Beatz’s affair allegations that started when the pair began dating.
One wrote how the pair’s son was flipping the bird to everyone who threw shade at his mom for allegedly stealing his dad from another woman.
“He tired of y’all saying his mama stole his daddy from that lady. 😂”
Another agreed and said, “He knows what y’all thinking about his mom and dad’s relationship 😂😂😠jk.”
An Instagram user revealed they couldn’t forgive the “No One” singer for an alleged affair with the producer. “Still ain’t forgave her for sleeping with that lady husband.”
Keys and Beatz reportedly started dating in 2008, around the same time the music producer was separated from his first wife, Mashonda Tifrere. Years later, Tifrere uploaded a now-deleted lengthy post on Twitter claiming she and Beatz were still together when he and the Grammy-winning songstress began their relationship, accusing Keys of being a homewrecker.
“If you are reading this Alicia, let me start by saying, you know what you did. You know the role you played and you know how you contributed to the ending of my marriage. You know that I asked you to step back and let me handle my family issues. Issues that you helped to create.”
Keys rebutted those claims during an interview and said the former couple had been “apart for some time.” Beatz and Tifrere finalized their divorce in 2010, and in the same year the producer married Keys.
The couple have since welcomed two sons Egypt Dean, 10, and Genesis.