- Drew Barrymore criticized tabloids over claims that she wished her mother was dead.
- On Monday, multiple publications misinterpreted an interview she gave to New York Magazine.
Drew Barrymore has slammed news outlets who misinterpreted an interview she gave as suggesting that she wished her mother was dead.
On Monday, multiple publications ran quotes from an interview published by New York Magazine in which Barrymore discussed her complicated relationship with her mother, Jaid Barrymore.
Barrymore said she has found it more difficult to process her relationship dynamic with her mom than other celebrities such as Jennette McCurdy and Brooke Shields, who have had similar complex relationships with their parents and who have appeared on Barrymore's talk show to talk about the subject.
"All their moms are gone, and my mom's not," Barrymore 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 fucking grow in spite of her being on this planet."
After the quotes were interpreted around the internet as Barrymore wishing her mother was dead, the actor and talk show host responded with a video posted to Instagram.
"I have never said that I wished my mother was dead. How dare you put those words in my mouth," Barrymore said in the video. "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 went on to explain that her words were misconstrued.
"And that for those of us who have to figure that out in real time cannot wait, as in they cannot wait for the time," she said. "Not that the parent is dead. 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 existence where I would wish that on someone because that is sick," Barrymore added, referring to another quote in the interview in which she expressed regret for even contemplating her mother's death.
Barrymore has had a difficult relationship with her mom since childhood, and though she emancipated from her parents at the age of 14, the "Charlie's Angels" actor still supports her mother financially.