Dave Grohl should ditch 'spotlight' after secret baby revelation, keep focus on one thing: expert
As the founder of one of the most successful rock bands in history, Dave Grohl is no stranger to the spotlight. While he's been at the center of judgment throughout the years, the Foo Fighters' frontman is now facing a new level of scrutiny after sharing a rare insight into his private life.
On Tuesday, Grohl — who shares three daughters with wife Jordyn Blum: Violet, 18, Harper, 15, and Ophelia, 10 — revealed he had an affair and fathered a child outside his 21-year marriage.
"I've recently become the father of a new baby daughter, born outside of my marriage," he wrote in a statement posted to Instagram. "I plan to be a loving and supportive parent to love my wife and my children, and I am doing everything I can to regain their trust and earn their forgiveness," he continued. "We're grateful for your consideration toward all the children involved, as we move forward together."
FOO FIGHTERS' DAVE GROHL ADMITS TO FATHERING BABY OUTSIDE HIS MARRIAGE
Representatives for Grohl did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Though his reputation "will take an inevitable hit," according to Doug Eldridge, founder of Achilles PR, it's in Grohl's best interest to shift his focus to what really matters.
"Grohl simply needs to get out of the spotlight and go underground — more so for his personal life and children than for his public relations profile," Eldridge told Fox News Digital. "Keep the main thing, the main thing: your children."
"If you turn your back on your wife and children for another woman, you've got bigger problems than mere tabloid speculation," he continued. "It's absolutely devastating for the spouse and children when one of the parents commits adultery — the impact is often far more damaging to the children, no matter their age."
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"The damage here is on two levels: practical and public relations, and the latter is a distant second," he added. "His reputation will take an inevitable hit, but his focus should almost solely be on the damage done to his wife and children — what they think of you is the only thing that should matter to you as a husband and father."
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While Grohl — who split from his first wife, Jennifer Youngblood, in 1996 after admitting to infidelity — took a bold approach in publicly addressing the affair, that route will benefit him in the long-run, said Eldridge.
"In all likelihood, it was probably a ‘non-choice choice.' In other words, the binary decision put before Dave Grohl was something to the effect of 'It's yours, and I'm keeping it, so you can either: 1) pay this amount, and I'll remain quiet; or 2) don't pay, and I'll go public; it's destroy your marriage, your family, and your professional reputation.' Grohl getting in front of the story has minor benefit at this point, other than avoiding, and somewhat mitigating, the weeks of speculation and rumors preceding the inevitable mea culpa."
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"It's no longer about Grohl's reputation, it's about protecting your children."
When it comes to saving his family dynamic and regaining their trust, Grohl has a long road ahead of him.
"Relationship redemption is always possible, but it needs to be coupled with change in behavior," Alessandra Conti, Celebrity Matchmaker, told Fox News Digital. "Therapy and actual repentance. The old trope of ‘Boys will be boys’ and, in this case, ‘rock stars will be rock stars,’ is tired and no longer acceptable in society's new standards of conducting oneself in a relationship, because there are now so many different socially acceptable ways of being non-monogamous in a relationship, if that's the road that a person desires to go down."
"If a person is unable to contain their impulses to be with more than one person, they should be open about it to their partner or partners in these cases," she continued. "Society has embraced the idea of ethically non-monogamous relationships and polyamorous relationships, and in that embrace it is only logical that cheating in a marriage is no longer admissible in the court of public opinion."
"However, this court tends to be only a momentary judge, and as with so many other stars who have had major infidelity in the past, his musical legacy won't be affected long term," she added.