Child Stars Who Have Spoken Out Against Their Parents

Global fame can be incredibly overwhelming for even the most level-headed of adults. So it's little wonder you can probably count the number of well-adjusted child stars on one hand, such is the brutal nature of being thrust into the limelight at such a young age. 

Indeed, the showbiz world is littered with tragic stories of actors, musicians, and nepo babies who struggled to cope with the pitfalls and pressures of becoming a celebrity at a time when their only worries should have been homework, getting pimples, and what to wear for the end-of-year school dance.

In many instances, the parents are often the root cause of their unhappiness. From chart-topping pop idols to record-breaking Oscar winners, and perhaps unsurprisingly, several former staples of the Disney Channel, here's a look at child stars who have publicly called out the people supposed to have their best interests at heart. 

Taking extreme measures to distance herself from her mother, at 17, Ariel Winter filed for emancipation from mom Crystal Workman. "I'm really lucky I have an amazing support system and lovely people in my life who have given me the support and guidance to have been given this wonderful opportunity," the actor tweeted (via People) after the case officially settled in 2015.

The year before, Winter had been placed under the guardianship of her older sister, Shanelle Workman, after the Department of Children and Family Services discovered evidence she'd been emotionally abused by her mother, something Chrisoula has always denied. Although the star has never publicly gone into detail about what the investigation found, she told People in 2025 that she remains haunted by her childhood.

"It's a really deep, painful, sore, sore part for me that's so much deeper and bigger than I've ever felt ready to talk about," explained Winter. However, she did acknowledge that thanks to her sibling gaining custody, she enjoyed her later teenage years.

Contrary to popular belief, Macaulay Culkin never divorced from his parents following the mammoth success of "Home Alone." He simply took their names off his trust fund. However, there did exist a tumultuous relationship between Macaulay Culkin and his estranged father.

"He was a bad man," the star told "WTF with Marc Maron" in 2018, referring to his father, Kit Culkin. "He was abusive, physically and mentally — I can show you all my scars if I wanted to." On another podcast, "Sibling Revelry" in 2025, Macaulay revealed he hadn't spoken to him in more than three decades, adding, "He deserves it, too. He's a man who — he has seven kids, and now he has four grandkids, and none of them want anything to do with him."

Addressing his childhood while a guest on "Mythical Kitchen" in 2025, Macaulay revealed that the way he was treated by his father and mother, Patricia Brentrup, has inspired him not to make the same mistakes with the two children he shares with Brenda Song. "There's a word that I use in my household, because it's something that I didn't really hear enough of when I was a kid. And that's 'proud.'"

Demi Lovato has been open about the abuse she suffered at the hands of her late father, Patrick Lovato. In 2015, on her fifth studio album, "Confident," for example, she sings on the track "Father," "You did your best or did you?/Sometimes I think I hate you/I'm sorry, dad, for feelin' this."

On "Dr. Phil" in 2018, Demi said of her father who died in 2013, "He was mean, but he wanted to be a good person. And he wanted to have his family, and when my mom married my stepdad, he still had this huge heart where he said, 'I'm so glad that [he's] taking care of you and doing the job that I wish I could do.'"

Moreover, Demi Lovato's struggles with drugs were also connected to her father. On her YouTube documentary "Simply Complicated" in 2017, she spoke about how her own problems with substance use at 17 while still a Disney Channel star were sparked by watching her father's own addiction. "I guess I always searched for what he found in drugs and alcohol because it fulfilled him and he chose that over a family," she said.

Drew Barrymore famously had an unorthodox relationship with her mother. Indeed, Jaid Barrymore would often take the "E.T." star out partying before her daughter had turned 10, most notably at hedonistic nightclub Studio 54. Once she started to climb up the Hollywood ladder, Jaid gave up her own job to become a momager.

"I came to resent her because it seemed so much [of her] life and career was invested in me," Drew told People in 1989 about Jaid who took it upon herself to accompany her to auditions and choose scripts. In fact, things between the pair got so fraught that in her early teens, the actor decided to file for emancipation from both Jaid and her father John Barrymore.

In her 2015 autobiography "Wildflower," Drew revealed the move was born out of a desire to get back on the showbiz treadmill having been committed the year previously. "Work was a very positive thing in my life, and sadly it had been taken away, 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 goods, and I sadly understood that." 

Judy Garland's short life serves as one of the most famous cautionary tales about child stars and pushy parents. "The Wizard of Oz" star would often describe her mother, Ethel Marion Gumm, as "the real Wicked Witch of the West" due to her relentlessly cruel behavior and incessant demands.

"The only time I felt wanted when I was a kid was when I was on stage, performing," the actor said in "Judy Garland on Judy Garland: Interviews and Encounters" edited by Randy L. Schmidt. Gumm would force her daughter to take diet pills and sleeping medication before she had even reached her teenage years, leading to a slippery slope of eating disorders and drug addiction which ultimately resulted in her untimely death at the age of 47.

Speaking to Barbara Walters in 1967 (via YouTube), Garland recalled how Gumm refused to go easy on her even when she was feeling unwell. "She would sort of stand in the wings when I was a little girl and if I didn't feel good, if I was sick to my tummy, she'd say, 'You get out and sing or I'll wrap you around the bedpost and break you off short!' So I'd go out and sing."

Jennette McCurdy's complicated relationship with her mother was made public in 2022 when she released a memoir with a striking title, making it crystal clear how she felt about her parent: "I'm Glad My Mom Died." The child star, who rose to fame as Sam Puckett in Nickelodeon sitcoms "iCarly" and "Sam & Cat," disclosed in the book that Debra McCurdy subjected her to a wide range of abuse throughout her childhood, leaving her with a lifetime of emotional scars.

Some of the shocking revelations include the fact Debra restricted Jennette's diet to the point she developed several eating disorders, insisted on showering her until the age of 17, and once wrote her some foul-mouthed hate mail after seeing paparazzi pictures of her daughter vacationing with an older co-star.

"I lived for her," McCurdy later told BuzzFeed News about the mother figure who died in 2013 of breast cancer. "I believed that she was in some way living for me. And to think she was incapable of even feeling for you, let alone living for you. It's just really sad. I feel that in my chest."

Jennette McCurdy's "I'm Glad My Mom Died" also helped another former child star come to terms with a toxic parental relationship. Kaya Scodelario, who first caught attention aged 14 playing Effy in zeitgeist-defining teen drama "Skins," even took to Instagram to tell the Disney Channel alum.

"Jennette you don't know me but I just wanted to say thank you so much for putting into words something I've never been able to," Kaya wrote in the comments section of a since-deleted Instagram post (via BuzzFeed News) that McCurdy had uploaded about her memoir. "Thanks to you (and an amazing therapist) I now see that I had an abusive mother and was screwed by the industry. Your book made me laugh and cry in a way I've need to so badly for years."

Kaya, who has appeared in several franchises including "Pirates of the Caribbean," "Resident Evil," and "The Maze Runner," grew up in London with her Brazilian single mother Katia Scodelario, a former accountant who suffered from severe depression, something which heavily impacted the future star. "It can be very dark, very difficult, especially as a teenager," Kaya told SheKnows. "It put a lot of pressure on our relationship. I wanted to help but I was 16 and probably not saying the right thing."

Brooklyn Beckham is all grown up and has had his fair share of controversy. The nepo baby broke the internet in early 2026 when he took to Instagram to tell the world about exactly why he'd become estranged from his power-couple parents. The eldest son of David and Victoria Beckham, who was thrust into the limelight before he was even born thanks to the former Spice Girl and Manchester United footballer's tabloid-friendly relationship, sure didn't hold back.

"I'm not being controlled, I'm standing up for myself for the first time in my life," Brooklyn wrote on his Instagram Stories following rumors his wife, Nicola Peltz, had come between him and his parents. "For my entire life, my parents have controlled narratives in the press about our family. The performative social media posts, family events and inauthentic relationships have been a fixture of the life I was born into."

Brooklyn, who has tried his hand at everything from photography to cooking without much luck, went on to blast Victoria, in particular, for ruining his wedding, accusing her of everything from interfering with the bride's dress to dancing inappropriately with him at the reception. "My family values public promotion and endorsements above all else," he added. "Brand Beckham comes first."

You might expect that having won a Tony Award and a Grammy and appeared on pretty much every other major hit TV show of the 1960s, Jack Cassidy wouldn't be affected much by the green-eyed monster. But according to one of his many talented family members, the Broadway star was often consumed by jealousy over the success of his nearest and dearest.

Indeed, during his guest appearance on "Nostalgia Tonight with Joe Sibia" in 2026, teenage pin-up singer Shaun Cassidy revealed his father struggled to cope with his popularity — and that of brother David Cassidy and mother Shirley Jones. "My mother was an Academy Award winner and a very big movie star before 'The Partridge Family.' And then along comes David. And David becomes kind of the biggest thing in the world for a while. And he had a hard time with it," Shaun said of his father. "And by the way, that was his shortcoming. A lot of parents would have been very proud of their son or their wife, for that matter. But, you know, my father had a big ego."

One of the most famous child stars who had a jealous parent was Elizabeth Taylor, who suffered at the hands of her father due to his envy over her early success in films, such as "National Velvet."

"When I was a little girl, my father was abusive when he drank and seemed to like to bat me around a bit," the actor told Barbara Walters on ABC-TV in 1999 (via CT Insider). However, the Hollywood legend, who reconnected with Francis Lenn Taylor as a twenty-something after a period of estrangement, also tried to see things from the other side of the coin.

"But when I left home and had my own child I started thinking about my father and how it must have felt for him to have his 9-year-old daughter making more money than he was," Taylor said before referring to the physical violence she experienced. "I know he was drunk when he did it. He didn't mean to do it. He didn't know what he was doing."

Pattie Mallette has never had any trouble opening up about her relationship with her superstar son. She even had a book published about the subject, "Nowhere But Up: The Story of Justin Bieber's Mom." The former teen idol, who shot to fame across the globe as a youngster with hits like "Baby," has been similarly candid in return.

In a 2015 interview with Billboard, Justin Bieber disclosed he'd essentially become estranged from Mallette for a good two years, calling their relationship "pretty nonexisting." He said, "I was distant because I was ashamed. I never wanted my mom to be disappointed in me and I knew she was. We spent some time not talking, so it takes time to rebuild that trust."

But judging by Bieber's sarcastic and belated response to a since-deleted Instagram post (via People) by Mallette 10 years later, the trust hadn't been fully rebuilt. Indeed, two weeks after his mother publicly prayed for her son on the social media platform in 2025 without any further explanation, the Canadian replied dismissively, "Only thing I need healing from is my rolled pinky toe from playing ping pong." This response doesn't come as a surprise considering the signs Justin Bieber's mom and Hailey Bieber's relationship isn't so rosy.

Tatum O'Neal made history in 1974 at the age of just 10 when she became the youngest ever winner of a competitive Academy Award thanks to her supporting turn in "Paper Moon." Unfortunately, the man who played her father figure in the Great Depression drama — her actual father Ryan O'Neal — wasn't exactly jumping for joy.

"Legend has it — and people tell me — that when I got the Oscar nomination, Ryan slugged me," Tatum recalled in her memoir, "A Paper Life." "I don't remember that, but there are memories that I've blocked." The former child star, however, was able to recall several other instances where her famous father had been abusive, both emotionally and physically.

In a 2004 interview on "The Early Show" (via CBS News), Tatum explained how she was able to put on a united front when the cameras were rolling. "I'm an actress. Do you know what I mean? I don't mean to be like a phony, but he played my dad when I was 7 years old ... I'm sure when they say, 'Tatum, show up and put your arms around your dad,' like, I know how to do that."

As depicted in the box office smash about his life (well, up until the late 1980s anyway), Michael Jackson suffered abuse at the hands of his controlling manager-father from a young age. Indeed, many believe the late King of Pop's countless problems spawned from how he was treated by Joseph Jackson.

In "Living with Michael Jackson," the controversial Martin Bashir documentary which opened up a whole other can of worms, the "Billie Jean" singer spoke of how he was left wanting paternal affection while growing up. Furthermore, Michael told author J. Randy Taraborrelli, who told People in 2026, that his upbringing affected how he raised his own children. "To this day I won't lay a finger on my children," the singer told the author. "I don't want them to ever feel that way about me. He didn't allow us to call him Daddy, and I wanted to call him Daddy so bad. He said, 'I'm not Daddy, I'm Joseph to you.'"

This certainly wasn't the first time Michael had addressed his difficult relationship with Joseph. In his 1988 memoir "Moonwalk," he wrote, "If you messed up you got hit, sometimes with a switch, sometimes with a belt. Dad would make me so mad at him that I'd try to get back at him and get beaten all the more."

In one of several damaging allegations made in his 2013 memoir "Coreyography," Corey Feldman revealed his mother had been so hellbent on turning him into a star that she plied him with diet pills to ensure he didn't miss out on roles.

The actor, who as a youngster appeared in several '80s classics including "Stand By Me" and "The Goonies," recalled how Sheila Feldman would also lock him in his bedroom until he'd perfected his audition songs, repeatedly insulted his appearance, and restricted his food intake, leaving his favorite snacks in places he was too small to reach.

"I do have round, chubby, cherubic cheeks, but I always thought that I would grow into them," Corey wrote about his youthful appearance and how his mother taunted him about it. "Now she tells me that if I'm not careful, I'll grow up to be a fat, disgusting pig. She lifts my shirt and pinches a fold of skin between her fingers." Following the book's publication, Sheila insisted that not only were such stories untrue, but her son had previously warned that he would be fabricating them.