Gloria Estefan warned her daughter coming out could kill her grandmother.
Gloria Estefan
The 63-year-old singer left Emily feeling "hurt" when she advised her not to open up about her sexuality to her elderly relative and admitted she'll never forget her mother's words.
Speaking on 'Red Table Talk: The Estefans, Emily said: "I was like, 'Hey, I’m in love with this girl.'
"The first thing you said was, 'If you tell your grandma and she dies, her blood is on your hands.'
“I just wasn’t ready for that because I understand that grandma was old, but I already made it feel like, whatever it is, hide it, it’s not OK. So that’s where my hurt started. I’m never going to forget that.”
However, Emily eventually understood her mother was "coming from a place of love and protection", and the 'Rhythm Is Gonna Get You' hitmaker insisted she was just doing what she thought was right.
She said: "I was trying to protect both my ailing mother from any shock that would affect her health and Emily from anything that could harm their relationship."
Emily admitted she became "suicidal" due to her mother's reaction, particularly because she is seen as a "gay icon".
She said: "The things I was facing in the moment were so crippling that I couldn’t see anything but the hurt."
Gloria replied: "For any parent, we love unconditionally and what we were trying to do was to protect you and ended up hurting you, which kills me. And I hate that that happened.”
Gloria later admitted she felt "regret" in telling Emily not to come out to her grandmother, who died ages 86 in 2017.
Emily's dad, Emilio Estefan, made a brief appearance on the show and admitted he was pleased when she came out.
He said: "I was happy that Emily was so honest."
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