Drew Barrymore slams after claiming ‘she wished her mother was dead’
Drew Barrymore has slammed sections of the tabloids for reporting she wished her mother were dead.
Taking to Instagram, Barrymore, a former child star who became a household name after the 1980s film ET, said the tabloids “twisted” her words gave an interview to New York Magazine.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Drew Barrymore slams reports she ‘wanted her mother dead’.
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Barrymore opened up about her troubled past with her mother, Jaid Barrymore, as she commented on trying to process their complicated relationship.
Of other friends who lost their mothers, she said, “All their mothers are gone, and my mother isn’t.”
“And I’m like, ‘Well, I don’t have that luxury,'” she continued.
“But I can’t wait.
“I don’t want to live in a state where I wish someone would go away sooner than planned so I can grow.
“Actually, I want her to be happy, thriving and healthy.
“But I have to fucking grow even though she’s on this planet.”
Later in the same interview, Barrymore said she regretted what she said, lest it be misconstrued as wishing ill will on her mother.
But that’s exactly what happened, and numerous media outlets ran headlines like “Drew Barrymore wishes her mother was dead” and “Drew Barrymore can’t wait for her mother to die.”
That prompted Barrymore to post an angry video on Instagram, in which she argued that her comments had been grossly misconstrued.
“To all the tabloids out there, you’ve been screwing my life since I was 13,” she began, clearly angry.
“I never said I wished my mother were dead.
“When did you put those words in my mouth?”
She further explained that she tried to convey that she didn’t want to wait until her mother left to learn how to heal or wax, but the sentiment was misinterpreted.
“I’ve been vulnerable and trying to cope with a very difficult and painful relationship, although I have to admit that it’s difficult to cope with that while the parents are still alive,” she said.
“Don’t twist my words and never say I wish my mother was dead.
“I never said that, and I would never do that.”
It seems that three words in particular, “I can’t wait,” have been adopted by various media outlets to mean that Barrymore somehow “saw” her mother’s death so her healing could begin.
“In fact, I go on to say that I wish I never had to live an existence where I wish someone that, because that’s sick,” Barrymore said.
The star’s followers applauded her for speaking out.
“Go away Drew!!!! Love that you speak up!!!” one person wrote.
“You are amazing,” wrote another.
“Preach Drew! We know you are a good person and wouldn’t wish that on anyone,” wrote a third.
“I appreciate your vulnerability to your mother because I don’t speak to my mother either.
“It’s hard to explain to people and at the same time it’s none of their business.
“We are allowed to have borders and protect ourselves and our children.”
Barrymore’s mother was known to go to nightclubs as a child and was exposed to drugs and alcohol at a young age.
“She had lost her credibility as a mother by taking me to Studio 54 instead of to school (so wrong but so funny),” Barrymore wrote in her memoir Wildflower.
“And I was getting out of control because I’d been working since I was 11 months old and it messed up my childhood and I was growing up too fast.
“Work was a very positive thing in my life and unfortunately I was deprived of it because my mother also put me in an institution because she felt helpless.
“But when people found out, they just wrote me off as damaged merchandise, and unfortunately I understood that.”
Barrymore legally separated from her parents when she was 14 and moved into her own apartment when she was 15.
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