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Nicole Richie is responding to online reactions to her daughter not calling her Harlow.
Speaking exclusively to PEOPLE on Wednesday, Jan. 14, at an event celebrating the U.S. debut of Australian makeup brand Nude By Nature, Richie, 44, opened up about a post he shared on Instagram on Monday, Jan. 12, in honor of his daughter Harlow Winter-Kate’s 18th birthday.
At the time, Richie celebrated the milestone by sharing a photo of his daughter over the years on a merry-go-round, writing in the caption, “18 years of you ♥️🎂 @katemaddennn.”
Fans were quick to point out that the account Ritchie tagged was named Kate, one of Harlow’s middle names, leading them to speculate that Ritchie might go by the name Kate instead of Harlow.
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“Yeah, she calls me by her middle name,” Richie tells PEOPLE at EDITION in West Hollywood, California. “She has her whole life,” he added of the online reaction to his post.
Regarding the comment about the name change left under her post, she added, “I didn’t see it, but it makes sense…she goes by her middle name.”
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Richie shares a daughter and son Sparrow, 16, with Good Charlotte singer Joel Madden.
Madden responded to Richie’s daughter’s birthday post on Monday, writing in the comments section, “That’s my girlfriend ❤️✨.”
Her brother Benji Madden also commented: “You made a grown man cry!!!😭😭😭😭😭😭😭❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ I love you, Kate! You’re the worst! Never forget me! Happy 18th!!🎉🎉❤️❤️🎉.”
Back in October, Richie opened up to PEOPLE about his two children, saying he’s happy to see them grow into teenagers.
“When I think back on it now, I remember very well meeting kids at an age where they remember everything from that time. So they tell me stories of their comings and goings and their friends’ comings and goings, and it sounds exactly like it was when I was going through my freshman year of high school,” Richie tells PEOPLE. “It’s fun. It’s like a TV show.”
Her comments came after she appeared on an episode of The Drew Barrymore Show with her friend and former co-star Paris Hilton in December 2024. At the time, Richie opened up about his approach to social media and the impact it has had on his two children.
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“Well, the platform is there, it exists, and that’s how people at that age communicate with each other,” said the proud mother. “And, you know, I think instead of making it this no-no, I started to want to, first of all, really figure it out for myself and know the world as they know it.”
She added: “The digital world and the physical world are very different, but very real.”
Ritchie went on to say that one of the most important things you have to do as a parent is “to not know or know anything about the digital world, because it just separates me further from this generation that grew up in the digital world.”
Social media isn’t the only thing Richie has learned from his kids. In August 2024, The Simple Life alum told PEOPLE that she learns “everything” when it comes to makeup and hair from her daughter.
“I learned everything from her,” Ritchie said at the time. “You’d think I’d know how to do makeup because I’ve been doing it for so long, but I’m really bad at makeup, so she teaches me everything.”
