‘I’m Killing Us All’: Years Later, Laila Ali Realized Just How ‘Stupid and Dangerous’ Muhammad Ali Was Back in the Day

A child cannot fully grasp the reality of life until he is fully grown up which was exactly the case with boxing legend Muhammad Ali’s daughter, Laila Ali. The former female middleweight champion revealed that while she was in the dark about her father’s nature as a child, she realized later on the reality of her situation.

In the second chapter of her book ‘Reach! Finding Strength, Spirit, and Personal Power’ she detailed some dark realities about her father and what her childhood was like. She first described how her father loved to make people feel special and had an unusual aura around him. However, she also revealed that ‘The People’s Champ’ would act in an immature manner, not befitting his age or status.

Muhammad Ali loved speeding through Wilshire Boulevard with his family

On the 1oth page, Laila described that her father loved making everyone around him feel better. Moreover, he would also sometimes take her and his family on car rides, putting them on display for the whole world to see.

“He loved to praise. He’d say you were the greatest cook in the world, the greatest writer, the greatest golfer or caddy or actor or plumber. He loved making people feel good. He loved piling us in the back of his Rolls-Royce convertible and, with the top down, ride down Wilshire Boulevard, putting himself and his kids on full display.” she wrote.

Read More: Overwhelmed by Dark Thoughts, Muhammad Ali’s Daughter Laila Ali Threatened to ‘Jump off the Roof’ as a Child

However, Laila then details how these rides would turn into stunts that put her life in danger, shrugging it off as a humorous joke.

Laila Ali called her father’s stunts ‘stupid and dangerous’

‘She Bee Stingin’ stated that her father would race off driving and made claims of killing his family. However, being a kid at the time she would not understand the consequence of the situation till she grew up.

“He’d start off by saying, “I’m killing us all!” and with that, stomp down on the gas pedal and go roaring off. “No, Daddy, no!” we’d yell, half giddy, half afraid. His assistant sitting next to him would turn green with fright. I see it as stupid and dangerous. Back then I saw it as fun. Daddy was one of us, a big kid.” she wrote

While these actions might seem strange to any adult, Laila was still a kid at the time. Despite that, she understood that her father’s actions were not justified and put her life at risk after she turned old.

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What did you think about Muhammad Ali putting his daughter’s life at risk? Let us know in the comments.