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Drew Barrymore

Drew Barrymore opens up about healing from relationship with mother Jaid: 'I forgive my mom'

For Drew Barrymore, mother didn’t always know best, but she’s ready to let go of the past.

In an interview with New York magazine published Monday, the actress and talk-show host opens up about her complicated relationship with her mother Jaid Barrymore, who also served as Barrymore's manager during her meteoric rise to child stardom.

While reflecting on how her mother’s existence presents an obstacle to her healing, Barrymore says she doesn’t have the "luxury" of moving on compared to people whose parents have already died.

"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," Barrymore told the outlet. "I actually want her to be happy and thrive and be healthy. But I have to… grow in spite of her being on this planet."

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In an interview published Monday, Drew Barrymore (pictured) opened up about her complicated relationship with her mother Jaid Barrymore.

Despite the intimate revelation, Barrymore says her conflicting feelings about her mother aren’t malicious. "I dared to say it, and I didn’t feel good," she later says in the interview. "I do care. I’ll never not care."

Barrymore was born to actors Jaid and John Drew Barrymore in 1975. The Emmy-nominated actress became emancipated from her parents during her rocky youth, which included drug-fueled outings to nightclubs with mother Jaid, a compulsory stint in rehab at age 13 and a pair of suicide attempts. Barrymore’s fraught relationship with her mother stands in contrast to her relationship with her father, who died in 2004 following a bout of multiple myeloma.

"I just understood what an incapable human being he was," Barrymore says of her late father. "I know that must be so hard for my mom. It’s like she gets all the heartache, and he gets given a free ticket."

But Barrymore appears to be open to reconciliation, revealing to Vulture reporter E. Alex Jung in a text message that she messaged Jaid for her recent birthday.  

"She told me she loved me and she was proud of me," the text read. "I don’t care how old you get or how big your mission is. When your mom tells you she loves you, you revert back to small. And the fact that she loves me with my truth and my honesty is the best time I have ever heard her say it."

"I forgive my mom. I forgive my dad," Barrymore concluded. "I’ve never forgiven myself, but I’d like to and I’m ready to."

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Drew Barrymore slams tabloids: 'How dare you put those words in my mouth'

Barrymore's comments about her mom were taken out of context by some outlets, claiming the actress wanted her mother dead. "I have never said that I wished my mother was dead. How dare you put those words in my mouth," she said in a video captioned, "TO ALL THE TABLOIDS" on Instagram Monday.

"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 continued. "Do not twist my words around or ever say that I wished 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."

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