Kerry Washington might have stopped playing Olivia Pope when Scandal aired its final episode in 2018, but the actress still credits her famed character with preparing her to be a mother in real life. The 47-year-old once told Elle, “Playing her made me feel like I could be a mom. Because she knows there’s always another way – there’s always a way to fix it, there’s always a way to solve it, to win. And I feel like playing her made me feel like, Alright, I can do it. I will figure out how to juggle it all.”
Though she prefers to keep them out of the limelight and off social media, Washington gushes about her beautiful family (who she shares with her husband Nnamdi Asomugha) when the moment feels right. “These are their lives. But it’s not about pulling a Rapunzel and hiding them away in a castle from the world — we don’t want to do that. I think any parent would want to keep kids from a situation that causes them to feel scared. I don’t want them to be exploited, particularly in this social media world,” the Little Fires Everywhere lead told InStyle in 2020.
With the premiere of Tyler Perry’s The Six Triple Eight on Netflix quickly approaching, all eyes are on Kerry Washington, who plays Major Charity Adams in the movie. Outside of appearing in other projects like Unprisoned and The School for Good and Evil in recent years, the New York native is focused on raising her children by setting a strong example. Here’s everything we know about her and Asomugha’s kids!
‘The Six Triple Eight’ Starlet and Her Husband Are Proud Parents of Three
Before Kerry Washington had kids of her own, she became a stepmother to her husband’s daughter from a past relationship. Little is known about the teen, although it’s clear the entertainer the entertainer proudly claims her. “I am a mother of three,” she corrected Craig Melvin (who introduced her as a “mother of two”) while appearing on Today a few years ago. Washington and Asomugha – a former professional athlete – prioritize health and wellness in their own lives, enforcing similar habits in their kids. “My husband teased me that if I did the 23andMe, it would come back 11% mermaid. My kids are the same way. They’re just fish,” she joked.
Washington’s Daughter, Isabelle, Was Born in 2014
In April 2014, Washington and Asomugha welcomed Isabelle Amarachi to their family. The baby girl was named after her great-great-grandmother, which seems fitting as Washington once described Isabelle as a “teacher” on Oprah’s SuperSoul podcast. In the first years of her daughter’s life, the mother of three was hard at work on Scandal, sometimes bringing her little one along with her so they could bond during hair and makeup.
To ensure Isabelle has a positive role model in a world that distorts female beauty, Washington often wears her hair naturally. “I like to wear my natural texture, especially now because I have children and I want them to know that their hair is perfect as it is,” she told Allure in 2017. “They don’t have to change it or straighten it. They can, but they don’t have to.”
Their Family Expanded With a Son, Caleb, Two Years Later
Kerry Washington’s son, Caleb Kelechi Asomugha, was born on Oct. 5, 2016. Earlier that year, the fashionista revealed her baby bump at the annual Met Gala, only sharing the news with the world because she knew it would be impossible to hide. “I hadn’t been public about it [before then]. I still haven’t made a statement about it because it’s not really how we roll in my family,” she told People at the time.
Welcoming Caleb has given Washington a renewed appreciation for following her bliss. “I can be covered in spit-up on a conference call while I’m pumping and that’s okay because this is my perfect. It may not be somebody else’s, but this is mine,” she said in a 2017 interview.