(UPDATE: 6/05/22 AT 8:10 P.M. ET): Drew Barrymore has clapped back at all outlets that claimed she wished death upon her mother in her June 5 interview with New York magazine Taking to her Instagram feed, she said, “You know what? To all you tabloids out there, you have been f****** with my life since I was 13 years old,” she began in a serious tone. “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 that who to figure that out in real time ‘cannot wait’ as in they cannot wait for the time. Not that the parent is dead,” she continued, clarifying her stance. “Don’t twist my words around or ever say that I wish 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 in an existence where I would wish that on someone because that is sick.”
(ORIGINAL STORY): Drew Barrymore is an open book when it comes to her traumatic upbringing with abusive parents and a mother who helped enable her to become an alcoholic and drug user by the time she was 13 years old. However, in a new interview, she opened up like never before and seemingly admitted life might be clearer if her mother, Jaid, was dead. She also said she’s jealous of her friends who no longer have living parents. “All their moms are gone, and my mom’s not. I don’t have that luxury,” she explained to New York magazine in a profile published on Monday, June 5. “I cannot wait,” she added.
The 48-year-old actress and talk show host then clarified her stance, saying she doesn’t wish death upon her mom, but said life would be easier for her if she was. “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 said. “I actually want her to be happy and thrive and be healthy. But I have to f******grow in spite of her being on this planet.”
The 50 First Dates star clarified her opinion once again further into the interview, confirming she did not wish anything bad against her mother. “I dared to say it, and I didn’t feel good,” Drew confessed. “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.”
Drew rose to fame at age 7 after landing her breakout role in E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. She became one of the most in-demand actresses at the time, but unfortunately, her mother’s loose management style landed Drew in some trouble. She was institutionalized at the age of 13 and when she got out over a year later, she was emancipated from her parents. Her father, John Drew Barrymore of the famed Barrymore acting family, was out of the picture most of her life. “I think [my mom] created a monster, and she didn’t know what to do with the monster,” Drew admitted on The Howard Stern Show in a 2021 interview about how she got to be so out of control. The Never Been Kissed actress was taken in by rock legend David Crosby, who helped her stay on a positive path.
Drew was estranged from her mother for years, but in 2017, she confirmed that she and her former momager are in a good place in terms of their relationship via an Instagram selfie she shared on Mother’s Day. “Proud. Me and my mom. On Mother’s Day!” she captioned the pic.
Drew gave another positive update on her and Jaid’s relationship a few years later.“My mom and I are good now,” she noted in a May 2021 episode of The Drew Barrymore Show. “It’s like there’s just some peace and respect and maturity there that could not have taken place maybe before.”
And although Drew’s relationship with her mother is on solid ground, the actress said she has to work on her mindset about her upbringing frequently to keep growing. “I choose very consciously not to see my life as things that have been done to me,” she told New York magazine. “I want to see it as the things I did and chose to do. I’m not attracted to people who lay blame on others. I don’t find it sexy.”