Jana Kramer’s “trial run” of letting her kids use social media was short-lived.
“Jolie’s asked about Coverstar for a long time,” Kramer, 41, shared on the Monday, April 7, episode of her “Whine Down” podcast, referring to the child-friendly social media app. “The kids don’t do iPads anymore. They rarely watch TV anymore, and she keeps just asking me.”
Kramer described the app as a “kids’ version of TikTok” because of its anti-bullying policies and lack of direct messaging. “A parent even had to have a video saying, ‘I am fine with having my kid have it,’” she noted. “So, I downloaded it on my phone to, obviously, see the app.”
The One Tree Hill alum proceeded to create an account for her two eldest children — Jolie, 9, and Jace, 6 — whom she shares with her ex-husband Mike Caussin. “I’m like, ‘You know what? They can use my phone for 20 minutes a day, 30 minutes a day, and they can have fun with it,’ because they love doing videos on the monitor[ed] phone,” she shared. “They’ll create these little videos and they pretend they’re talking to a YouTube channel, which I’m not uploading, but that’s fine. If that’s their way of being creative for 30 minutes, whatever, go for it.”
Kramer’s tune about the social media decision began to change after her kids had uploaded a few videos. “Jace primarily — it wasn’t even Jolie — but he’s like, ‘Ugh, we only have one fan.’ And I’m like, ‘And it’s away, goodbye,’” she explained. “I was like, ‘It doesn’t matter.’ He is a 6-year-old and he’s worried about how many stars they got. They got 10 stars on one and then they’ve got one [on another].”
Kramer noted that she understood where her son was coming from “because Instagram is my livelihood [and] how I support my family primarily.” She said, “So, it kind of weighs on me when algorithms aren’t great.” However, the stress of social media success isn’t something the actress thinks kids should be worried about.
“I’ve seen how depressed kids can get because if they don’t get enough likes — so I just took it away again,” she stated. “I’m like, ‘No, this was a nice trial run. I don’t like it. And you don’t need to be upset. It doesn’t matter how many fans you [have]. Your fans are all in the house right here and we love you so much. It doesn’t matter who else is heart-ing and liking your stuff.’”
Kramer also shares her 16-month-old son Roman with her husband, Allan Russell, whom she wed last July. She previously opened up about the income she makes on social media during an October 2024 episode of her “Whine Down” podcast. “The sad reality is it’s a big part of what I do. Unfortunately, that is what pays the bills the most — is promoting products and doing Instagram-influencing,” she revealed.
According to Kramer, her social media work “pays for a lot of things” and earns her more income “than anything else that comes in.” She added, “It’s just the reality with it. I’ve embraced it.”
During the episode, Kramer recalled an argument she had with Russell, 44, while filming one of her paid social media posts. “[I said,] ‘I do this because it, A, supports my kids. It gives me a chance to be able to be flexible and be somewhat of a stay-at-home mom. And, like, [be] present. And not be in the grind of being out touring all the time and being away,’” she stated. “It’s not like I enjoy doing it. It takes a lot of time.”
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