(CNN) — Parenting can be difficult, even for musical legends.
Singer Gloria Estefan, in a new episode of the HBO Max and CNN series “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace?”, opened up to Wallace about her reluctance to let her daughter, Emily, talk to her grandmother about her sexuality before die. (CNN and HBO Max share parent company Warner Bros. Discovery.)
In 2020, Estefan and Emily opened up about the conflict in “Red Table Talk: The Estefans”. At that time, Stefan explained his reasons noting that she wasn’t embarrassed, but that she had warned Emily about her approach out of concern for her mother’s health. Since then, she has apologized to Emily.
“I told him to go slow,” he told Wallace. “You don’t sit her down and say, boom. Give it a minute to process.”
Estefan shared additional details about her decision to publicly address what happened.
“In the Latino community, many of these issues are not touched on, they are taboo. People see, but they don’t want to talk about it, they don’t want to see it,” said Estefan. “And the whole point of doing those 20 episodes was that I have all these people who have loved me over the years and have supported me. And I want them to realize that we’re all just families trying to get through the tough times in life.”
Since then, Estefan has received “countless” letters from supporters saying the show also helped them talk to their parents, she said.
“Life is complicated. Life is hard,” Estefan said. “And we wanted to share those things with people, so they would realize that these are conversations that we need to have. And the response was really wonderful.”
Estefan applauded her daughter, who is also a singer, praising her willpower. The industry is tougher now for young musicians, she said, but Emily is determined—she’s even featured on Estefan’s new album, “Estefan Family Christmas.”
“All I’ve ever told him is do what you’re passionate about. You have to do what makes you happy,” Estefan said. “And that’s what she’s doing.”