You Need To Read Lionel Richie's Recent Comments About Sofia Richie & Scott Disick's Relationship

Parents: They always have an opinion, even if you're a famous teen. Especially if you're a famous teen, actually. Lionel Richie's comments on Sofia Richie dating Scott Disick, for instance, is prime not-so-proud parent. His model daughter, the 19-year-old, has been rumored to be dating the 34-year-old father-of-three Scott Disick and Disick kind of confirmed the relationship recently on Keeping Up With The Kardashians (executive producer: Kris Jenner). Is Lionel Richie himself a fan of their relationship? Not exactly. Will Richie come right out and say that to the media? Mercifully, no.

E! reports that Australian paper The Daily Telegraph caught up with Richie on February 17 and asked again how he felt about his daughter reportedly dating an older man (who, it should be said, is also the ex-partner of her former pals' half-sister). When questioned about his daughter's relationship, the singer kept things polite and friendly. But fans know to listen between the lines. Richie even managed to joke about his own dating mishaps in his youth, but invoked an air of nostalgia. He was neither insulting nor rude, but you know what he's trying to say. It is breathtaking:

"She's 19. When you're 19 you know everything. Is it going to be for life? I don't know. But for right now it's just a phase and I'm going to stand real still in the corner, get me a good drink and not make too much noise... Now I know what my parents meant when I came through the door with my Afro and my girlfriend and said, 'Dad, I'm in love' and [he] looked at me and said, 'Okay, we're going to leave you alone for a minute and you'll figure it out.' My daughter is getting me back for my Afro days!"

Oh, but that's not all.

Richie was careful to remain polite with The Daily Telegraph, insisting that that he wasn't too involved with his daughter's current paramour. "From what I met of him he's a very nice guy," he told the paper, "When you hang around the reality world, who knows what you are really doing? This is a well-oiled machine, the Kardashian machine. I don't really know what to think. I told Sofia I will have no opinion. I'll continue to be my cheerful self and move on." Not a ringing endorsement by any means, but also not outright rude. It's just parental shade. Magnificently so. This also jibes with his earlier remarks on the couple, which he referred to as a "phase." A phase!

Richie seems to have toned down his comments since E! first asked him about the relationship between his model daughter and entrepreneur Disick. In November 2017, Sofia Richie told E! News that her father is "very supportive of her dating life". As E! reports, the singer "jokingly made a hand gesture" and mimed injuring himself in response. Either Richie has grown to like Disick more since November, or he's grown to accept the relationship isn't quite as much a "phase" as he thought. At least, for now.

Richie and Disick, for their part, do not seem to care about anything anyone says. After keeping a low profile for some time, the two went super public around September 2017. They post Instagrams of one another, either while traveling or supporting each other's work. They're a cute couple! Provided you don't overthink it, of course. It is a little unusual that Richie, 19, was formerly friends with Kendall and Kylie Jenner, who grew up with elder half-sister Kourtney Kardashian. Kourtney dated Disick on and off for a decade, and they have three children together. It makes sense that Richie's father would consider this relationship a "phase" his daughter is cycling through due to her young age. But, who knows? Maybe they're in it for the long haul.