‘Betrayed’ by Her Father’s Brothers, Laila Ali Struggled to Deal With Her Insecurities for a Long Time

Former WBC, WIBA, IWBF and IBA female super middleweight champion Laila Ali had to live up to her father’s expectations and legacy all her life. While many could argue that she has done justice to her father’s legacy given her accomplishments in the ring, it certainly was not easy for her to live under ‘The Great’ Muhammad Ali’s shadow.

The control he had over her during her childhood made Laila have some feelings of resentment towards her father. Moreover, she even detailed how he once fired her nanny after she had grown close to her.

Laila Ali reveals why Muhammad Ali fired her nanny

On the 18th page of her book ‘Reach!: Finding Strength, Spirit, and Personal Power’, she describes her childhood inside ‘The People’s Champ’s’ home. She stated that he hired an English woman as a nanny to keep supervision over her. However, he would later fire her after some of Ali’s Muslim brothers wanted him to hire an African American.

“The great bulk of our supervision came from our nannies, Some were strict, some weren’t, An Englishwoman, who was especially kind, was fired because my father’s Muslim brothers felt he should employ blacks exclusively,” she wrote.

This incident might have been the right choice for Ali who was a very vocal advocate of black civil rights. However, for Laila, this would turn out to be a horrible decision as she grew accustomed to her old nanny and wasn’t happy about her leaving.

Laila details why she was upset after her nanny was fired

In the next few lines, she detailed why it was hard for her when her nanny left. She claimed that she grew very fond of her nanny who was her only friend in a house filled with strangers. Moreover, she added that she felt ‘betrayed‘ by her father who took such a drastic step without even consulting her which even led to some permanent emotional damage.

Read More: Despite Being Muhammad Ali’s Daughter, Laila Ali Used to Work at McDonald’s

“Her dismissal pained me, She and I had become close; I had grown to trust and even love her, In that enormous house filled with strangers, connecting to a caring soul was important. When the connection was broken, I felt betrayed. In my childhood, people were always coming and going, I learned not to grow close to anyone,” she added.

The extent of her father’s actions went to haunt Laila for many years as she was now insecure about getting attached to another person. However, she has matured a lot since then realizing and accepting everything about her childhood.

What did you think about Ali firing Laila’s nanny? Let us know in the comments.