Mark Zuckerberg told daughter she could never be Taylor Swift, clip goes viral

It is not uncommon for a child to have an idol, whom they want to be like when they grow up. But if you are Mark Zuckerberg’s daughter, you don’t seem to have that option. A clip of Zuckerberg recalling his conversation with his daughter, August, has gone viral online. In the clip, the Meta CEO narrates how he told August that she could never be Taylor Swift.

Zuckerberg had taken August to a Taylor Swift concert. After the show, August, rather unsurprisingly, said that she wanted to be like the pop star as an adult. “One day my daughter, we took her to a Taylor Swift concert, and she was like, ‘You know, Dad, I kind of want to be like Taylor Swift when I grow up,’” he said on the Acquired podcast.

Unfortunately, for August, having an idol to look up to was not something her billionaire father wanted her to do. Zuckerberg said bluntly, “I was like, ‘But you can't, that's not available to you.’” This conversation happened sometime in 2024, when August was about 7 years old.

Now such straight talk from her father could’ve made any daughter unhappy. But August Chan Zuckerberg did not feel bad. Rather, she, likely following her father’s footsteps, flipped the script. “She thought about it and she's like, ‘All right, when I grow up, I want people to want to be like August Chan Zuckerberg,’” Mark Zuckerberg said. And this seemed to be the exact mindset the Meta CEO wanted from his child. He added, “And I was like, ‘Hell yeah!” Mark Zuckerberg’s daughter told him she wanted to be like Taylor Swift.His answer: “You can’t. That’s not available to you.”He had taken August to a Swift concert. Afterwards, she told him she wanted to be like the singer when she grew up. Most parents would probably smile pic.twitter.com/AUOW0SHLNd— Albus (@0xAlbus) October 3, 2026

Before you get angry over Zuckerberg’s comments on not wanting his daughter to be like Taylor Swift, the Meta CEO did explain his train of thought. “Learn from other people’s successes and failures, but do your own thing,” he added. So while it is okay for August to be a Swiftie, she has to build her own identity. It may be hard to argue with this logic.

But users on X were more impressed by the way August Chan Zuckerberg responded to her father. “Honestly the kid's answer is better than his. She took a no and turned it into her own plan in about ten seconds,” one person wrote. Another user added, “That’s an S-tier answer from the kid.” Many were impressed by August's reply to Mark Zuckerberg.

Though not everyone was amused by the clip. One user commented, “I will not be taking any parenting advice from MZ (Mark Zuckerberg).” Another user took a jibe at Zuckerberg’s way of speaking. “Even when he recounts stories that didn’t happen he manages to sound like an emotionless being,” they said. Some were not happy with Zuckerberg.

Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan have three daughters – Maxima, August, and Aurelia. August is the middle child, born in 2017. In the past, the couple mentioned that they give “chores” to their kids to do, including loading the dishwasher. They often take them to work too.- EndsAlso Read | Banning social media in India for minors is needed but there are risks, experts sayAlso Read | Sam Altman says world should accept some bad things for AI benefitsAlso Read | OpenAI safety leader quits, says current path for AI is unacceptable

Armaan loves to keep an eye on everything happening in the world of tech and AI. You will find him testing new gadgets, exploring the latest LLMs and making sense of the emerging tech. When not working around tech, he will be exploring new music or catching up on motorsport or aviation.