'Duck Dynasty’ star Sadie Robertson: Fame is not an excuse to lose your faith
We've recently seen a couple of kids who got famous at a young age do some pretty crazy things.
But while Miley Cyrus makes headlines for posing topless and Justin Bieber for alleged DUI arrests and just plain being a jerk, 'Duck Dynasty's' Sadie Robertson is making headlines for a very different reason.
The 16-year-old 'Duck' heiress is famous for putting her faith first.
"I think people use fame as an excuse to lose their faith," Roberston told FOX411. "Faith is obviously my number one priority and I think you need to put God at the top of everything you do."
The overnight success of her family's hit A&E show has put Robertson in the spotlight, and the teenager is using her fame to help promote family values.
"When we began 'Duck Dynasty,' we weren't starting it for fame," she said. "We started it to get the message of God out there."
Robertson says her family's show helped to fill a hole in today's television programming by providing wholesome, Christian values for families to enjoy together.
"We could have easily done a reality show like everyone else," she said. "But it's our faith that catches people's eyes because sadly, it's not something we're used to seeing [on TV] these days."
Robertson pointed out that there are several new Christian-themed films coming out this year. "It just takes one person to take a stance and begin doing something different. We think [the show] has done a good job of getting out God's message."
Just because the Robertsons try and put their faith first, doesn't mean the redneck royal family isn't immune to some of the hazards of fame. The family sat down for one of their weekly dinners to set up some ground rules before they signed on for the reality show.
"We had a family dinner before the show started and we talked about if at any time in this journey that God is not first, then we have to put the show away," Robertson recalled.
"If we start to think of ourselves too highly, we remember that we were happy before the show and we will be happy after the show."
They even came up with a secret phrase should any family member start to let the fame get to their heads.
"At the dinner, my Uncle [Si] said, 'Remember the Alamo?" she explained they simply utter the sentence to remind the person to stay grounded.
Robertson has seen success outside of her family's show; at just 16, she has sung a duet with country super star Allison Kraus, walked the runway in New York fashion week and co-hosts a popular Youtube series called "The New Different" with "Preacher's Daughters" star Kolby Koloff.
"We started 'The New Different' because we saw all of these people get famous from doing stupid things on Vine and YouTube and we thought if they can put the stupidest things online and have millions of views, why don't we start a Christian-based video series?"
Robertson said it "was a God thing" when fellow reality star Koloff moved to Louisiana and they started producing the weekly series to cover the "daily struggles that teenagers go through" to give them "words of encouragement each week."
"If we're just helping one person, it's worth it," she said of the mean tweets and comments she sometimes receives.
"I get a tweet at least once a day that says, 'I hope Sadie Robertson doesn't turn out like Miley Cyrus,'" she said. "When you're famous you do get so much attention that I can see how you could just think the world of yourself. I think if you go into it thinking that this is not for me, that this is for God, you'll be okay."
Robertson is thankful for everything she and her family have and says the good definitely outweighs the bad.
"This world can influence you in some bad ways. I know I couldn't do it by myself and my family reminds me why I'm doing this," she said. "We wouldn't have anything that we do have if it weren't for God and we have to give Him the glory for everything."
Faith & Fame is a regular column exploring how a strong belief system helps some performers navigate the pitfalls of the entertainment industry.
