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Lionel Richie got into some hot water with his grandson over his gardening skills.
The musician, 76, appeared on Today with Jenna & Friends and shared that his new skill has been gardening. Lionel, who is granddad to daughter Nicole Richie’s two kids with Joel Madden — daughter Harlow, 17, and son Sparrow, 16 — recalled his grandson’s shock at brutal technique.
“I’m now the gardener. As Sparrow my grandson says, ‘Pop Pop’s in the garden destroying the environment!’ ” jokes Lionel. “Because what I do is cut back…one time I decided to cut back the hedges, of all places and times to do it, I did it in the spring.”
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“A bird’s nest fell onto the ground. ‘Pop Pop is killing the animals!’ ” Lionel hilariously recalled of Sparrow’s assessment of his gardening. “Who took it personally was who was at the house — Nicole [Richie], Cameron [Diaz], and they go, ‘Oh my God.'”
“So they grab the bird. [Sparrow] goes, ‘Pop Pop, you’re killing the bird.’ And of course, after that, I just abandon the family completely. No good deed goes unpunished.”
Alongside Nicole’s two kids, Lionel is also grandad to his daughter Sofia Richie’s daughter Eloise, whom she welcomed in May 2024 with husband Elliot Grainge.
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Last October, Lionel opened up about his time spent with his baby granddaughter, Eloise. Asked what his bond is like with the then-4-month-old girl, Lionel admitted, “I have a problem.”
“You know, it’s like the thing where you can just blow on the stomach and the little smile comes on the face,” he explained. “I can just stick her in my pocket and take her around town.”
That August, Sofia spoke with WSJ. Magazine about what her famous dad is like as a grandfather. “We call him Pop Pop. He was on a U.S. tour when I gave birth so he came home to meet Eloise,” she said at the time.
“He’s in love and it’s so crazy,” she added. “It’s so surreal to be the youngest kid and then have a kid and see your parents act with your kids. I don’t know how to explain it.”
