Taye Diggs and Idina Menzel’s 14-year-old son, Walker, has talent running through his veins — but that doesn’t mean he’s set on following in his famous parents’ footsteps.
“I’m trying to let him make those decisions,” Diggs, 53, exclusively tells Us Weekly while chatting about his Earth Month campaign with Tru Earth. “He’s got a beautiful voice. He’s hilarious. He’s very good-looking. He can do all the things that I can do even better.”
For now, Diggs says his son’s focus is on sports and not on singing. “He’s found basketball and he’s dedicated to that and we’re just doing everything we can to support him,” the actor shares.
Diggs and Menzel, 52, welcomed their son six years after tying the knot in 2003. They announced their separation after 10 years of marriage in 2013. Menzel later married her husband, Aaron Lohr, in 2017, while Diggs has been dating Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood star Apryl Jones since 2021.
Putting their child first. Idina Menzel and Taye Diggs split in 2013, but they’ve remained committed to amicably coparenting their son, Walker. The Frozen voice actress and the Chicago star welcomed Walker in 2009, six years after tying the knot. The former couple met while starring together in the original Broadway production of Rent, later […]
Diggs and Menzel have maintained a cordial coparenting relationship in the years since their split, which the All American alum attributes to them always putting their child first. “A lot of times when couples split up, it’s very easy to, kind of, make it about you,” he explains to Us. “But as long as you’re thinking about the child first, I think it’s pretty difficult to go down the wrong path, and that’s what we do.”
Like all parents, Diggs said being the father of a teenager comes with its ups and downs. “The most rewarding is we can have, kind of adult, conversations. He has a mind that works and can challenge me, and that’s amazing when you help create a little being and now they’re in conversations with you,” he shares.
Taye Diggs and his son Walker Diggs. Kevork S. Djansezian/Getty Images
On the flip side, “One of the challenging moments is his mood swings and just kind of going with the flow and resisting the urge to act like, you know, a 12-year-old girlfriend. ‘Are you mad at me? Are you mad at me? Are you mad at me?’” Diggs states. “Just going with the flow. If he’s quiet, he’s quiet and he’ll come around. So yeah, that’s been an interesting journey.”
Regardless of his son’s teenage struggles, Diggs praised Walker for being “much cooler” than he was at age 14. “When I was his age, girls weren’t interested in me, so I didn’t have to deal with any of this stuff,” he jokes. “But he’s a good-looking kid, he’s a basketball player, he’s got cool hair, cool sneakers. He’s going to have some issues.”
Looking back on their love. Idina Menzel and Taye Diggs have moved on from their marriage, but they still have feelings about it that they are willing to share publicly. The Frozen star and the All American actor met in 1995 while starring in the Broadway production of Rent. They eventually began dating and tied […]
One piece of advice Diggs is imparting to his son is the importance of taking care of the environment, something he is doing through his Earth Month campaign with Tru Earth. “I have to say I’m a little embarrassed because I wasn’t one of these people where this was on the top of my priority list, the environment,” he tells Us. “But I couldn’t help but be involved when Tru Earth explained to me how simple it was to have an impact on the environment.”
One of the ways people can become more eco-friendly is through using the brand’s Eco-Strips laundry detergent. “Instead of using the big plastic containers, they came up with these tiny little strips that you can pull out the plastic, throw into the laundry laundry’s done, boom.”
