Drew Barrymore has slammed tabloids that claimed she “wished” her mother, Jaid Barrymore, was dead.
The 48-year-old actor took to Instagram on Monday to discuss how different publications had been covering her newest interview with Vulture, in which she spoke candidly about her complicated relationship with her mother. During the interview, she confessed that she’s been jealous of her peers, whose mothers weren’t around, before pointing out her regrets about this statement.
In her Instagram video, she went on to criticise other publications for misinterpreting her comments and falsely claiming that she wished her mother wasn’t alive.
“To all those tabloids out there, you’ve been f***ing with my life since I was 13 years old,” she said. “I have never said that I wished my mother was dead. How dare you put those words in my mouth.”
The 50 First Dates star went on to acknowledge how open she’s been, over the years, about her relationship with Jaid, who she emancipated herself from at age 14.
“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,” she continued. “And, 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 added: “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 concluded by noting that in her interview, she actually said that she wished that she’d “never have to live an existence where [she] would wish that on someone because that is sick”.
In the comments of the TV host’s post, many of her fans and famous friends have praised her for sharing this message to the tabloids.
“You’re brave and real and I adore you xxx,” Jennfier Garner wrote, while former Top Chef host Padma Laksmi added: “Ugh. So sorry. We all knew what you meant. Thank you for your vulnerability always.”
A third fan wrote: “@drewbarrymore we all have your back Drew!...Keep being epic and inspiring mate!”
In Barrymore’s initial interview with Vulture, which was first published on 5 June, her comments about her mother highlighted their complicated history. More specifically, she spoke about her peers and their mothers, before acknowledging that she was still working on bettering her relationship with Jaid.
“All their moms are gone, and my mom’s not,” she said. “And I’m like, ‘Well, I don’t have that luxury.’ But I cannot wait. 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.”
She went on to describe the mixed feelings she’s had towards her mother, adding: “I actually want her to be happy and thrive and be healthy. But I have to f***ing grow in spite of her being on this planet.”
However, she confessed that she later had some regrets about saying these remarks, due to the suggestion that she had any animosity towards her mother.
“I dared to say it, and I didn’t feel good,” she added. “I do care. I’ll never not care. I don’t know if I’ve ever known how to fully guard, close off, not feel, build the wall up.”
Over the years, Barrymore has spoken candidly about her difficult relationship with her family, after she first rose to fame at age seven. In honour of Mother’s Day last month, she shared an Instagram post about her mother admitting her to a youth program for drug rehabilitation when she was 13.
“I bonded with a lot of the kids, because like me, they did not know where to put their anger and they did not know how to live life anymore without the need to get high or self-destruct in some form and fashion,” she wrote in the caption of her post.
The Drew Barrymore Show host also recalled how she had to become her “own parent” at the age of 14. “When I got emancipated by the courts at 14 years old, the umbilical cord was severed, and I have not been the same since,” she wrote.
