Gloria Estefan’s daughter Emily says her mom told her not to come out to grandmother

Gloria Estefan’s daughter Emily was ‘hurt’ when her mom told not to come out to her grandmother, opening up about her pain during Wednesday’s episode of Red Table Talk: The Estefans.

After Emily, 25, first told Gloria, 63, she was in love with another woman back in 2017, her superstar mom forbid her to discuss her sexuality with her grandma, Gloria Fajardo, fearing the news would affect her already fragile health.

‘I was like, “Hey, I’m in love with this girl.” The first thing you said was, “If you tell your grandma and she dies, her blood is on your hands,”‘ Gloria’s youngest child said.

Emily, who is also a musician, was destroyed by the dramatic response, as it made her feel like her coming out was being rejected.

‘I just wasn’t ready for that,’ she explained. ‘Because I understand my grandma was old, but it made me feel like whatever it is, OK, hide it. So that’s where my hurt started.’ 

‘I’m never going to forget that,’ Emily, who has been in a relationship with Gemeny Hernandez since 2017 – went on.

She now realized that the Conga singer was ‘coming from [a place of] love, from protection,’ hoping not to shock Grandma Fajardo as she was already sick.

 

 

Mother/daughter dynamic: Farjardo, who also had a tense relationship with Estefan, died at 88-years-old in June 2017

Farjardo, who also had a tense relationship with Estefan, died at 88-years-old in June 2017. 

Gloria tried to explain her place, admitting she was in a tough spot, worried that Emily’s coming out could have an affect on Fajardo’s already declining health.

‘You’re remembering things, as we all tend to do, in a different way,’ she reflected.

‘I was trying to protect both my ailing mother from any shock that would affect her health and Emily from anything that could harm their relationship,’ Gloria said, describing her own mother as ‘controlling and set in her ways.’

Now Estefan admits she has some ‘regret’ about never giving Emily the opportunity to open up to her grandma.

In the talk Gloria also admitted she had ‘no clue’ Emily was a lesbian but did ‘suspect [it] at some moments,’ recalling one moment when a Emily asked her parents if they thought she was ‘gay.’

‘I was testing the waters,’ Emily then admitted. 

Emily recently said not ever being about to share her sexuality with Fajardo is ‘biggest unanswered questions’ while talking to Entertainment Weekly.

‘My grandmother and I were so close, but I’m really not sure,’ she told the magazine. ‘But that’s part of life too — you don’t get every answer that you want. I’m also learning that regrets are a waste of time.’ 

 

Love: Emily has been in a relationship with Gemeny Hernandez since 2017