"A dysfunctional family is any family with more than one person in it," best-selling author Mary Karr once wrote. Naturally, nobody is exempt from family disputes—not even those who put on their best smiles to grace the red carpet.
For actors and singers, being connected to their emotions is essential in their profession. This allows them to turn these unfortunate personal stories into art, whether by drawing inspiration for a song or delivering a powerful performance for a challenging movie role.
Many celebrities have spoken openly about the problematic relationships they had with one or both of their parents, sometimes leading to legal battles. While some have found a path to forgiveness as they grew older, others were left with valuable lessons on how not to treat their own children.
Below, Bored Panda invites you to explore 20 stories of celebrities who have or had a tumultuous relationship with their parents.
#1 Macaulay Culkin
The Home Alone actor’s father, Kit Culkin, was controlling and had him on an incredibly demanding working schedule, neglecting his desires to play and make friends with his peers.
According to Macaulay, his violent dad was “jealous” of him because “everything he tried to do in his life, [he] excelled at before [he] was 10 years old.”
At just 15 years old, the Richie Rich star took his parents to court to ensure they didn’t control his $17 million fortune. Since then, he and his father have been estranged. The 43-year-old reportedly still speaks with his mother, Patricia Brentrup.
"I knew from a very early age that I better take notes on him. Notes on how not to be, notes on how I don’t want to be when I grow up," he said of his father in 2006.
