On Sunday, the Game shared two photos of his 12-year-old daughter, California Dream, to his Instagram page.
In the post, the 43-year-old rapper — whose real name is Jayceon Terrell Taylor — reflected on how quickly time has passed as he compared a recent photo of Cali to a childhood throwback.
“Somebody please tell the LORD to help…. She was just 2 years old like a week ago….” he wrote. “Now my baby is 12 years old, growing up & it won’t stop ”
Perhaps preempting a negative response, the Game added: “[DISCLAIMER: before the internet get to INTERNET’n, me & her mother both agreed to let her do her make up for the young & beautiful @the_combs_twins sweet 16 birthday party].”
In the picture, which was taken at Diddy’s joint 16th birthday party for his twin daughters, Cali is crouching down on the floor while posing in a metallic silver dress and a white fur coat.
As a result, many felt that it wasn’t just the hair and makeup that made Cali’s look too mature for her, and they didn’t hold back in the comment section.
“12?!? She dressed like that 12 smh let me mind my business,” one person wrote. Another added: “Why she dressed like that for a 12 year old.”
One more asked: “Makeup is cool but the outfit is a no for me it’s giving 18+ not 12.” Someone else agreed: “This so inappropriate for a 12 year old ”
And the backlash intensified when popular Instagram page the Shade Room reposted the Game’s photos.
The post was captioned: “#TSRDaddyDuties: Aww! #TheGame’s little girl, #CaliDream is growing up right before our eyes!🥰 #CutenessOverload”
But once again, the focus was on how grown up Cali looks in the new photo. One of their followers commented: “12?! No ma’am this is TOO GROWN.”
Another wrote: “12 and dressing like that??”
And eventually, the response became so overwhelming that the Game decided to address the situation head-on in a comment on the Shade Room’s post. There, he explained that he and Cali’s mom, Tiffney Cambridge, had an hourlong discussion before deciding to let their daughter wear the dress to the party.
He also said that the dress was incredibly different to Cali’s normal style, and that he wanted her to feel confident among her peers.
“I’m gonna say this once so people who aren’t her parents get it,” his comment began. “My daughter is 12 & both of her parents are more than strict. Tiffney is a school teacher with a masters degree & 2 other degrees who is an amazing parent & is very capable of raising our daughter to be great even if I wasn’t in the picture… but I am in the picture so…”
“Tiffney called me & asked me would it be okay for my daughter to wear the dress in the photo to the twins party…,” the Game went on, “after talking to her thoroughly for over an hour about it, I agreed to let my daughter rock.. being that she wears a school uniform 5 days a week.”
“My daughter has grown tremendously over the last year & is now almost 5’9 in height & beautiful,” he added. “She’s a straight A student & is shy in most cases & dresses like a Tom boy in baggy jeans and Dr. Martin boots damn near everyday.”
“The twins had a futuristic bday theme & my baby wanted to look great & be in full confidence going to support her friends celebration,” the rapper concluded. “I am her father & her protector and she is & will always be an amazing young woman. I wish everyone happy holidays & thanks for your opinions on a child that belongs to US but we GOT THIS. ”
The Game’s comment sparked mixed reactions, with many people insisting that he shouldn’t feel the need to justify his parenting decisions to strangers on the internet.
“If the parents ain’t gotta problem y’all need to mind y’all’s,” one of the responses read.
But others argued that posting the photo to his 13.3 million followers was unnecessary. Someone wrote: “My thing is, don’t put pictures of ur children online if u don’t want public opinion.”
Another user said: “Sir, if you have to have an hour discussion about the dress..it probably shouldn’t be worn ..talking about Tiffany and her degrees like that makes matters better. Kids don’t need to dress like adults to have ‘full confidence’ either, all GREAT parents know that.”
Meanwhile, many followers called on the Shade Room to delete its post, claiming that it was encouraging the scrutiny. One person commented: “The Shade Room shouldn’t have posted her in my opinion. Y’all be the biggest issue.”
Some also took issue with the fact that the Game had promoted Cali’s Instagram account on his original post and encouraged people to follow her. He’d added in the caption: “Please FOLLOW her new page @calilynndreamtaylor the old one is hacked.”
“I’m just not feeling you telling your audience to follow her. She’s only 12. Don’t invite grown men to follow her,” one person said in response.
Another concerned follower agreed: “Game parent to parent I hope you and her mom has her passwords to her social media and check it all the time. You putting her ig page on your page for everyone to see is opening it up for predators. Honestly she don’t look 12 please be very careful.”
In addition to California Dream, the Game is dad to 19-year-old Harlem Caron and King Justice, 15.
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