For Celebrities, Parental Betrayal Is Just a Sad Byproduct of Fame

By Nicki Gostin Posted Mar 19th 2011 10:00AM

In the last week, we learned that Katy Perry's mother is shopping around a book proposal about her famous daughter, and Rihanna opened up to Vogue magazine about her father's betrayal. Every person struggles with who to trust, but that dilemma is magnified tenfold when you are in the public eye and suddenly people can profit simply by knowing you.

"It is very detrimental for a parent of a celebrity to capitalize in any way on their child's fame," Dr. Charles Sophy, author of 'Side by Side: The Revolutionary Mother-Daughter Program for Conflict-Free Communications,' tells PopEater. "Especially if it is not discussed beforehand."

Rihanna told Vogue that her assault by Chris Brown was not the most difficult part of her life in the last few years. Rather it was discovering that her father had sold childhood photos to a tabloid.

"It really makes me question what I have become to my father," she said. "Like, what do I even mean to him? It's really strange. That's the only word I can think of to describe it, because you grow up with your father, you know him, you are part of him, for goodness' sakes! And then he does something so bizarre that I can't begin to wrap my mind around it. You hear the horror stories about people going behind people's backs and doing strange things, but you always think, not my family. My father would never do that to me."

This week's New York Post's Page Six reported that Perry's mother, Mary Hudson, who runs a Christian ministry with her husband Keith in California, is shopping a memoir that purports to tell "her story," and is also about how Perry's success has influenced her ministry in both "negative and positive ways."

Hudson has said before that she detests Perry's breakout song 'I Kissed a Girl' because it "clearly promotes homosexuality and its message is shameful and disgusting ... I can't even listen to that song."

"Whenever anyone experiences betrayal from a parent or trusted caregiver it cuts deep and can scar for many years," Sophy says. "Add to that the layers of trust issues that accompany celebrity and then you have an even deeper wound with a longer lasting scar."

Unfortunately, Perry and Rihanna are not the only celebs to have a parent try to piggyback on their fame.

Recently, Billy Ray Cyrus admitted in an interview that he was very bothered by daughter Miley Cyrus' latest antics. "I'm scared for her," he said. "I know she's 18, but I still feel like as her daddy I'd like to try to help."

Miley was reportedly furious at her father for speaking to the press about his concerns and allegedly forced him to cancel an appearance on 'The View,' where he surely would have been asked about his comments.

Drew Barrymore, who was drinking by age 9, doing coke by 12 and already had two stints in rehab by the time she was 14 years old, sued her mother, Jaid Barrymore, for emancipation when she was 15. She went to court and argued that her mother was a bad influence and won.

Later, Jaid sold her famous daughter's baby clothes on eBay.

Jennifer Aniston did not speak to her mother for nearly a decade after the two had a falling out over an interview that Nancy Aniston gave to a TV show. The rift was compounded when Nancy penned a book about her famous daughter, 'From Mother to Daughter to Friends.' She said she wrote it in part to help those in the "dark hole of child/parent estrangement." It was only when Aniston split from her husband Brad Pitt that the two began speaking again.

"The wound is riddled with hurt, anger and embarrassment, felt as betrayal and often forever damages the parent-child bond," Sophy says of the hurt felt by celebs betrayed by parents attempting to capitalize on their fame. Whether Rihanna or Perry will smooth things over with their parents the way Aniston did with her mother remains to be seen, but this type of betrayal is a sad reminder that some people value a little money and 15 minutes of fame over the kind of loving relationship a parent can have with their children.

Tags: celebrity family feud

Comments

(17)

Saturday 19 March

By Connielynda

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These kids are raised by superficial parents. Too bad perhaps they didn't start out that way but end up loving the spotlight so much they lose their ability to see reality. They lose their ability to see that they are leading their kids to the same path - a superficial life full of emptiness.

By RAS

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Rhianna loves to milk that victim card for all it is worth. Chris Brown did step up the fight and really hit her hard for which there is no excuse to go past reasonable and fair self defense. Rhianna was a participant in the physical altercation as she was attacking him. She shares responsibility and accountability in that incident. Lets also understand that many people in america are captivated and influenced by celebrities and what they do, eat, wear, and think so their stories of woe always get more sensationalism than they deserve.

By tony

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chris brown is a piece of sh@#t,i would like to see him hit a man.

By gobluespartyon

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Rhianna doesn't milk the victim card as you have claim which is a lie. And it was Chris Brown that hit Rhianna not the other way around you weren't there so you don't have proof or facts to back up that claim that Rhianna abuse Chris Brown your blaming the victim which is wrong.

Monday 21 March

By karmellkreem

agreed, whenever someone responds to her negatively (like with that s&m song) she pulls out the "but he hit me" card. yes, he did and he was wrong and there's no excuse for it. at least he admitted it. she has said she was hitting him (beating him with his phone while he was driving) and somehow gets no responsibility for what happened? i'm not blaming the victim, just pointing out that the victim was wrong too.

By Michael gifford

pathetic parents cashing in...seeing their child as a gravy train...

By CharlesFarley

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What the "poor" celebs don't get is that it's their failure to preemptively prosper the peopole who gave them life when they hit the bigtime that results in this exact response. The parents aren't doing it for the money as much as to slap their egomaniacal and overpaid offsrping. If one of my children hits the big time and fails to take me along for the ride, at that moment I'll know what they think of ME and all bets are off.

By Carol

ME! ME! ME! Both sides are looking only at themselves and their own needs and wants. The young celebrities should remember that while they may not owe their parents their stardom, they Do owe their parents their lives. The parents should take a good look at what they are doing and determine whether the material goods they might derive from their public airing of private matters outweighs the relationship with their child(ren). If a child achieves wealth and fame, and also has a relationship with the parent(s), then that is enough. If that parent is in penury, or in need of care and the child ignores that need, then the relationship was faulty to begin with. We are no more entitled to enjoy the benefits that accrue to our adult children's work than they are entitled to live on ours.

So if you didn't get what you wanted from your famous kid/adult you would sell to the highest bidder that is wrong and you don't get it.

By Parissa

And one doesn't have to be a celebrity to be wounded by betraying parents!

I think it is wrong that parents betray there own famous kids to cash in on there fame I would never do that if I ever have a famous kid/adult.

By Jackie Butler

Not to discount the sufferings of the other aforementioned celebs in this story but the one that chaps me the most is the story of that Miley Cyrus girl. I read an article a few days ago that had her father saying he was canceling his divorce from his Wife of 17 years " ...because ( he ) wanted to be daddy and daughter with Miley again " ?!? No mention of wanting to reconcile with the woman he has been married to ( nor his other kids ) but Miley. Most of us regular, quiet , working people are happy with our children. Most of us would be excited if they acheived some level of success ( not for bragging rights so much as that we can go to our graves knowing they won't be homeless ) but some of these kiddie-celebs have parents who truly make me wonder if they had children to start a family or to start a breathing retirement fund! Well, either way, Bless them all.

By MISS SWEET D

whine whine whine, get the hell over it. ya'll rich and famous and your parents are not so who won in the end. JUST STFU AND KKEP ON DOING WHAT U DOING.

whine whine whine, get the hell over it. ya'll rich and famous and your parents are not so who won in the end. JUST STFU AND KEEP ON DOING WHAT U DOING.

Only someone with 7 figures or more can take something simple and obvious and twist it 180". I wouldn't want anything that wouldn't make the benefactor's hear SING WITH JOY. If I were to score a huge windfall, whether by hard work, luck or an accident of fame, you'll know if I give a flying eff about you by whether or not you're invited to the party. If you don;t benefit from mky good fortune, I've already decided you don't matter. This goes both ways. It's not the money, stooopid. It's the message. Do YOU get it? ;-)

Sunday 20 March

By moyra

I thinks is so convenient for these celebrities to forget that tier parents gave up a lot so their kids could succeed in the business. Once they get the big name they wanted, most of them kick their parents to the curb. Take Miley Cyrus for example. She's a spoiled brat after every thing her dad did to get her into the business. So the betrayal falls upon the child and not the parent.

By brownin329

No one had it as bad as Gary Coleman did (Parents stole money from him). Maybe MJ (Joe Jackson-need I say more) and Brooke Shields (whose mom basically prostituted her image as a young girl). And LeAnn Rimes (dad allegedly stole money from her). These women in this article will get past it.

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