Queen Latifah’s Son: Everything She’s Said About Parenting

Queen Latifah has taken on one of her favorite roles yet: mother to her son.

Prior to the Grammy Award-winning artist welcoming her first child, she had already stepped into a caregiver role, taking care of her mom, Rita Owens, after she was diagnosed with a heart condition in 2005.

“As a caregiver — it’s just like being a parent, like some things really don’t matter,” Latifah, born Dana Owens, told PEOPLE prior to her mom’s death in 2018. “All the kind of frivolous things sort of fall to the side because there’s something way more important than all that. And when we go through these things together as a family, I realize, these are the important things, these are the important moments.”

While Latifah is extremely private about her personal life, telling The New York Times in 2008, “You don’t get that part of me,” she has openly expressed her desire to start a family.

“I think I’m ready. I can’t say what God has for me, but you will see. You’ll see when I’m lugging the baby on the hip that there is actually a youngin’ around here,” she told E! Online in 2016.

Read on to learn everything Queen Latifah has said about her path to parenthood.

His birth came shortly after tragedy struck Latifah

While Latifah longed to become a mother, her new role came shortly after she experienced the tragic loss of her mom following a long struggle with the autoimmune disease scleroderma.

“Anyone that has ever met her knows what a bright light she was on this earth. She was gentle, but strong, sweet, but sassy, worldy but pragmatic, a woman of great faith and certainly the love of my life,” she shared in a statement.

” She was always an encouragement,” she shared about her late mom on the PEOPLE Every Day podcast in 2021. “She believed in us as youngsters,” which Latifah credits with making “a big difference.”

He is Latifah’s first child

Latifah became a first-time mom when she welcomed her son into the world. While his birth marked a lifelong dream for the Girls Trip actress, she shared she’d like to give him siblings.

“I’ve always envisioned myself with a big family, I’m a late bloomer. I’m a late bloomer with a lot of things and you know — nobody’s perfect. I’m an overachiever in some ways and just like slow as molasses in other ways. I think I kind of needed to grow and mature and get everything kind of taken care of with everything before I was able to really deal with it,” she previously told PEOPLE Now.

Latifah is “a natural” at being a mom

The actress had plenty of parenting practice before becoming a mom. The rapper revealed that she helped two women with babies get through airport security while flying to New York in 2017.

“I met the loveliest lady who had like 3 kids with her, one a baby. She was trying to get her stuff together, we were just having a polite conversation and I said, ‘You need me to hold that baby?’ She was like, ‘Would you mind?’ and I’m like, ‘Give me the baby,’ ” she recalled. “So I hold that baby while she got everything together with the three kids and stuff and her husband came through and then he took the baby.”

She continued, “Then another lady came through with two other kids, husband and a dog and she’s trying to get her boots on. I said, ‘You need me to hold that baby?’ She was like, ‘Would you mind?’ I said, ‘Give me that baby.’ I mean I think I’m a natural at this thing.”

He leads a childhood out of the spotlight

Latifah, who is notoriously private, provides her son with a quiet life out of the spotlight. Her son made his first public appearance when he was approximately 4 years old when he attended a Harlem Globetrotters basketball game at Barclays Center in Brooklyn with her.

The toddler sat courtside next to his mom, who wore a cream tracksuit, baseball cap and smile to take the big game in. Latifah was even seen hugging one of the players and posing alongside him for a picture during the exhibition.

He also joined Latifah at the 2024 Paris Olympics. They were seen in the stands on July 29, cheering on the U.S. swimming team. Sitting beside his mom, Rebel was wearing a Nike headband and a yellow Lakers jersey.

Latifah gave him a shout-out when accepting her BET Lifetime Achievement Award

It was a momentous occasion when Latifah received the BET Lifetime Achievement Award in 2021. Not only was she being recognized for her talent and decades of hard work, but she also used the platform to honor her son by giving him a sweet shout-out.

While closing out her remarks, she alluded to the fact that she had welcomed a child. “Eboni, my love. Rebel, my love,” she said, adding, “Happy Pride.”

Latifah had previously shared that she would keep any pending baby news private.

“I will probably be six months pregnant before anyone knows about it and I won’t talk about the baby until after it’s born,” she told SF Gate in 2008.

Her acceptance speech marked the first time the actress publicly mentioned her son since becoming a mom.