Being the child of two extremely famous parents can't be easy, especially when one is an international supermodel.
Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley were married for nine years, and together they share a daughter, Alexa Ray Joel. The 32-year-old singer has been in the spotlight since she was a kid, attending red carpet events with her parents.
Recently, Alexa appeared with her mom and half-sister, Sailor Brinkley Cook, in an issue of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit.
Joel posted a body-positive message on her Instagram account after the issue was released, and people began comparing her looks to those of her sister, who looks a lot like her supermodel mom.
"Let's STOP degrading and START celebrating ourselves and others, from both the inside AND out," she wrote. "There's far too much degradation, competition, insecurity, and unhealthy standards associated with women and their bodies- particularly on social-media ... We are all perfect, just as we are. Please know that. Thank you @si_swimsuit for showcasing all heights, shapes, and sizes. For within our distinctions, our quirks, and our self-perceived "˜flaws'... therein lies the beauty."
Alexa lives her life just the way she likes it, fairly low-key. She doesn't have a Facebook or Twitter accounts, and just sticks to Instagram to share news about her life, like her engagement to restaurant owner Ryan Gleason.
Alexa has been open about learning to steer clear of the haters and not engage in any of the negative comments that come her way, but one user crossed the line on a recent Instagram post, and she couldn't hold her tongue any longer.
Christie Brinkley shared a photo of her daughter Sailor, gushing about how proud she is of her daughter for her modelling success.
Comments came flooding in to the post but one, which has since been deleted, appeared to have targeted Alexa and her looks and how she takes after her father. Alexa saw these comments and made a point of replying.
Alexa defended herself against the hateful troll, saying there's more to people than the way they look, and that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. In the past, Alexa has said that she learned from a young age to tune out the criticism.
"I was a painfully shy teenager," she admitted. "Before I decided to be a performer, I was a little shell-shocked when paparazzi would be around. When you're young, it's easy to pick on you. There was a tabloid page that would draw things on my face. When you come from privilege, they just see you as, "˜Oh, she got it all handed to her.'"
Others were quick to jump to Alexa's defense, a gesture which did not go unnoticed by her mom.
"I am also grateful for all the kind-hearted people on this thread that jumped to Alexa's defense. Thank you all," Brinkley wrote. "[You] have to feel sorry for people like that."
