Jennette McCurdy Discusses Controversial Memoir, ‘I’m Glad My Mom Died,’ with Jada Pinkett Smith
On Jada Pinkett Smith’s Facebook Watch series Red Table Talk, Jennette McCurdy made an appearance to talk about her memoir, “I’m Glad My Mom Died.” She described in her book the severe physical and psychological abuse she endured at the hands of her late mother, Debbie.
The 30-year-old former cast member of iCarly consented to speak with Adrienne Banfield Norris, Jada, and Willow Smith regarding these horrifying accusations.
The former Nickelodeon star bravely spoke out about “decades of torment, exploitation, and manipulation inflicted by her very own mother” in a press release for the episode that aired on September 7 after “years of suffering in silence.”
The actress, who lost her mom to cancer in 2013, previously shared her childhood trauma and healing journey in her one-woman dark comedy show, “I’m Glad My Mom Died,” and her upcoming memoir of the same name. McCurdy, 29, expressed to People, “I did not know how to find my identity without my mom. And I’m not going to lie. It was very hard to get here. But now, I’m at a place in my life that I never would have thought was possible. And I finally feel free.”
Jennette McCurdy saw her parents, fight physically while she was growing up in Southern California. She recalled how her mother would frequently become violent during her outbursts, characterizing her early childhood memories as chaotic and heavy. As McCurdy clarified,
“My mom’s emotions were so erratic that it was like walking a tightrope every day. The mood fluctuations were daily.” As the youngest of four children and her parents’ only daughter, McCurdy said her mother fixated on her, pushing her into acting by the time she was six. Despite being “cripplingly shy,” she felt pressured to go on auditions and book work.
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McCurdy said, “I felt like my job was to keep the peace,” since her acting career provided for her family and she wanted to please her mother. Debbie was preoccupied with McCurdy’s appearance; at the age of ten, she started bleaching her daughter’s hair and teeth.
After a year, Debbie gave McCurdy instruction on calorie restriction, which exacerbated her disordered eating. At the age of 14, McCurdy was already struggling with anorexia when she landed her big break as Sam Puckett on iCarly.
Debbie battled breast cancer for 17 years; the disease was discovered when her daughter was a small child. In 2010, despite her initial remission, the cancer came back and spread to her brain.
When Debbie passed away in 2013, McCurdy, who was 21 at the time, felt that her mother’s control had left her “so repressed and delayed developmentally” that she rebelled.
She struggled with binge eating followed by self-induced vomiting, tried alcohol, and had sex with others. She battled bulimia and alcoholism for years, attributing her 2018 eating disorder recovery to counseling.
Jennette McCurdy Discusses Controversial Memoir, ‘I’m Glad My Mom Died,’ with Jada Pinkett Smith
