Julia Fox understands Drew Barrymore’s controversial comments about her mom’s inevitable death.
The “Never Been Kissed” actress caused a stir Monday when she told New York Magazine that she “cannot wait“ to unpack unhealed parental trauma once her mother, Jaid, is dead.
While many people were appalled by Barrymore’s harsh words, Fox commented on Pvnew’s Instagram post on the topic saying, “I can relate lmao.”
Barrymore, 48, later clarified her words in a pointed Instagram rant:
“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,” she explained.
“And, for those of us who have to figure that out in real time cannot wait, as in they cannot wait for the time, not that the parent is dead.”
Fox, 33, did not respond to the talk show host’s explanation.
Little is known about the “Uncut Gems” actress’ mother, Ann Darwin, but Fox was reportedly raised by her grandfather for the first few years of her life before moving to NYC with her father when she was 6 years old.
Her dad, Thomas Fox, and brother, Christopher, were arrested in March after cops raided their Manhattan apartment and found ghost guns and evidence of narcotics manufacturing.
Thomas was released from police custody the same day he was arrested and is not believed to be involved in her brother’s affairs.
Julia defended her brother at the time, saying in a TikTok video, “I know my brother and I’ve always known him to be like — I’m not kidding, you guys — the sweetest, most gentle, kind, soft-spoken, loves animals, loves to plant flowers, has a green thumb, loves nature.”
She admitted, however, that both she and Christopher “have a lot of trauma.”
“The difference is that I’m scrappy, I’m a fighter and I threw my aggression and was able to release that rage,” Julia said.
Meanwhile, Barrymore – who got emancipated from her mother at 14 years old – admitted that she struggles to get over her contentious childhood while her mom is still alive.
“All [my friends’] moms are gone, and my mom’s not,” the “Fever Pitch” actress said. “And I’m like, ‘Well, I don’t have that luxury.’ But I cannot wait.”
She added: “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. I actually want her to be happy and thrive and be healthy. But I have to f–king grow in spite of her being on this planet.”
The “50 First Dates” alum later backtracked, telling the New York Magazine reporter that her admission “didn’t feel good.”
“I do care. I’ll never not care. I don’t know if I’ve ever known how to fully guard, close off, not feel, build the wall up,” she said.
Drew has a complicated relationship with her mother, and previously discussed being raised by Jaid, who was also her manager and took her to Hollywood parties as a child.
At the age of 12, Drew had already gone to rehab for drugs and alcohol. When she was 13, her mom checked her into a psychiatric ward in California.
“I think she created a monster, and she didn’t know what to do with the monster,” Drew told Howard Stern in a 2021 interview.
By the age of 14, she was emancipated from her parents.
Drew has yet to fully make amends with her mom, though she was able to reconcile with her father, John David, before he died in 2004.
Still, Drew told the magazine she doesn’t “blame” her mom for the difficulties she suffered in the past.
“I choose very consciously not to see my life as things that have been done to me,” she said. “I want to see it as the things I did and chose to do. I’m not attracted to people who lay blame on others. I don’t find it sexy.”
The “Drew Barrymore Show” host has discussed defending her mother in the past, telling People in 2022, “I can’t turn my back on the person who gave me my life.”
“I can’t do it. It would hurt me so much. I would find it so cruel. But there are times where I’ve realized that our chemistry and behavior will drum up a feeling in me where I have to say, ‘Ok, I need a break again.’”
Drew is a mother herself and co-parents her two daughters – Olive and Frankie – with ex-husband Will Kopelman.
