Sofia Richie’s Baby Gender Reveal Sparks Fury

Sofia Richie has delighted many people online with an intimate gender reveal—but some people aren’t happy with how she went about it.

The 25-year-old daughter of singer Lionel Richie and fashion designer Diane Alexander is expecting her first child with husband Elliot Grainge, a 30-year-old music executive. She first shared the news in an interview with Vogue published on 25 January. The couple got married in April 2023 and during the interview, Ritchie revealed they would be welcoming their child later this year.

While Richie previously told the publication that she was expecting a girl, she shared an emotional video to TikTok Sunday of her having an intimate gender reveal with her husband and their dog in the garden.

Grainge was seen holding a confetti popper as Richie stood off to the side. “Okay, ready?” Richie asked before she began the countdown. Grainge eventually let go of the popper, which released pink smoke and confetti into the air. The loud noise clearly scared her golden retriever—and people online weren’t happy because of that.

Newsweek contacted Richie’s manager for comment via email Tuesday.

The E! News Instagram account reshared Richie’s TikTok video and people have stated their concerns over the dog in the comments.

“That dog was scared. The amount of people that are so out of touch with reality is just..” one person wrote.

“Okay … but was giving the Dog a heart attack necessary 😕 poor Dog,” said another.

“Scared the living s*** outta that dog,” a third person wrote.

Someone else added: “So sad for the dog.”

Not everyone was worried, however, as many said they thought that while the dog may have been scared momentarily, it looked like it recovered quickly.

“He’s fine lol. If he was that frightened he would be cowering with his tail between his legs and not running anywhere near them,” one Instagram user wrote.

“The dogs were ok. They got startled but then came right back around when they realized there was no threat. The same as jump scaring a person. CHILL,” said another.

Others ignored the dog, pointing out that they loved how intimate the moment was.

“How cute and they did it all alone,” one person wrote.

“This!!! I mean it wasn’t this big bash it just seems small and intimate! I love it!” said another.

“I love that they did this just the two them!!💕 special,” someone else added.

In her interview with Vogue, Richie explained she’d always loved watching gender reveal videos online. To make her gender reveal work, she had her ob-gyn text her assistant, Becca, the baby’s gender, while the couple bought one pink and one blue party popper.

“[Becca] left out the one with the correct colour inside, and Elliot and I popped it together. We both really thought it was a boy, so it was a true shock,” the media personality said.