Fans cringed when Michael Jackson hung his son over a Berlin balcony as the flailing baby looked ready to plunge for a brief second.
Is it deja vu with Australia’s popular “Crocodile Hunter,” Steve Irwin? On Friday, the TV host casually clutched his month-old son with one hand while feeding a croc a chicken snack with the other.
“Crocodile Dumbdee!” screamed outraged letter-writers in Sydney’s The Daily Telegraph.
What goes through the minds of celebrities who dangle their children in dangerous ways for public consumption?
Words such as superhuman, self-centered and narcissistic pop up.
“If they did this privately, nobody would know about it. They did this to display their children and to display their control over their children, that these children are like their possessions,” says Dr. Carole Lieberman, a Beverly Hills psychiatrist who has twice filed child-abuse complaints against Michael Jackson with Los Angeles’ Child Protective Services.
“They did this to enhance the way they look in front of their fans, to make them seem like Superman. They were both asking for it when they did it so publicly. I don’t think either one expected such a reaction.”
Irwin defends his actions, saying he had the baby secured and that this was a life lesson he already had been teaching his daughter. This type of exposure was necessary, he said, because they live near crocs. His parents gave him the same type of experience.
So are Jackson’s and Irwin’s kids going to be damaged by their father’s actions?
“At some point, I think these kids will feel used and manipulated,” says Dr. David Shaw, a Jupiter, Fla. psychologist.
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“Dangling a kid in front of an alligator or off a balcony is the opposite of safety. … The kid will feel a lack of safety and nurturance, and is going to have anger and potential safety and self-esteem issues.”
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Edited by Lara Weber ([email protected]) and Kris Karnopp ([email protected])