Fans of “Modern Family” star Ed O’Neill were surprised to learn that he had a mixed race daughter named Claire.
Last week, Claire shared a TikTok video of herself lip-syncing to Tupac Shakur’s “Hit Em Up” when her famous dad made a cameo in the video.
“This was his idea,” Claire captioned the video.
@clair3on3ill this was his idea
Americans quickly assumed she was Black because of her ambiguous ethnicity. They lump any ethnicity in with the Black race when the person’s race is not obvious.
As the video went viral, Claire finally addressed the incorrect statements about her race and her age.
“Okay, let me clear things up for everyone: I’m 18 not 28. I am a surrogate baby (I’m not biologically related to my mom),” Claire said.
She continued, “I am 25% Black because the egg donor is 50%. My dad’s only been married once.”
Ed’s wife, actress Catherine Rusoff is Caucasian. Fans were quick to assume that she was Black too, or Ed stepped out on his wife, or he was married to another woman before her.
Ed, 78, and Catherine share another daughter, Sophia, 26.
Ed’s Black fans were disappointed that they can’t claim Claire as one of them.
One person wrote: “It’s sad that she felt the need to give all of those personal details. It will just become gossip fodder.”
Another person wrote: “First of all, she looks nowhere close to 28. Secondly, she’s only 25% Black? Wonder why they used a biracial donor.”
“I’m more confused than I was beforehand,” a third person commented.
Ed O’Neill is best known for his role as long-suffering shoe salesman Al Bundy who is married to an insufferable housewife (Katey Sagal) on the TV sitcom “Married… with Children” (1987–1997).
