Comedian and game show host Wayne Brady recently opened up about a time where he feared for his daughter Maile’s life when she got locked out because of her skin color.
Wayne Brady shares his 17-year-old daughter Maile Brady with his ex-wife Mandie Taketa. In a recent interview with Access Hollywood, Brady shared a story of when his daughter got locked out of their home in Malibu, California. “A couple years ago — she must have been 14 or 15. We live in Malibu. Her mom lives in Malibu. I wasn’t home. She set the alarm off in my house. I freaked out because I was giving her the code and for whatever reason she put it in wrong and it wouldn’t accept and then the alarm company [said] we are sending armed response right now,” recalled Brady. “I was so worried that my daughter could not explain in the heat of the moment.”
Fearing the worst, Brady told Maile to go to her mother’s house, which was fortunately close by. “I told her, ‘Get out of the house and run around the corner and down the street and go to your mom’s house!'” said Brady. When Maile asked him why, he said in frustration: “Go to your mom’s house right now! Stop arguing with me!”
Wayne Brady explained that he got so worried because he once experienced a similar situation when he got locked out of his home in Sherman Oaks, California. “I locked myself out and tripped my own alarm and an armed response team came and I had to prove that it was my house,” Brady said. “The fear that these people would hurt me as I’m outside of my own house… it’s not unprecedented. I knew I could handle that because I was a man, but I was fearful for my little girl, and I placed all that fear on her.”
Wayne Brady shared that his ex-wife Mandie wasn’t too happy with him for snapping at Maile, and later they all sat down to discuss what had happened. Now, Brady says that his daughter has more knowledge of racism than ever. “We had to have a talk and we had to really talk about this, so now fast forward — she’s 17. She’s the head of her school’s Black student union, she’s a little activist and she knows her history,” says Brady.
In the wake of Minnesota resident George Floyd’s murder by police on May 25 and the subsequent anti-police brutality protests, Black parents such as Wayne Brady have been compelled to have difficult conversations with or give reminders to their children about racism and how to interact with police.
“Every young Black person that we send out in the world… we need to arm [them] with knowledge because it’s just necessary,” says Brady.
