Now that Shakira split with her longtime boyfriend is behind her, Shakira’s priority is to give her two young sons, Sasha, 8, and Milan, 10, the stable living environment they deserve as they make a new home in Miami, Florida.
For Shakira, a stable life does not include disrespectful paparazzi, which she and her family have had to endure while living in Barcelona, Spain. On Monday (April 10), Shakira released a statement on social media asking the press to respect her and her children’s right to privacy as they begin a new chapter of their lives in the United States.
“In this period of change in my life as a public figure, it’s understandable that there is a permanent curiosity on behalf of the press around me and my family,” Shakira wrote. “However, my children … have endured a very difficult year, suffering incessant harassment and persecution without relief by the paparazzi and several media outlets in Barcelona.”
Shakira went on to say that she doesn’t paparazzi in Miami to follow her children to school, home, or to their extracurricular activities to take photos of them.
“I trust that the journalists and photographers here will be sensitive to the situation that Milan and Sasha are facing and can behave in the most humane way possible,” she wrote. “I extend this petition not as an artist, but as a mother who wishes to protect and care for the psychological and emotional well-being of my children, as all children deserve to do.”
Late last year, Shakira and her ex, Gerard Piqué, reached an agreement over custody of their sons. “Our sole objective is to provide our children with the utmost security and protection and hope that they can continue with their lives in a safe and calm environment,” the ex-couple said in a statement. “We appreciate that their privacy will be respected.”