Brooks Nader is defending her topless boat outing with her father by pointing to his eyesight.
The Sports Illustrated model, 29, told Entertainment Tonight on Thursday that Breux Nader “didn’t even notice” she had ditched her bikini top during the family’s Sardinia, Italy, yacht trip last month. She explained that her dad is “half-blind” and has “selective hearing and selective seeing.”
“He was like, ‘I don’t care,'” she claimed in the interview.
The Louisiana native stood by the decision, citing her upbringing in an all-female household. “I don’t care if I’m not from Europe. I’m from Louisiana. I grew up in an all-girl household. We’re always naked together as sisters,” she told the outlet.
She added that she had “the time of [her] freaking life” on the getaway with Breux, her mother Holland Nader, and her 24-year-old sister Sarah Jane Nader. “I was just having the time of my life and really not thinking that anyone was documenting some of it, but we love it,” she continued. “It’s great.”
The August vacation drew heavy social media attention after Brooks was photographed wearing only white crochet bikini bottoms aboard the yacht. The images quickly circulated online, sparking widespread commentary about the family dynamic.
Last month, Brooks addressed the backlash with a pointed social media post. She shared a photo of herself jumping into the ocean wearing a black dress and matching heels, captioning the cheeky upload: “Are we happy now?”
At the time of that post, Brooks was in Positano, Italy, with model Jack Lumsden. The pair were photographed getting cozy in the water, and on another yacht outing that same week, Brooks wore only a towel while Lumsden jokingly pretended to wear her white eyelet bikini.
The topless boat ride stands in notable contrast to the swimwear rules Nader faced growing up. She said in May that she was forbidden from wearing two-piece bathing suits as a child. “[My parents are] pumped about ‘Baywatch’ because it’s a one-piece,” she said at the time. “They’re like, ‘You’re following the family rules.'”
Nader has built a reputation for daring fashion choices beyond swimwear. She recently attended a Council of Fashion Designers of America event kicking off New York Fashion Week in Manhattan, where she wore a see-through black lace midi dress. She has also been open about her history of wardrobe malfunctions, saying in November 2024 that most of her “many” nip slips are “not intentional.”
“Whenever the actual areola is popping out … I am baffled. I think it’s like a curse, I don’t know,” she explained last year. She noted that she refuses to use fashion tape, adding that she “hate[s] being told what to do.”
The “Love Thy Nader” alum and “Baywatch” actress has leaned into the publicity around her revealing style, turning controversy into content with her sarcastic ocean-jump post. Her father’s reported indifference to the topless boat ride—attributed to his vision rather than any particular family openness—has now become her go-to explanation for the incident.
Brooks continues to split time between modeling, reality television, and high-profile fashion events.
