Larry David's eldest daughter, Cazzie, is all over the news right now. This is because she had just released a memoir of deeply personal essays entitled "No One Asked For This". And this book is just filled with fascinating things about her life.
While Cazzie has also been in the news for her peculiar relationship with music legend John Mayer, she is perhaps best known for being Pete Davidson's girlfriend. While she and Pete went through quite a bit of trauma, as she outlined in her memoir, he has actually said some very nice things about her. This is because the undeniably beautiful young woman comes across as relatable, bright, interesting, and downright funny. Perhaps this is because she was allowed to develop her own personality under the tutelage of her famous father. Or, perhaps it's because she shares a lot of personality traits with the Curb Your Enthusiasm and Seinfeld creator.
Larry David is a completely unique man. A genius, really. He's taken some of his worst experiences, such as his terrible time on Saturday Night Live, and turned them into comedy gold. Not only that, but he's made a ludicrous amount of money doing it. That's got to have had a toll on Cazzie and her sister Romy.
So, what's it like growing up as the daughter of a "social assassin"?
Cazzie Has A TON In Common With Her Father
While promoting her new book on Good Morning America, Cazzie David told Will Reeve all. Specifically, she stressed that her new book is not a self-help book, but instead something filled with honest, self-deprecating humor... Not unlike the comedic stylings of her father.
"Honestly, a lot of this makes me feel like I ran outside naked with a 'kick me' sign on my face," Cazzie said of her book. "It is weird because I do reveal so much about myself that if anyone were to not like the book they'd be essentially saying they don't like me."
But this is something Larry has had to deal with as he's exposed some of his personal thoughts (albeit greatly exaggerated for comedic effect) in Seinfeld and HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm.
In an interview with The LA Times, Larry David even admitted that he and Cazzie share a commonality in terms of how they view themselves.
"We have the same low opinion of ourselves. We are in a contest as to who is crazier. I can’t smoke weed because of what it does to me physically, but she can. So I said, ‘There’s proof — I’m definitely crazier.’ And then I find out she can’t sing when she’s by herself because she’s too self-conscious. So now I think she wins."
Living In The Shadow And With Immense Wealth
However, the vast success that Cazzie's father definitely made her feel as though she is living in the curmudgeonly shadow of a beloved icon.
"I'm not complaining, I'm lucky my dad is who he is and that's like a person I don't mind being in the shadow of," Cazzie explained. "I know for a fact that nothing will ever be as great as what my dad does. Um, So, I get to do something that's kind of different and something else."
We don't know exactly how that shadow has affected her mental health, but we do know that Cazzie has struggled with anxiety almost all her life. In her book, she even details how depressed and anxious she felt at the early age of 12. Now, at 26-years-old, Cazzie still feels very similar. But luckily, much like her father who clearly has his fair share of neurosis, Cazzie has humor as a tool to navigate through it all.
"I think humor is a defense mechanism to protect yourself from pain but also to communicate your pain, " Cazzie admitted in her recent Good Morning America interview.
While the huge amount of privilege her family has given her doesn't cause her pain, it does cause her a huge amount of guilt. During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Cazzie went into detail about how much of a burden it's been on her.
Her Family Is Used To Being Honest And Anxious
Even with her complicated issues about growing up in her father's shadow, it's clear that Cazzie has a very good relationship with her dad. The same can be said of Cazzie's mother, Larry's ex-wife, although she received a lot more comedic negativity in "No One Asked For This".
During an interview with EW, Cazzie explained how her family has navigated her books honesty:
In interviews Larry has done about both his daughters, he appears to be very respectful of their privacy as well as clear that he has a desire to let them find their own identities. However, he also appears to be a lot like many other dads... somewhat embarrassing...
"They [wouldn't] even let me drop them off at school," Larry told The View. "I had to drop them off two blocks away."
Still, both Cazzie and her sister seem to want to spend quite a bit of time with him.