Barely starting her life, Drew Barrymore was thrust into the spotlight in more ways than one - at the age of seven, she was already appearing alongside Johnny Carson.Behind the scenes, things were a lot more troubling and by 14, she had asked to be emancipated.She isn't the only one, as Ariel Winter also did - and Jaden Smith attempted to, but that was to no avail. Let's take a look at how it all went down for Drew Barrymore and why she decided to live on her own.
Why Did Drew Barrymore Get Emancipated At 14?
Drew Barrymore did not have a normal upbringing. When she was just 11-months old, Barrymore was already thrust into work. She became a child star which caused her to grow up very quickly.
As she revealed alongside ET, by the age of 14 she was already living alone. Most don't move out until years late, maybe even a decade later for a lot of people.
Nonetheless, she made it on her own and according to her own words, TV was a major part of helping to keep her comfortable during such a stressful time.
"I got my first apartment when I was 14, and I was terrified," she recalled. "I was really scared all the time, it's scary to move out on your own at 14. My little television that I kept on broadcast, because that's kind of all there was... the thing that made me feel the safest in my apartment was my television."
"My television is what helped me grow up and become a whole person, so this moment is insane because it just feels really [like I'm] honoring something that was very giving to me at a time I needed it most," she continued. "Throughout my whole life, I just loved television. I've been doing it, I’ve been watching it, so this is so cool. I can't believe it. It really poetically resonates with me that TV is such a calling card for security and safety."
This begs the question, why did Barrymore move out in the first place?
Drew Barrymore And Her Mother Had A Broken Relationship
When Barrymore was 14, she started her life over again.
Why did she leave home at such a young age? Well, it was all because of a broken relationship alongside her mom. As the actress revealed with The Guardian, her mother wasn't capable of taking care of her child any longer.
"When I was 14, I was emancipated by the courts. It’s no secret that I had to part ways from my mother because we had driven our relationship into the ground. She had lost credibility as a mother by taking me to Studio 54 (so wrong, but so fun) instead of school."
Drew revealed that their relationship was out of the norm, and not a mother and daughter relationship - instead it was more like friends. During the court hearing, Barrymore's mother was supportive about the decision, it was just a matter of the judge accepting that Drew could live alone at such a young age.
Barrymore recalls the pivotal moment during the court case, "At the end of the day, the judge looked at me and said these words, which stuck with me: “I can turn the clock forward, but I can never turn it back. Are you ready for that?”
“Yes,” I said.
Drew was off on her own and as it turns out, she learned a lot from the experience - especially when she had kids of her own.
Drew Barrymore Took A Different Approach As A Mom
Barrymore learned a lot from the troubling relationship with her mother. It should be noted that the two are on good terms these days, however, she did not plan on mimicking her style.
According to Drew, she wanted to ensure that her relationship with the kids was not a friend-zone type of ordeal.
"Like, I'm your parent, I'm not your friend," she stated.
"You can be friendly and do activities -- it's not that it has to be this strict relationship -- but my god, if children aren't looking for that north star of how to behave and how to handle and how to deal, and they're not looking for that earth's crust core foundation of, 'If I fall you will catch me,' like, that I think is how it's supposed to be in those societal norms that are set up," she says. "But unfortunately ... that is not so many people's stories."
At the very least, Drew was able to turn things around, despite all the obstacles she was tasked with.