Ice-T Claps Back At Wife's Haters Over A Controversial Photo

Ice-T has got his wife's back. Following a round of mom-shaming, the Law & Order: SVU star spoke out on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2019, telling his and Coco Austin's haters to basically mind their business and worry about their own meals, not his daughter's.

"They make it like the baby only ... breastfeeds," Ice-T told TMZ of his wife's critics. "Every once in a while, you know what I'm saying, she wants to get close to her mom, so that's what they do." The rapper went on to insist of his three-year-old daughter, "She eats food. She eats f**king cheeseburgers."

The brouhaha began when Austin posted an Instagram photo of her and the "Cop Killa" rapper's daughter, Chanel, who will soon turn 4, nursing. She captioned the snapshot, "A mothers calling.... I'm so blessed to have this unbelievable experience in this thing called Nursing.. I had a hard time breastfeeding the 1st week of when Chanel was born, I almost gave up but my family told me to hang for another week. They told me I dont want to miss this special moment you have with your child.. health wise and bond wise..I hung in there and now almost 4 years later Chanel still wants the boob."

She added, "Its more of a comfort thing now and of course she eats regular but nap time and night time are our time and I'm lucky she hasn't grown out it yet because when that moment comes I will be so sad..its the best feeling and ALL mothers that nurse know."

Social media erupted into a self-righteous mom-shaming frenzy over Coco Austin's breastfeeding post — although some fellow moms were supportive and complimentary of the 5'2" model's mothering choices. 

"I nursed all 4 of my sons my first and my 3rd for 3 years and my 2nd and 4th weened [sic] themselves after a year. My 1st and 3rd never get sick. It's from nursing them for so long. Nothing can compare to mothers milk. Great job babe," one commenter posted. "Good for you for not being ashamed of breastfeeding your 'older' child," another wrote, adding that she was "pressured" into weaning one of her children just after their second birthday.

Still, some others criticized and outright dragged Austin, with one person writing, "Coco she's too big for breastfeeding. Give her real milk." A second commenter quipped, "On the breast still at 4? I mean, she's going to school soon. You must detach my dear." Meanwhile, another simply wrote, "Disturbing."

It may have sparked a wave of backlash online, but a lot of experts don't actually see an issue with Coco Austin breastfeeding Chanel at 46 months. Lactation consultant Leigh Anne O'Connor told Yahoo! Lifestyle that Chanel is "lucky" that Austin is following her maternal instincts (and allowing Chanel to follow her own). "Western culture, and particularly the U.S., is very judgmental when it comes to breastfeeding in general, let alone the biological norm," O'Connor said. "Labeling a toddler 'too old' is an unfortunate symptom of our current culture."

While the World Health Organization recommends "breastfeeding along with appropriate complementary foods up to 2 years of age or beyond," the American Academy of Pediatrics has a slightly different stance, stating that exclusive breastfeeding is ideal for the first six months of a baby's life, followed by a combination of breastfeeding and other foods until the baby is at least a year old. After that, the Academy explained, babies can continue breastfeeding (in conjunction with a diet of regular food) as long as they are their mothers are willing.

Ice-T has been standing by his woman for about a year over her choice to continue breastfeeding Chanel, which he said technically isn't breastfeeding since Chanel isn't exclusively nursing for her nutrition. 

In the fall of 2018, Coco Austin came under fire for breastfeeding a then-nearly-3-year-old Chanel, but the rapper dismissed the haters then, too. "Coco absolutely breastfeeds because she just wanted that mama connection with the baby," he told People that October. "And now Chanel doesn't breastfeed, but she wants the boob sometimes. It's a moment where it'll calm you down. But when people say, 'Oh, Coco's still breastfeeding.' It's not that. Chanel's drinking everything in the refrigerator right now."

Ice-T added that Chanel had been eating food and other fluids since she was 18 months old, explaining, "She went to formula and other things. It's more of a baby's way of getting comfort from the mother."