Drew Barrymore Slams Tabloids For Saying She Wanted Her Mother Dead: "Don't Twist My Words Around"
Drew Barrymore says the tabloids have been messing with her life since she was 13 years old.
One of the most well-known Hollywood actresses in the world, Drew Barrymore has opened up about her personal life over the years and talked about what it was like to be a child actress from a young age. Born into an acting family, Barrymore was practically destined for the silver screen. Her acting debut was at the tender age of five in the 1980 film Altered States. However, it was her performance two years later in Steven Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial that skyrocketed her to international fame. Despite being just 7 years old, Barrymore's portrayal of the sweet, impressionable Gertie captivated audiences and established her as one of Hollywood's most promising child actors.
However, Barrymore's early success came with significant personal cost. Her mother, Jaid Barrymore, who served as her manager, often took her to adult Hollywood parties, including infamous trips to Studio 54, thereby exposing her to the mature and often dark underbelly of show business far too early. By the age of 12, Drew had already been to rehab for drugs and alcohol, and at 13, her mother placed her in a psychiatric ward in California.
Emancipated from her parents at just 14, Drew Barrymore embarked on a quest for personal and professional growth. Her successful return to acting in her later teenage years was marked by notable performances in movies like Boys on the Side and Mad Love, leading to a remarkable adult career featuring beloved films such as Charlie's Angels, The Wedding Singer, and 50 First Dates. Now she hosts her own talk show.
Drew Barrymore Slams Tabloids for Saying She Wanted Her Mother Dead
Drew Barrymore, 48, was recently interviewed for New York Magazine, in which she talked candidly about her relationship with her mother. She was able to reconcile with her father before he died, but she still hasn't established a peaceful relationship with her mom. In a previous Howard Stern interview, she said her mother "created a monster" and she didn't even know how to handle that monster. In the New York Magazine interview, she talked about how she is sometimes jealous of her friends who have already lost their parents because she is still wrestling with how to reconcile with her mother while she's still alive.
“All their moms are gone, and my mom’s not. And I’m like, ‘Well, I don’t have that luxury.’ But I cannot wait,” she said. “I don’t want to live in a state where I wish someone to be gone sooner than they’re meant to be so I can grow. I actually want her to be happy and thrive and be healthy. But I have to f*cking grow in spite of her being on this planet.”
Page Six wrote an article about this interview and claimed that Barrymore was wishing for her mother to be dead. The New York Magazine is protected behind a paywall, so it's difficult for all audiences to know exactly what Barrymore said when she was talking about her difficult relationship with her mom, but she released a video on social media expressing her anger at how Page Six twisted her words.
"To all you tabloids out there, you have been f*cking with my life since I was 13 years old," she said. "I have never said that I wish my mother was dead. How dare you put those words in my mouth."
"I have been vulnerable and tried to figure out a very difficult painful relationship while admitting it is difficult to do while a parent is alive, and that for those of us who have to figure that out in real time cannot wait, as in they cannot wait for the time, not that the parent is dead," she said. "Don't twist my words around or ever say that I wish my mother was dead. I have never said that. I never would."
Barrymore said she can't imagine living as a person who wishes her mother would die; she said she just meant that it's a very tricky situation to be in as she's trying to find healing while her mother is still living.
It's difficult enough to have a tumultuous relationship with your parents, let alone have that whole relationship splattered across headline news since your teenage years. Drew Barrymore may not have used the best words to describe her feelings, but she didn't say that she wanted her mother to die. Sometimes it can be difficult to remember that celebrities go through family issues just like the rest of us, but they have to deal with it for the whole world to see, which can make it even more painful.
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