Brooke Shields has recalled the moment she was chased out of the sea by an aggressive monkey in Thailand.
Brooke Shields has recalled the moment she was chased out of the sea by an aggressive monkey in Thailand, with daughter Rowan Henchy revealing she watched the entire chaotic encounter unfold from the safety of a boat
The Pretty Baby and The Blue Lagoon star, 60, attended Animal Haven’s 2026 Benefit for the Animals at 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge in New York alongside her daughter Rowan, 22, where the pair shared the bizarre story while discussing their lifelong love of animals.
Brooke, who has remained in the spotlight in recent years through her documentary Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields, conversations surrounding the sexualisation of child stars in Hollywood and her long-running advocacy around ageing and motherhood, was accompanied by Rowan as the young graduate received the Leonard Simon Award for her work with Animal Haven.
Rowan said: “We were in Thailand, and mom got off and was swimming around when she was doing a movie there.”
She continued: “I went to visit her, and we’re the type of people where it’s like, ‘We think we could get the lion be best friends with us… but she went up to a monkey’.”
According to Rowan, the encounter quickly turned chaotic.
Rowan added: “Then the monkey attacked her and we had to quickly get off the island. I watched from the boat. I was like, ‘There she goes. There she goes’.”
Brooke joked the situation escalated despite her attempts to calm the animal with food.
Brooke also said: “I’ve never seen anybody swim faster. I gave it bananas.”
Rowan replied: “It doesn’t want a banana. It wants to get you off its island.”
Brooke added the monkey was “very happy” to take the bananas regardless.
The appearance highlighted the close relationship Brooke maintains with daughters Rowan and Grier Henchy, 20, who she shares with husband Chris Henchy.
Brooke has frequently spoken publicly about motherhood and the challenges of adjusting to life after both daughters left home for university.
Rowan currently attends Wake Forest University in North Carolina, while Grier later followed her sister to the same institution after completing modelling campaigns alongside her mother.
Brooke previously discussed Rowan’s growth during an appearance on People (The TV Show!) in 2021.
Brooke said: “She’s really living her life, she‘s enjoying college, she’s just really blossoming and growing.”
