News | Entertainment
18 Feb 2026 22:02
NZCity News
NZCity CalculatorReturn to NZCity

  • Start Page
  • Personalise
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • Finance
  • Shopping
  • Jobs
  • Horoscopes
  • Lotto Results
  • Photo Gallery
  • Site Gallery
  • TVNow
  • Dating
  • SearchNZ
  • NZSearch
  • Crime.co.nz
  • RugbyLeague
  • Make Home
  • About NZCity
  • Contact NZCity
  • Your Privacy
  • Advertising
  • Login
  • Join for Free

  •   Home > News > Entertainment

    Busy Philipps is teaching her mother about different pronouns after revealing her daughter is non-binary

    The 45-year-old actress revealed in December that her eldest child Birdie Leigh, 12, came out as gay when she was 10, and also said they use they/them pronouns


    And now, Busy – who has Birdie, as well as seven-year-old Cricket Pearl, with her husband Marc Silverstein – has said she’s doing her best to help her own mother “understand the pronoun conversation” so she can properly address her granddaughter.

    Busy said: “[My] mom is older and wants to understand the pronoun conversation more. I said to my mother, Here's the deal: You don't have to understand it.’

    “That's how I feel about all human rights - you don't have to understand it. You can choose to believe what you want, but you don't get to have jurisdiction over anyone else's body or belief system."

    When it comes to teaching her own children about taking care of themselves, the ‘Dawnson’s Creek’ alum believes "the secret with kids is leading by example”.

    She added to Health magazine: "I make a concerted effort to be aware of how I talk about diet and exercise around them - like, what my intention and goals are with those things. I'm also lucky that I have a partner in Marc, who does cycling and works out for his own mental health.

    "We talk about therapy in our house and never shy away from hard conversations. I've always been open - but not in that 'I'm not a regular mom; I'm a cool mom' way."

    In December, Busy revealed Birdie is “gay and out” whilst also admitting she was having a tough time adjusting to her daughter’s preferred pronouns.

    She said: "I said, 'You know, Bird, I've been doing a bad job with the pronouns.’ Because Birdie said that they would like their pronouns to be they/them, and I haven't been doing it, and I said because I have this public persona and I want Birdie to be in control of their own narrative and not have to answer to anybody outside of our friends and family if they don't want to.

    “Bird was like, 'I don't give a f***. You can talk about how I'm gay and out; you can talk about my pronouns. That would be cool with me. That's great.' So I said, 'Okay, I can talk about it on the podcast.' "

    © 2026 Bang Showbiz, NZCity

     Other Entertainment News
     18 Feb: Barack Obama believes in aliens but did not discover any evidence of their existence during his time in the White House
     18 Feb: Nancy Cartwright doesn't think AI has enough "heart" to replace her on The Simpsons
     18 Feb: Rupert Grint found life as a new dad "isolating" and "traumatising"
     18 Feb: Wunmi Mosaku has "not been able to celebrate" her Oscar nomination
     18 Feb: The Simpsons will never have an official ending
     18 Feb: Ted Danson has revealed Cheers was almost cancelled during its first season
     18 Feb: Savannah Guthrie dec lared "it's never too late to do the next right thing" as she made a fresh appeal for her mother's safe return
     Top Stories

    RUGBY RUGBY
    Leicester Fainga'anuku's been benched for Sunday's Super Rugby clash between the Crusaders and Brumbies in Christchurch More...


    BUSINESS BUSINESS
    Spark is satisfied with its latest financial results, despite falling short of analyst expectations in some areas More...



     Today's News

    Entertainment:
    Barack Obama believes in aliens but did not discover any evidence of their existence during his time in the White House 21:27

    Business:
    Spark is satisfied with its latest financial results, despite falling short of analyst expectations in some areas 21:17

    International:
    Jesse Jackson helped lay the groundwork for Barack Obama and kept the fight for justice in the public eye 21:07

    Entertainment:
    Nancy Cartwright doesn't think AI has enough "heart" to replace her on The Simpsons 20:57

    Entertainment:
    Rupert Grint found life as a new dad "isolating" and "traumatising" 20:27

    Entertainment:
    Wunmi Mosaku has "not been able to celebrate" her Oscar nomination 19:57

    International:
    Equal time rule leads CBS to pull Stephen Colbert's James Talarico interview 19:37

    Entertainment:
    The Simpsons will never have an official ending 19:27

    Entertainment:
    Ted Danson has revealed Cheers was almost cancelled during its first season 18:57

    Business:
    The Reserve Bank says inflation's too high, but it's actually worried it could soon end up too low 18:57


     News Search






    Power Search


    © 2026 New Zealand City Ltd