All About Zoë Kravitz's Relationship with Parents Lenny Kravitz and Lisa Bonet

Mar. 15, 2025

Photo: Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/Corbis/Getty ; Pascal Le Segretain/Getty

Zoë Kravitzknows a thing or two about growing up in the limelight, thanks to her famous parents,Lenny KravitzandLisa Bonet.

TheBig Little Liesactress is close with both Lenny and Lisa. She’s called herlook-alike mom"my pal," and her dad frequently posts proud platitudes about Zoë on social media.

Lenny told PEOPLE in 2020 that he and Zoë “have a very open dialogue,” and their relationship reminds him of the tight bond he saw between his mother, lateJeffersonsactressRoxie Roker, and his grandfather.

Despite her close relationship with Lenny, Zoë “thought about not using” her famous father’s last name when she began her career as an actress but “it just didn’t stick.” Lenny wasn’t a big fan of the idea either.

“I also think I mentioned it to my dad at one point and I think I could feel that it made him a little sad,” she said in 2020 onArmchair Expert with Dax Shepard. “So, yeah, I just kind of stuck with it. I did used to be really insecure about people just associating me with my family and now I love it — I’m so proud of them and it’s cool.”

Not only did she keep her last name professionally, but she also carries the life lessons Lenny passed down to her: “Love, respect, and hard work, honor and discipline, all the stuff I learned,” he told PEOPLE in 2019.

“She’s amazing, and she’s all the things that I would have hoped for,” he said. “I’m a dad, you know, but we’re friends. We’re very close. We talk about everything. We don’t hide things from each other.”

Here’s everything to know about Zoë Kravitz’s relationship with her parents, Lenny Kravitz and Lisa Bonet.

Zoë is Lenny and Lisa’s only child together

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The musician and the actress met backstage at a New Edition concert in Los Angeles in 1985. They eloped in Las Vegas on Nov. 16, 1987, Lisa’s 20th birthday, and welcomed their only child, daughter Zoë Isabella Kravitz, on Dec. 1, 1988.

“Lisa and I just like to be together,” Lenny told PEOPLE in 1989. “We just hang out at home with our kid. We’re kinda boring really.”

Zoë was only 2 when her parents split up in 1991, and they divorced in 1993. Lenny wrote “It Ain’t Over ‘til It’s Over” about the end of their relationship. The song, from his 1991 albumMama Said, was ultimately his breakout hit, peaking at No. 2 on theBillboardHot 100.

Despite their separation, Lenny told PEOPLE in 2020 that it was important to him that he and Lisa remain close.

“It’s essential,” he said. “We have a child, and we love each other just as much as before — it’s just a different situation. It takes time, work and dedication, but that is something that the two of us had.”

Zoë hastwo half-siblingsfrom Lisa’s relationship withJason Momoa. Lisa and Momoa met at a jazz club in 2005 and welcomed their first child together, daughterLola Iolani Momoa, in July 2007. Son Nakoa-Wolf Manakauapo Namakaeha Momoa joined the family in December 2008. The couplesecretly tied the knotin October 2017 and shocked fans when theyannounced their breakupin January 2022.

Zoë also shared a positive relationship with the actor. “I hope and praymy daughter is that talented and loving and open andclose to her family,” Momoa said of Zoë in a 2020 interview withMen’s Health, also sharing, “I love her dad.”

Lenny spoke of his “tight” friendship with Momoa in his own cover story withMen’s Healthone month prior. “People can’t believe how tight Jason and I are, or how tight I still am with Zoë’s mom, how we all relate,” he said. “We just do it because that’s what you do. You let love rule, right?”

They spent time on both coasts

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When Lenny was younger, he would travel with his mother to the Bahamas to visit her family during the summers, he toldTravel + Leisurein 2019. He now splits his time between homes in the Bahamas (where he has a recording studio on the rural island of Eleuthera), Paris and Rio de Janeiro.

Lisa, on the other hand, is a California girl through and through. She was born in San Francisco on Nov. 16, 1967, to Arlene Joyce Litman, a schoolteacher, and Allen Bonet, an opera singer from Texas. She graduated from Birmingham High School in Van Nuys, California, and studied acting in North Hollywood.

“My mom did a really good job of keeping me sheltered,” Zoë toldElle U.K.in 2018 — though there were still plenty of celebrities around, likegodmotherMarisa Tomeior Lenny’s friendMick Jagger. “I didn’t have television growing up, and I didn’t have internet at the house. I was allowed to watch one movie a weekend that we had on VHS that she would choose.”

TheHigh Fidelitystar opened up toRolling Stonein 2018 about her relationship with her dad during those years in Topanga. “He wasn’tabsent. Buthe was working a lot. I didn’t feel abandoned or anything,” she said. “But when you’re that age, and someone comes and goes, it feels like Santa Claus or something — it’s this event.”

At 11, Zoë moved in with Lenny in Miami before the pair eventually relocated to New York City. “He’d pick me up, and the entire school would flock to the parking lot,” she recalled. “And he wasn’t being subtle: He’d show up in a sports car and leather pants and a netted shirt. Like, ‘Dude, can you just be low-key a little bit?’ "

“Just a shirt that I can’t see your nipples through would be so dope,” she quipped.

In August 2024, Zoë reflected on her decision to live with her dad rather than her mom as a teenager.

“I think it wasvery hurtful that I moved awayfrom [my mom] to be with my dad and my dad wasn’t even there,” she toldEsquire, explaining that Lenny was often on tour. “I just wish I had been able to appreciate what she was doing for me. She was so focused on preserving my innocence. My creativity. Because she knew what the world is — that you don’t get that back.”

They are both half Black and half Jewish

Zoe Kravitz/Instagram

Lenny and Lisa are half Black and half Jewish: Lenny’s mother was first-generation Bahamian American, and his father was of Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry. Lisa’s mother was also Jewish, while her father was African American. Zoë toldElle U.K. that as a multiracial teenager, she “felt like a freak.”

TheMad Max: Fury Roadstar also opened up about how her upbringing and her famous father’s love life affected her self-image.

Despite the hardships, Zoë embraces her heritage. “Jews and African Americans have had so much pain, carried so much on their shoulders and come so far,” she said.

Zoë followed in their artistic footsteps

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Lenny first started his career at age 16, performing under the stage name Romeo Blue. He released his debut album,Let Love Rule, in 1989, and has since dropped 10 more studio albums, plus his other EPs and singles. In addition to “It Ain’t Over ‘til It’s Over,” his biggest hits include “I Belong to You,” his cover of “American Woman” and “Are You Gonna Go My Way.” In 1999, he won his first Grammy for the song “Fly Away.”

In addition to acting, Zoë is a singer like her dad. She started off fronting the band Elevator Fight in 2009 and has been one-half of the R&B and electropop duo Lolawolf since 2013.

“She’s loving doing this music. It’s a trip to watch,” Lenny told PEOPLE in 2009. “I have nothing to do with it, which is brilliant. She is just doing her thing, and it’s really good. … Whatever she wants to do, I trust her fully. She’s got great instincts. She’s much smarter than I am.”

Lenny regularly sings his daughter’s praises

The “American Woman” singer is known to honor Zoë on social media forher birthday.

For her 34th, Lenny posted a sepia-toned throwback pic from her toddler years. “Happy birthday @zoeisabellakravitz,” he wrote. “There isn’t a moment that I don’t marvelat who and what you are. I’m so grateful that God chose us. I love you.”

The year prior, he shared another childhood photo of Zoë making sand castles at the beach. “So manymore castles to build together,” he wrote. “I love you endlessly.”

Lenny has been one of Zoë’s most vocal supporters over the years — in 2022, he gave her ashout-out for her role as Catwoman inThe Batman. “Congratulations, my love, on this iconic moment.I am so proud of you,” he wrote on Instagram.

He also shared sweet words following herSaturday Night Livehosting debutin 2022. “To see you shine in the same building where your grandparents met and worked was surreal. You were perfection,” he wrotealongside a photoof himself giving her a kiss on the cheek.

They’ve taken their daughter to work — including to the red carpet

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“My dad was doing an interview for VH1, and I think he went to the bathroom and then I was like, ‘It’s my turn!’ " Zoë recalled to hostJimmy Fallon. Fallon played the clip of 7-year-old Zoë “being a ham” and singing the song’s chorus.

Despite her recognizable last name and comfort in front of a camera from a young age, Lenny told PEOPLE in 2020 that Zoë carved out an acting career “on her own.”

“In school she never told people who her parents were. She would make me pick her up down the block,” he said. “Some kids might’ve used it to their advantage, but it wasn’t her style. She’s done an amazing job. I know that my mother is very proud of her — not just her accomplishments, but her behavior, her attitudes, the way she has done what she’s done and the kind of human being that she is.”

Lenny has worked with his daughter

Dom Perignon/BFA

The Grammy-winning musician credited his daughter with getting the group animated at the party.

“It started off with people standing around; it can be stiff,” he told PEOPLE in 2018. “So we just started to hang out and talk and my daughter was the catalyst. She got everybody to relax and got everybody talking. By the end you can see everybody really knows each other now, everybody’s really having a good time and it’s not fake.”

But he initially wasn’t going to invite his daughter to the event. “I would have never mentioned it [to Dom Pérignon] because that would have been [like nepotism], ‘Oh yeah let me bring my daughter in,’ " he explained.

At the2023 Oscars, Lenny — who performed “Calling All Angels” during the show’sIn Memoriam segment— toldLaverne Coxon the red carpet that he and Zoë “have discussed” working on a film together.

“It would have to be the right thing,” he said. “But I would love to work with her one day. I adore her, and it would be a lot of fun.”

They attended the Met Gala as a family

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The “Fly Away” singerposted a photoof the trio at the event and wrote, “#MetBall2015. Family.”

That same year, Zoë spoke toOcean Drivemagazine about her parents’ relationship, saying the pair had “so much love for each other.”

They both embrace individuality

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Lenny and Lisa are beauty and fashion icons known for their unique sartorial styles — the musician was honored with theFashion Icon Awardat the2022 CFDA Awards.

In a 2023 interview withByrdie, Zoë shared the wise advice her stylish parents have given her over the years.

“Both my parents are people who havealways marched to the beat of their drumand embraced their individuality,” she shared, adding that she was taught to listen to her body and take care of her skin.

She shared the same “cliché” withO, The Oprah Magazinein 2013. “This industry can be judgmental, and it’s easy to feel like you want to change according to what’s cool at that moment,” she said. “My dad has stayed true to himself, and that’s led me to do the same.”

TheKimiactress has apparently taken more than just fashion advice from her parents — she’s also raided their closets!

“Zoë has a lot of my stuff,” Lenny toldDetailsin 2011. “She took all my boas from theMama Saidera. They were in storage, and I yelled at her, ‘Don’t steal my boas!’ She laughed and said, ‘Those words would not come out of most fathers’ mouths.’ "

Lenny is gearing up to walk Zoë down the aisle

WhileLenny hosted Zoë’s 2019wedding to actorKarl Glusmanat his Paris home, the couple ultimatelysplit in January 2021,which a rep for the star confirmed exclusively to PEOPLE at the time.

Now thatZoë is engagedtoChanning Tatum,her dad is looking forward to their upcoming wedding, though he did tellEntertainment Tonightthat he plans to wing his father-of the bride toast.

“It just comes at the moment. I don’t rehearse those things,” he said at the Critics Choice Awards in January 2024, adding that he plans to speak “from the heart.”

Zoë attended Lenny’s Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony

“Being your daughter has been one of the great adventures of my life. I’ve seen you change in the most beautiful ways. I’ve seen you stay the same in the most important ways. I’ve seen your incredible dedication to your art,” Zoë said during her speech, before joking, “But mostly, I’ve seen through your shirts.”

source: people.com