Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker's progeny, Alabama Barker, was born under the limelight. But 18 years later, she's fearlessly taking on the haters, and getting real about the struggle of life in the public eye.
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00:00Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker's progeny, Alabama Barker, was born under the limelight.
00:05But 18 years later, she's fearlessly taking on the haters and getting real about the struggle
00:10of life in the public eye.
00:12Alabama Barker never had to chase the spotlight.
00:14It was already waiting for her when she was born on Christmas Eve in 2005.
00:19Music fans already know her father, Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker, while others recognize
00:23her mother, Shana Moakler, as a former Miss USA runner-up and model.
00:27Once upon a time, the family also had a reality series called Meet the Barkers, which ran
00:31on MTV for two seasons back in 2005.
00:34The final episode highlighted Alabama's birth.
00:36But while she was still an infant, Alabama's parents divorced in 2008, after allegations
00:41of infidelity ended their four-year marriage.
00:43Claiming a dalliance between Travis and Kim Kardashian killed their relationship, Moakler
00:47later revealed to Us Weekly,
00:48"...I divorced my ex because I saw them.
00:50I caught them having an affair."
00:52Hoping to mitigate the pain that Alabama and her older brother, Landon, might endure after
00:56the split, Travis told People magazine in 2016,
00:59"...the kids' best interest is what we all have in mind.
01:02There's nothing else.
01:03Our relationship was so long ago.
01:04We're just being friends.
01:06Doing the best co-parenting is the most important thing."
01:09Whatever exposure fans had to Alabama Barker was initially limited to paparazzi shots of
01:14her parents taking her and Landon to kid-friendly events, like the 2011 Puss in Boots movie
01:18premiere.
01:19Other than Barker telling TMZ that his kids were on vegan diets, everything about Alabama
01:23and her siblings seemed rather regular.
01:26But the kids were already regulars on the red carpet with their dad.
01:29Alabama got to rock the most adorable looks for the 2011 Billboard Music Awards, the Cars
01:332 premiere, the 2012 Kids' Choice Awards, the Lego Movie premiere, and more.
01:37"...they kinda know what's up.
01:39They've been touring with me since they were two."
01:41For the 2016 Grammy Awards, the siblings were spotted once again stepping out in rocker
01:45style with their famous dad.
01:47"...Hey you two!"
01:48"...Hi!"
01:49"...Are you excited to be here?"
01:50"...Yeah."
01:51While Landon went for a casual, designer t-shirt look, Alabama sported a pink, floor-length
01:56dress with a matching beaded top.
01:58Even at 10 years old, the mini-fashionista was already developing her own sense of style.
02:02Travis told Us Weekly,
02:03"...My daughter was like, I'm wearing this because this is what girls wear to the Grammys."
02:08After 6-year-old Alabama Barker was seen at a Blink-182 concert distracted by a video
02:12game offstage, some people assumed the youngster wasn't too interested in music.
02:16But it turns out, that couldn't have been further from the truth.
02:19A 2017 Instagram video demonstrated her prowess on the drums, but supportive dad Travis also
02:24explained to Young Hollywood that Alabama had other interests.
02:27"...And Alabama came to me at some point and said, look, I don't know if I want to be a
02:31drummer.
02:32I like playing drums with you, I like spending time with you, but I think I'd rather sing
02:35and play piano."
02:36According to Travis, he was on board, and the rest is history.
02:40Alabama wasted no time in releasing a pop single called Our House in 2017 and dropping
02:44Heartbreaker the following year.
02:46She also issued a couple of renditions of Yuletide songs in the interim.
02:50Alabama was quick to credit her dad, telling Entertainment Tonight,
02:52"...My dad always helps in any way he can.
02:55He does a good job of guiding me and my brother, Landon, with music and life in general."
02:59Travis noted his daughter adjusted quickly to the recording environment, telling Los
03:03Angeles outlet KTLA,
03:04"...She has amazing studio etiquette, and she's a really hard worker."
03:09Alabama Barker hasn't said much about her mother, Shana Moakler, until 2021, when the
03:13mother and daughter started publicly feuding around the same time Travis started dating
03:17Kourtney Kardashian.
03:18That's when Moakler, who originally blamed their marital breakup on Travis' alleged affair
03:22with Kim Kardashian, saw red.
03:24Moakler alleged to TMZ,
03:25"...My family is broken because of this family, and now my kids and I are alienated from each
03:30other because of another sister in the family, so yay for me!"
03:33For her part, Alabama questioned the choices made by her mother, who was dating professional
03:37poker player Matthew Rondo.
03:39She posted to Instagram in 2021,
03:41"...Everybody thinks my mother is amazing.
03:43Matthew is nothing but awful to her.
03:45Not only that, but he cheats on her."
03:47But Alabama reserved some verbal venom for her mom as well, revealing that Shana had
03:51never been a huge part of her life.
03:52She added,
03:53"...Can you guys stop painting her out to be an amazing mom?
03:56Did your moms ask to see you on Mother's Day?
03:58Cuz mine didn't.
03:59I'm done keeping it a secret.
04:00Reality shows."
04:01She later seemingly announced that she was severing connections with her mother in a
04:04TikTok video while lip-syncing to the hip-hop single,
04:07"...Barking," by Rams, and captioning it,
04:09"...I cut off family too.
04:10They do you the dirtiest."
04:12While the rapport between Alabama and her mother had soured, her relationship with Kourtney
04:16Kardashian was flourishing.
04:18Ever since 2021, when Kourtney got together with Travis, the reality star has gifted Alabama
04:23all sorts of goodies, including a $795 Prada handbag.
04:27It might have been an expensive gesture, but apparently, Alabama was already sold on her
04:31dad's main squeeze.
04:32"...Here we are.
04:33We are doing it."
04:35Alabama appeared to be especially taken by the couple's heart-and-soul duet on the piano,
04:39which she captured on her Instagram Story.
04:41But both Alabama and her brother Landon supported Kourtney and Travis when they eventually got
04:46married in a posh Italian ceremony in 2022.
04:49Still, what was especially telling was a birthday note Alabama wrote in April 2023 when Kourtney
04:54turned 44.
04:55The teen posted to Instagram Stories,
04:57"...You're the best stepmom I could ask for.
04:59You are so caring and generous for others.
05:01You are such a family person and such a hard-working mom.
05:04Even if you don't feel good or had a hard day, you always put your family first.
05:08You have such a beautiful aura.
05:10I wouldn't want another stepmom."
05:12Long before Alabama Barker reached adulthood, she was curating her wardrobe.
05:16She told ET back when she was 12,
05:18"...Since I can remember, I was always given the freedom to wear whatever I wanted.
05:22That really helped me establish a style of my own.
05:24I love fashion and dressing up."
05:26But the older she got, the more her statement-making looks attracted negative attention.
05:30The online frenzy over her apparent risque style went into overdrive in 2023, when a
05:34photo showed Alabama posing with her jacket fully open, and very little underneath it.
05:39One angry commenter wrote,
05:40"...Shaking my head.
05:41She's 17.
05:42You should live your age."
05:44The backlash continued when Alabama posted a revealing strappy dress and a series of
05:48online bikini shots that have since been taken down.
05:51Still, none of that naysaying was enough to sway Alabama towards more conservative clothing.
05:55She posted on her Instagram Story,
05:57"...Let's stop getting mad on my page that you felt the need to over-sexualize me and
06:01have a problem with it."
06:03Thanks to her dad Travis and stepmom Kourtney, who have long been accustomed to taking on
06:07the haters via the tabloids, social media, and just about everything else, Alabama Barker
06:11has proven to be anything but a wallflower.
06:14But when dealing with the slew of haters who take issue with everything from her fashion
06:17sense to her makeup regimen and her body, it helps that Alabama's got roughly 4.6 million
06:22TikTok followers in her corner.
06:24If anything, she's sympathetic toward her detractors, telling E! News in 2023,
06:28"...I just feel like it's a self-projection.
06:30And I hate that for them, because I wish them the best, and it's just them projecting
06:33their insecurities.
06:35And you just need to know to keep going when people do something like that."
06:37When Alabama does drag back, it's usually with some creativity on TikTok, where she'll
06:42lip-sync strategic lyrics with the caption,
06:44"...when Catherine with three kids, only waterline liner, four different colored blonde and Tom
06:48shoes talk about my makeup or my age."
06:51On other occasions, she chooses instead to offer some advice, like this TikTok nugget
06:55from March 2024.
06:56"...please be more mindful and have proof, because you never know what's happening behind
07:02closed doors."
07:03Alabama Barker seems to be impervious to attacks on social media, especially when it
07:07comes to her looks.
07:08As she responded on TikTok in 2023,
07:11"...and I would love to see you guys getting random pictures taken of you when you're leaving
07:15the grocery store, middle of the sentence, and your mouth wide open, and let's see how
07:18beautiful you look."
07:20Still, such a virtual arsenal hasn't been particularly useful in dealing with more oppressing
07:25like the issues with her thyroid and autoimmune disease, which were responsible for her weight
07:29fluctuations in the first place.
07:30She shared,
07:31"...once my thyroid is balanced and my autoimmune disease is balanced, I will go back to my
07:35normal weight, which is causing the weight gain."
07:39The Mayo Clinic cited weight gain as one of the many symptoms of thyroid disease, which
07:42is manageable if detected early.
07:44But autoimmune diseases are a trickier situation.
07:47Barker was hospitalized in February 2024 for an undisclosed reason, and asked for prayers
07:52from fans.
07:53She was out of the hospital the next day, posting on Instagram,
07:56"...I'm back baby!"
07:58The perks of good fortune and celebrity weren't enough to mitigate the pain surrounding the
08:02loss of a loved one.
08:03In July 2023, Alabama Barker and her family were crushed to learn that their family friend,
08:0813-year-old Alex Etheridge, had died from bone cancer.
08:11The family didn't know Etheridge very long, but Alex, who idolized Travis in Blink-182,
08:16cast an extremely positive impression on them when meeting at a concert a month earlier.
08:20After his passing, Travis published a letter he was writing to Alex before he died, sharing
08:25in part,
08:26"...when my daughter Alabama told me about you and your story, I couldn't wait to hang.
08:29I will keep my time with Alex close to my heart forever."
08:32Alabama also lost her grandparents on her mother's side that year.
08:36She posted a tribute, writing on Instagram,
08:38"...I love you very dearly both of you and I hope you are reunited and finally at relief.
08:42Till we meet again."
08:44More recently, in May of 2024, Alabama shared a GoFundMe to provide assistance to a close
08:49friend named Julie, whom she called a dear aunt and had been diagnosed with brain cancer.
08:53She posted on Instagram,
08:54"...it could be an honor if you could donate even $1."
08:58For nearly two decades, fans have watched Alabama Barker transform from a wide-eyed
09:02infant to a music-loving preteen and into an all-out glam adult splashed all over the
09:07media.
09:08But one aspect that has remained consistent for the star is her unwavering bond with her
09:11father.
09:12This may have surprised people, given Travis Barker's famously wild years with Blink-182.
09:17That rock-and-roll persona subsequently triggered some on social media to slam Travis for falling
09:21down on the parenting job.
09:23Most pointed to the time he seemingly allowed Alabama to wear a sexy catsuit just after
09:27she turned 18 in December 2023.
09:30But while Travis doesn't see himself as strict, a TikTok quiz his daughter conducted in January
09:342024 demonstrated that he actually had set some pretty clear boundaries.
09:38When asked what he would do if he found out she snuck out of the house the previous night,
09:41he replied,
09:42I'm gonna tell you how dangerous it is and maybe try to put you on restriction."
09:47I'm not even kidding you, restriction was his thing, okay?"
09:52While Travis hardly appears to be a softie, the most telling revelation about their relationship
09:56was the online exchange that occurred when Kourtney Kardashian was undergoing fetal surgery
10:00in 2023, before their son Rocky was born that November.
10:04Alabama wrote to her dad on her Instagram story,
10:06You're truly the best dad!