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Drew Barrymore attends Variety's 2022 Power Of Women at The Glasshouse on May 05, 2022 in New York City© Getty

Drew Barrymore gives tearful insight into how she repaired once-strained relationship with her mother

The Drew Barrymore Show host emancipataed from her parents aged 14, and became estranged from both

Beatriz Colon
Beatriz Colon - New York
New York WriterNew York
October 25, 2023
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Drew Barrymore is known for her serious commitment to bearing it all on her eponymous talk show – no matter how hard it is – in order to give her most genuine self to her fans.

Her authentic and candid self has opened the doors for many of her viewers to trust her and seek her out when they need advice, and during an episode last year, when a young woman reached out to the host asking for help, she knew divulging her personal experiences would be helpful.

She was reached out to by a woman trying to repair her strained relationship with her mother, a difficult journey the former actress has her fair share of experiences in.

WATCH: Drew Barrymore revisits where her mother institutionalized her

Drew was raised by her mother Jaid Barrymore on her own when her father, late actor John Barrymore, left Jaid before their daughter was born. Her mother in a sense followed suit, and Drew has often recalled Jaid leaving her to her own devices before she was even ten years old, prompting her to lose control partying and drinking, and eventually emancipating herself at age fourteen.

As the mom and daughter seeking advice on the show opened up about their own struggles, Drew did the same, revealing just how estranged she once was from her own mom.

"Daughters to mothers, I think we have a predisposed expectation where we don't want you to be selfish," Drew reasoned.

Drew Helps a Mother and Daughter Repair Their Once-Strained Relationship

She then admitted: "My mom was selfish too and it screwed me up, but you know what, I carried that with me and I acted from a place of a wounded child who also felt like they had to be an adult too quickly, and I didn't understand the parent-child dynamic."

MORE: Drew Barrymore in tears after recalling 'really hard year' amid 'poisonous' relationship with alcohol

MORE: Drew Barrymore cries as she breaks silence over talk show controversy – what she said

However, she gave her mom some credit, adding: "As selfish as my mom was, I have to give her a lot of room too because I was not easy." She then detailed her rough and messy upbringing, recalling her wild child days and confessing: "Our life was set up for crash and burn disaster, I was completely out of control."

Drew Barrymore and mother Jaid Barrymore attend 55th Annual Academy Awards on April 11, 1983 at the Dorothy Changler Pavilion in Los Angeles, California© Getty
Jaid, pictured above in 1983, has been highly criticized for exposing Drew to partying and drinking as early as age nine

"She did not know how to control me anymore," Drew continued, and looking back on their relationship and how they repaired it, she said: "These were very painful things for both of us to go through… Her choices came from things that were real for her."

Leaving things on a hopeful note, she updated fans on where she stands with her mom, revealing: "As a woman I could finally see and understand that and we've made peace. We now text and talk and I've reached out to her."

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