In a previous interview on the Ellen DeGeneres Show, Mark Wahlberg shared his experience while attending a father-daughter dance at his child’s school, and why he had to confront the DJ during the event. While Wahlberg was able to capture a sweet photo of him and his daughter, Grace, before the dance, he wasn’t as lucky when it came to sharing a dance with his daughter. “I didn’t get one dance. And I told her we were going to do the whole big circle and I was going to go off,” Wahlberg recalled in 2020. “And she said, ‘Dad, if you embarrass me, I will never talk to you again.’ But what she did do is she hung out with me.” He continued, “She sat there on the edge of the stage, by the DJ. And then I’m sitting there with one other dad and I’m like, ‘This is not an edited version of this song. There are explicit lyrics being played at a school dance for girls and I’m like no good.'” After realizing the lyrics of the song were inappropriate for a dance with young children, he decided to say something to the DJ. “I told the DJ and he’s like, ‘Oh, I thought it was.’ I said, ‘What are you doing?’ I’m hearing F-bombs and this and that. Not okay.” Ultimately, Wahlberg said he had a great time with his daughter at the event and he didn’t end up embarrassing her in the dance circle.

Wahlberg shares four children with wife Rhea Durham: Ella, 20, Michael, 18, Brendan, 15, and Grace, 14. Wahlberg has been open about parenting and how he often leans on his faith for “strength and guidance” to be the best parent he can be. “I want to give my kids the world, but I also want them to appreciate everything, to succeed, to be good people, to enjoy life,” Wahlberg has said about his parenting philosophy. “This is my most important role. If I fail at this, I fail at everything.”