LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Drew Barrymore recently took to Instagram to clarify some recent comments she made about her mother, Jaid Barrymore. “You know what, to all you tabloids out there, you have been f***ing with my life since I was 13 years old. I have never said that I wished my mother was dead. How dare you put those words in my mouth,” she stated.
“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 have to figure that out in real-time, cannot wait as in they cannot wait for the time. Not that the parent is dead,” the actress explained. “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 an existence where I would wish that on someone because that is sick,” Barrymore clarified.
What did Drew Barrymore say?
Barrymore’s clarification came after several media reports suggested that the actress allegedly wished her mother was dead. The ‘Charlie’s Angels’ star previously told Jeannette McCurdy, who released her memoir titled ‘I'm Glad my Mom Died,’ that she could not share all her truths because “certain people are alive.” During another interview with Vulture, part of which was conducted before Mother's Day, Barrymore referred to McCurdy and Brooke Shields and said she does not have the luxury to speak out like the stars as their mothers have already passed unlike that of Barrymore. “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. 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, Barrymore quickly mentioned that she did not “feel good” about her statement. “I dared to say it, and I didn’t feel good. 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,” she shared.
Who is Jaid Barrymore?
Jaid was born on May 8, 1946, in Brannenburg, Germany, to Hungarian World War II refugees as Ildyko Jaid Mako. She was the daughter of an artist and a concert violinist. The aspiring actress immigrated to the United States in 1950 and married actor John Barrymore, Jr. in 1973. She gave birth to daughter Drew in 1975 but separated from her husband in 1984 when the Drew was just nine years old.
She reportedly acted on several stage productions like ‘Grandma Sylvia's Funeral’ off-Broadway, ‘Dressing Room,’ SoHo Playhouse, New York, and ‘Playing for Time.’ Jaid also provided voices for the 1992 animated series ‘Eek! The Cat.’
She has also appeared in films such as ‘Enchanted,’ ‘Everything’s Jake,’ ‘Searching for Bobby D,’ ‘Night Shift,’ ‘Irreconcilable Differences,’ ‘Me, Myself, and I,’ ‘Doppelganger,’ ‘The Wedding’ and ‘Funny Valentine,’ among others. Jaid is also the author of ‘Secrets of World-Class Lovers: Erotic Tips and Sensual Stories for a Lifetime of Sexual Fulfillment.’
A look into Drew Barrymore’s childhood relationship with her mother
Barrymore has long been vocal about the complicated relationship she shared with her mother since childhood that eventually led to her emancipation at 14. The actress was just five years old when made her film debut in the 1980 movie ‘Altered States.’ Shortly after, she skyrocketed to fame with her role in the Steven Spielberg classic, ‘E.T. the Extra Terrestrial.’
As Barrymore became one of the most popular child actors of the time, Jaid took on the role of both her mother and manager. However, the arrangement led to Barrymore experiencing a troubled childhood and a difficult relationship with her mother. Jaid, who was born in a displaced people’s camp in Germany, was herself a wild child with a lack of parental responsibility.
“I had a mom, but she was more like my best friend,” Barrymore told Norm Macdonald for his 2018 Netflix special. Jaid divorced from Barrymore’s father when the actress was just nine years old. Shortly after, she started taking Barrymore to Studio 54, the place where the ‘Never Been Kissed’ star was first introduced to drugs and encouraged to party with famous men.
“She was like, ‘Do you want to go to school and get bullied all day, or do you want to go to Studio 54?’” Barrymore recalled her mother asking. “And I was like, ‘Yes, absolutely! I don’t want to spend the day with these little f**kers who are just awful.’ Kids are so mean,” she added. The actress began her “party girl” days when was just eight years old and was reportedly seen going out with her mother and the latter’s friends up to five times a week, The Guardian reported.
“She had lost credibility as a mother by taking me to Studio 54 (so wrong, but so fun) instead of school. And I was out of control due to working since I was 11 months old and what that had done to my childhood, which made me grow up too fast,” Barrymore wrote in her memoir ‘Wildflower.’ The actress was eight when she was given her first alcoholic drink.
During a 1990 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Barrymore revealed how she went to a wrap-party with her mother for the sci-fi horror film ‘Firestarter’ and was left alone talking to two crew members she befriended while filming. At the time she insisted that she was able to drink two glasses of champagne. “I was tipsy and bubbly, and the life of the party. I felt so good. All my problems had seemed to disappear for that hour that I was out of it,” Barrymore told Winfrey.
By the time Barrymore turned 10, she was actively smoking marijuana. She developed an alcohol addiction issue by 11 and already moved to cocaine by the time she was 12. She already experienced a stint in rehab but ended up falling off the wagon at 13. “When I was 13, that was probably the lowest Just knowing that I really was alone. And it felt… terrible. It was a really rebellious time. I would run off. I was very, very angry,” she told The Guardian.
Unable to handle her as a child and deal with her alcohol and drug addiction, Barrymore’s mother decided to institutionalize her at 13. “They were pretty out there! But I realized, honestly, yeah, my mom locked me up in an institution. Boo hoo! But it did give an amazing discipline. It was like serious recruitment training and boot camp, and it was horrible and dark and very long-lived, a year and a half, but I needed it. I needed that whole insane discipline,” the actress shared.
Speaking of her mother’s decision at the time, Barrymore told Howard Stern, “She created a monster, and she didn’t know what to do with the monster. This was her last gasp.” She added, “And I was really out of control. And I forgive her for making this choice. She probably felt like she had nowhere to turn.” Unfortunately, her stint at the rehab failed to fix Barrymore’s issues.
A suicide attempt at 14 led to Barrymore going into an 18-month psychiatric hospital stay. As Barrymore and her mother grew further and further apart, authorities at the treatment facility advised that the actress should be emancipated from her mother. After a juvenile court petition, a judge allowed Barrymore to move into her own apartment at 15.
