Idina Menzel makes rare comment about 15-year-old son
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Idina Menzel shared some rare insight into her relationship with her son.
The 53-year-old actress shares son Walker Diggs, 15, with her ex-husband and former Rent co-star, Taye Diggs. On Monday, January 27, Menzel spoke with Today about letting the teen into the public eye, as he made his first red-carpet appearance with his mother in November 2024.
“I never let him ever go on the red carpet with me,” Menzel admitted before explaining why she allowed him to attend the Wicked premiere in Los Angeles. “He’s gotten to the age where he says, ‘I’m proud of you, Mom. I want to be with you.’ So then I felt like it was OK,” the Frozen alum stated.
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However, the Tony Award winner still wants her child to have privacy, admitting it’s an ongoing internal struggle. “I believe his anonymity is so important and yet he’s a teenager, and it was a hard decision to be honest, you know? But he really wanted to,” she remarked. “I’m proud of him, so I loved showing him off. But as a parent, I’m still conflicted about it.”
The singer-songwriter revealed that Walker is being homeschooled this year to better split his time between California, where his dad lives, and New York, where she will reside as she returns to Broadway. “I can’t be away from him for more than a couple weeks. I’m too controlling,” Menzel joked.
Regardless of where Walker lives, the Daytime Emmy Award winner’s bond with her son is strong, as she told the outlet, “He’s a very soulful, intuitive kid. He’s the best thing ever happened to me, really.”
Menzel and Diggs, 54, were married from 2003 to 2013, and the Disney actress went on to wed Aaron Lohr in 2017. Menzel spoke to Today about how she co-parents with The Best Man star.
“We really don’t believe in putting a child in the middle of anything and forcing them to have to choose in any way, and we never speak poorly of the other,” she quipped. “I’m really proud of us for putting him first.”
