Vanessa Hudgens and Cole Tucker have broken their silence about the birth of their first child. One day after multiple outlets reported that the 35-year-old actress welcomed her baby, she and the baseball player, 28, released a statement that Vanessa shared via her Instagram Stories.
“We’re disappointed that our family’s privacy was disrespected and exploited during this very special time due to the greed of a long lens camera feeding the media,” the couple wrote in the statement. “Despite all of that, mom, dad and baby are happy and healthy.”
On Wednesday, July 3, paparazzi photos emerged of Vanessa and Cole leaving a Santa Monica, California, hospital while she cradled their newborn baby. Earlier that day, the new mom celebrated her husband’s birthday but did not publicly confirm the birth of their child yet.
“Happy birthday to my slice of heaven @cotuck,” the High School Musical star captioned an Instagram carousel post. “You make the world a brighter place just by being you.”
Vanessa documented her pregnancy journey over the past few months by sharing baby bump photos to Instagram. From sharing selfies to attending various events, the Gimme Shelter star was happily awaiting the arrival of her child — whose name and sex have not been publicly disclosed.
In March, Vanessa confirmed that she was pregnant with her and Cole’s first child by walking the Oscars red carpet with her baby bump on full display. The spouses first started dating in late 2020 and tied the knot in December 2023.
Before the pair were married, the former Disney Channel star opened up to NYLON about how her view of relationships changed before she met Cole.
“I always thought I would be married at 25, because that’s when my mom got married, and then when that didn’t happen, I was like, ‘Oh, OK, So we’re just going to shift everything back a bit,’” Vanessa explained to the publication in September 2022. “I always thought that around 36, 37 is when I would want to have kids, and that still plays. I don’t feel panicked about it.”
Recalling when she “woke up at 27 like, ‘I have no idea who I am, what I want, or what I stand for,’” Vanessa pointed out that she “realized how much of [herself she] gave away to others.”