- - Sterling K. Brown Recalls the Way His Teen Son Handled Being Called the N-Word: ‘He’s a More Evolved Person Than Me’

Toria Sheffield, Scott HuverAugust 17, 2025 at 8:30 PM

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Sterling K. Brown -

Sterling K. Brown recalled a time when his eldest son, Andrew, was called the N-word during a soccer game

The actor said that his son chose not to escalate the situation and instead navigated the tense moment in an “evolved” way

The father of two also said that being a dad is “the most important job that I have in my life right now”

Sterling K. Brown is opening up about when his son was called the N-word and how the teen navigated the tense situation.

Brown, 49, recalled the incident while recently speaking at a roundtable for the second season of his Hulu show Paradise.

During the conversation, the three-time Emmy winner reflected on how he differs from his sons, Amaré, 9, and Andrew, 14, noting that he has an “intense” part of himself that the boys don’t seem to share.

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“And it's interesting,” Brown said. “I look at my children now — my children have never been in a fight. The 14-year-old or the 9-year-old,” he said

He continued, “My 14-year-old was in a soccer game where a young boy spat on him, and he saw the spit and he walks up to the ref and he goes, ‘Ref, this dude just spat on me.’ And the ref was like, ‘I didn't see it, so I can't do anything about it.’ “

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Ryan Michelle Bathe with husband Sterling K. Brown and their sons, Amaré (left) and Andrew (right) in 2019

“Then, afterwards, the young man came up to him and called him the N-word and just kind of kept it going. And my son didn't tell me until after the game, and I was like, ‘Yo, man, how come we didn't beat his ass?’ And he was like, ‘Because that wouldn't have solved anything. He already did what he was going to do. The ref didn't respond to it or whatnot. So I didn't want to make you any more upset, which is why I didn't tell you until after the game.’ “

“So he's a more evolved person than me. I would've beat his ass!,” Brown concluded.

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At another point in the conversation, the This Is Us star reflected on how his sons shape his relationship with his work, calling them “the most important people in my life.”

“And to anybody who's been a parent or [...] has young children — to see how much they change, especially when they're young, as they accrue new skills and learn new words and stuff; it is the most magical thing to be in the presence of,” he said.

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Sterling K. Brown in a 'Paradise' scene

“And so I can tell you — truly, truly, between doing season one [of Paradise] and then the hiatus where I went, I did Voltron in Australia. I went and did a movie in France and I did a movie in Louisiana and they were all wonderful experiences, but I had to FaceTime [my kids], and I didn't get a chance to tuck [them] in and finish reading book seven of Harry Potter to my youngest or whatever it was,” he said.

He added, “Being a father is the most important job that I have in my life right now. And so for the next nine years, if I can keep working in L.A. and be like the one dude who figured it out, I would be very, very excited about that, [because] I don't want to miss too much of their growing up.”

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Brown also said that he takes “great delight” in seeing his children grow and evolve as people — and that he especially feels proud when he sees his teen, Andrew, exhibit more maturity and compassion than he had at the same age.

“[That's all you can do is try to do a little bit better than what your parents did for you. And hopefully he's able to do a little bit better as well," he said.

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