Hailey Bieber recently announced she was expecting her first child with husband Justin Bieber. The model and Rhode skincare founder has talked a lot about how her parents, Stephen and Kennya Baldwin, influenced her beliefs around marriage with their own union of over three decades.
Here’s what to know about the people who raised her.
Who is Stephen Baldwin?
Stephen Baldwin is an actor from a family of actors, including his brothers Alec, William, and Daniel. They also have two sisters, Elizabeth, who heads cancer research nonprofit The Baldwin Foundation, and Jane. The siblings grew up in Massapequa, New York. Their parents were a high school social studies and history teacher and a homemaker, according to The New Yorker.
The family happens to have a pretty historic lineage, with their family tree going back to the Mayflower. The Associated Press reported the Baldwins are directly related to John Howland, who was a servant to John Carver, the first governor of New Plymouth County.
Stephen was a big supporter of Donald Trump in 2016, and reportedly had some conflict with his oldest brother. Alec did impersonations of Trump on Saturday Night Live, and Stephen at one point said they were no longer on speaking terms.
Stephen’s first big role was on the ABC western The Young Riders. Baldwin went on to star in a number of films throughout the ’90s, including Posse, 8 Seconds, The Usual Suspects, Bio-Dome, and The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas in 2000. He went on to make appearances in reality shows like The Celebrity Apprentice and Celebrity Big Brother.
Who is Kennya Baldwin?
Kennya Baldwin is a Brazilian graphic designer who also has some famous roots. Her father is Grammy Award-winning musician Eumir Deodato. Both she and Stephen are extremely religious, and she posts frequently about her Christian beliefs on Instagram.
Hailey has attributed her interest in skincare and the founding of Rhode cosmetics to her mom in part, saying in an interview with Refinery29 that it was a family practice to have a skincare routine.
“Beauty and wellness was prominent in my household,” she said. “My mom is from Brazil, and she’s always been invested in taking care of herself. I watched her my whole life take really good care of her skin in the sun, wear SPF everyday, moisturize. I think just growing up watching her, watching my Grandma, the both of them together [were] so invested in skin care and beauty, and they definitely instilled [that] in me.”
While on The Run-Through with Vogue podcast, Hailey shared more stories of skin routines with mom.
“I have literally never slept with makeup on ever because I feel like that is like the cardinal sin,” she said. “No matter what the circ*mstance is, I’m like, I will find warm water and a washcloth to get this makeup off.”
She has said both her mom and grandma use Rhode products now.
How long have they been together?
Stephen and Kennya met on a New York City bus ride in 1987 and were married three years later. When talking to ELLE in 2021, Hailey talked about how seeing her parents together for over 30 years has influenced her ideas about love.
“I know sometimes they drive each other crazy, but they love each other,” she said. “When I was young, and I would hear the story of how they met, it sounded like the most romantic thing in the world. You fantasize about having the same thing. I do think it influenced me to want to be married young.”
Stephen told CBS News in 2012 that he believes “forgiveness” is the key to his long marriage.
“I have a lot of young people say to me, ‘You’re the youngest Baldwin, and you’ve been married the longest. How does that work?’ The truth is my wife’s awesome. She puts up with me,” he said. “We’re meant to be together. More than anything when those interactions occur that rub you the wrong way, you just learn to let it go. That’s the best thing you can do.”
Do they have other children and grandchildren?
Their first daughter, Alaia, was born three years after they got married, on Jan. 23, 1993. Hailey was born on Nov. 22, 1996. Alaia gave birth to her first child in 2020 with husband, Andrew Aronow, a girl they named Iris Elle Aronow.
In May 2024, Hailey announced she was expecting, so her parents will be grandparents for a second time soon.
What have they said about their family and kids?
In that same interview with CBS, Stephen said he expected his kids with Kennya would get into entertainment in some way.
“I know when I married a beautiful woman 22 years ago, I should have thought, ‘Boy, this is going to result in something I need to be prepared for years later.’ But the truth is, I'm super blessed,” Stephen said. “I've got great kids.”
What else has Hailey said about her parents?
Hailey described her childhood to Fashion magazine in 2017 as being much more normal than Hollywood life usually is for the kids of famous parents.
“That was always a reality,” she said. “But because of the way my parents raised my sister and me, that was always separate—that was Dad’s work life. When we were home, we were just home, hanging out.”
In 2018, she shared a similar story with Vogue Arabia.
“The way they raised us was so far removed from Hollywood that we didn’t really bring any aspects of the industry into our home. I got to have a normal childhood and teenage years,” she said. “I didn’t start getting recognition on my own until I was around 19."
Hailey continued, “There are some ‘normal’ things I never did—like go to college—but I do think I was able to learn how to have a schedule, be on time, and be responsible, all because I started working at 17. Those are skills that most people don’t start learning until later in life.”
She was grateful to her parents for setting her up for success.
“I’ve learned the importance of family,” she said. “Being close to my own has helped me so much in this industry. It’s great to have those strong ties.”
What do Hailey’s parents think of her marriage to Justin Bieber?
In the fourth episode of the 2020 docuseries Justin Bieber: Seasons, Hailey shared that she talked to her parents about getting engaged.
“I remember calling my parents when we decided to get married, and I said, ‘This is the time I need you to stop me from doing something crazy if you think this is a bad idea,’” she recalled. “In my heart, I knew that it’s what I wanted to do but I was like, ‘Just tell me right now if you think, okay, whoa, relax, take a breath and think about this and see how you feel in like 24 hours or a week or something.’”
Hailey continued, “And they were like, ‘Honestly, we think that this is meant to be for you, and we know that this is what you want so we trust you.’ I was like, ‘All right.’”
On the In Good Faith with Chelsea & Judah Smith podcast in 2021, Hailey talked about asking her mom for advice in her marriage.
“I remember I called her a few different times, one particular time when we were in Brooklyn, and I was calling her, I was crying, and I was like, ‘I just can’t do it. There’s no way that I’m going to be able to do this if it’s going to be like this forever,’” she said. “And I just remember she was so calm on the phone, and she was like, ‘It’s going to pass, and you’re going to be fine, and he’s going to be healthy, and we’re here for you.’”
Her dad has also helped her through difficult moments. The actor has been open about his own struggles with drug and alcohol addiction. While on the Victoria’s Secret Voices podcast in 2021, Hailey revealed that her dad helped her as Justin navigated sobriety with her at his side.
“There’s a lot of addiction that runs in my family, not even just my dad, but a lot of other people on that side of my family struggle with a lot of different things,” she explained. “My dad was always really open about [his addiction] and I always appreciated that.”
Hailey added, “I was always really, really close to my dad. ... He was just always, like, extremely open about why being sober was what worked for him and why we needed to be sober and what alcoholic behavior looks like, and where that comes out.”
