Shakira wants the press to give her family some space.
Nearly a year after her split from soccer star Gerard Piqué, the singer has taken to Instagram to issue a statement asking for more privacy from the media.
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“Dear friends, journalists and media,” she wrote over the weekend. “At this time of changes in my life as a public figure, it is understandable that there is a permanent curiosity on the part of the press about me and my family. However, my children, Milan and Sasha have lived a very difficult year, suffering an incessant siege and relentless persecution by paparazzi and various media in Barcelona.”
She continued, “Now that they are beginning a new stage in their lives, I strongly ask the media on behalf of my children to please respect their right to privacy.”
Shakira specifically asked that the press stay away from her kids at their school and extra-curricular activities, “as has happened every day in Barcelona.”
“I trust that journalists and photographers are sensitive to the situation Milan and Sasha are facing and can behave in the most humane way possible with them, taking into account that it is about the health and physical and emotional integrity of two minors under 8 and 10 years old who just want to be able to go out and attend school feeling safe and having the peace of mind of not being persecuted or subjected to the constant scrutiny of the cameras,” she said.
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Finally, she made the appeal personal, writing, “I extend this request no longer as an artist, but as a mother who wants to protect and take care of the psychological and emotional well-being of her children so that they can live a healthy and happy life, as every child deserves.”
Shakira and Piqué split after being together for 11 years, having met shortly before the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
Earlier this year, Shakira released a track with DJ Bizarrap taking aim at her ex, and his new girlfriend, 23-year-old Clara Chia.
The singer is also set to stand trial over alleged tax fraud in Spain.
