Don Johnson cut off daughter Dakota when she refused to go to college: ‘You’re off the family payroll’

nypost.com:

opened up about his thoughts on some of his kids following in his footsteps. “I warned them against it. I said, ‘This is not for you,'” Johnson said, before telling the hosts of the Johnson family rule.“When Dakota [Johnson] was graduating from high school … we have a rule in the family,” he continued. “The rule is that if you don’t go on to college and get a job, you’re off the family payroll.“Out of high school, I went to Dakota and said, ‘Do you want to go visit some colleges?’ And she said, ‘I’m not going to college.’ I said, ‘Oh, that’s interesting.

How are you going to look after yourself?’ She said, ‘Don’t you worry about it. I’m going to be an actress.’“Three months later, she had that part in ‘The Social Network’ and hasn’t looked back,” he added.The distinguished actor who found mega success as James “Sonny” Crockett in the 1980s TV series “Miami Vice,” has been married to wife Kelley Phleger since 1999.The couple share three children: Atherton Grace, Jasper and Deacon.

He is also father to son Jesse Wayne Johnson from his relationship with Patti D’Arbanville and Dakota Johnson from his marriage to Melanie Griffith.Before finding fame, the Golden Globe Award winner once recalled being down on his luck at the beginning of his career.

Johnson told The Wall Street Journal in 2024 he “spent years living below the poverty line” and admitted he went for years getting “cast in a lot of forgettable roles, including five unsuccessful TV pilots,” before landing his role in “Miami Vice.”“I couldn’t believe somebody had seemingly been jotting down my thoughts, feelings and emotions.