Drew Barrymore's Relationship With Her Mother Has Always Been Complicated, But She's Now Speaking Ou

Publish date: 2024-05-24

Actress and TV host Drew Barrymore has opened up about her complicated relationship with her mother, Jaid.

In a new Vulture profile, 48-year-old Barrymore said she will "never not care" about her mother, years after she won emancipation from her parents a just 14 years old. In the Vulture article, it was revealed that Barrymore financially supports her mother. "But I have to f****** grow in spite of her being on this planet."

Barrymore's parents are the actor Jaid and John Drew Barrymore. The 50 First Dates star famously became emancipated from her parents during her troubled youth. She had drug-fueled outings to nightclubs with mother, a compulsory stint in rehab at age 13 and a number of suicide attempts.

In recent years, the actress appears to be more accepting of her mother after years of ups and downs, although it hasn't been easier.

Vulture also reported that, weeks after the interview took place, the actress sent the outlet a text about messages that she shared with her mother. “I don’t care how old you get or how big your mission is. When your mom tells you she loves you, you revert back to small,” Drew Barrymore wrote in her text. “And the fact that she loves me with my truth, and my honesty, is the best time I have ever heard her say it.”

Drew Barrymore Wants Her Mother To Be Happy

Despite their complicated relationship, Drew Barrymore wishes the best for her mother."I actually want her to be happy and thrive and be healthy," the Charlie's Angels actress explained.

“I dared to say it, and I didn’t feel good,” she told the outlet. “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.” Her mother was born in a displaced people’s camp in Germany to Hungarian second world war refugees, and was still a wild child when she had Drew in 1975.

Related: What Does Drew Barrymore Feel About Fans Calling Her A 'Cringey' Talk Show Host?

Barrymore recently hit back at tabloids for misconstruing her words and claiming she wanted her mother dead. "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," Barrymore explained in an Instagram post.

She added: "Do not twist my words around or ever say that I wished my mother was dead. I have never said that. I never would. In fact, I go on to say that I wish that I never have to live an existence where I would wish that on someone. Because that is sick."

Drew Barrymore's Troubled Relationship With Her Mother As A Child Star

Drew Barrymore has referenced her mother on The Drew Barrymore Show in recent months. During her interview with Brooke Shields, they spoke about how their mother behaved during their early career.

In the interview with Shields, Barrymore recalled that Jaid "went and dated my boyfriends," among other incidents that she described as "behav[ing] so absolutely inappropriately."

During a conversation with actor Oliver Hudson on The Drew Barrymore Show, the star explained “peace and respect” in their relationship.

“My mom and I are good now,” she told Oliver, whose mother is Goldie Hawn. “It’s like there’s just some peace and respect and maturity there that could not have taken place maybe before.”

Related: How Childhood Trauma Brought Drew Barrymore And Jennette McCurdy Together

In honor of Mother’s Day this year, she shared a candid Instagram post about her mother admitting her to a youth program for drug rehabilitation when she was only 13.

“I was in for the long haul,” she wrote about her experience at Van Nuys Psychiatric. “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.”

Barrymore has written biographies and spoken at length about her childhood. Her father, John Drew Barrymore, was a violent alcoholic, and her mother and manager, struggled to be a parent. After her parents divorced, life became difficult for a year Drew. At just nine years old, Jaid took her daughter Studio 54, where Drew was introduced to drugs and encouraged to dance with famous young men.

The E.T star also explained how she ultimately became 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.

How Drew Barrymore's Father Dying Changed Her Relationship With Her Mother And Her Own Children

Drew Barrymore confessed that when her father, the late John Barrymore, was suffering from myeloma, it changed their relationship. “I just understood what an incapable human being he was,” she explained. She also revealed that she paid for her father’s hospice care before he died in 2004.

It wasn't quite as easy for Drew to reconcile with her mother, although she does help finance Jaid. “I know that must be so hard for my mom,” she explained. “It’s like she gets all the heartache and [her father] gets given a free ticket.”

Related: Drew Barrymore Admitted Her Therapist Once Quit On Her (For A Specific Reason)

Drew also explained that understanding her mother helped influence her own parenting style. Drew is a mother to two daughters. “Her family was not there, and she was estranged, and then we repeated that pattern," she told Oliver Hudson.

“And I think that due to my own experiences and my mom’s experience, I was like, I have to get this different. It’s not right or wrong but I’m going to have a determination about this that may have not been there otherwise, and I’m so grateful for it.”

Her father passed away from cancer aged 72 in 2004, she recalls in her book, Wildflower, repairing their relationship prior to his death.

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