Lourdes Leon reveals mother Madonna has ban on ‘handouts’ and she paid for home and college alone

Model says she paid for college and apartment herself

Lourdes Leon has said that her mother, Madonna, does not give financial “handouts” to her children.

In a conversation with actor Debi Mazar, for Interview, the model said: “We don’t get any handouts in my family. Obviously, I grew up with extreme privilege. There’s no denying that.”

Leon, who bought her apartment without financial assistance from her mother and also put herself through college, added: “I think my mom saw all these other kids of famous people, and she was like, ‘My kids are not going to be like this.’”

She also discussed some of the lessons her pop star mother has instilled in her: “My mom is very insistent on making me think about what I want to be known for beyond my looks. That’s not what I want people to remember me by. It’s not real.”

Elsewhere, Leon described her mother as a “control freak” and revealed one of the best bits of advice she ever gave her: “It’s not about the money or your face or how hot you look. It’s about what you’re bringing into the world and what you’re going to leave behind.”

She revealed in a previous interview with Vogue that she was not given handouts.

“People think I’m this talentless rich kid who’s had everything given to her, but I’m not,” Leon said.

The model, who has grown up in the spotlight, also spoke about social media: “Instagram is not real. It’s the biggest lie of all time. People create personas on Instagram that are nothing like who they are in person, and it’s the scariest thing to me, because I’m the same everywhere.”

File image: Madonna at a special screening of “The Beatles Eight Days A Week: The Touring Years” in London in 2016 (AFP via Getty Images)

Leon made her runway debut in 2018 and made her second appearance this year at New York Fashion Week for Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty Vol 3 show.