Drew Barrymore lashes out after claims 'she wished her mother was ...

Drew Barrymore has lashed out at sections of the tabloid media for reporting that she said she wished her mother was dead.

Taking to Instagram, Barrymore, a former child star who become a household name after the 1980s film E.T, said the tabloids had “twisted” the words she gave in an interview to The New York Magazine.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Drew Barrymore slams reports she ‘wanted her mother dead’.

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Barrymore was speaking about her fraught past with her mother, Jaid Barrymore, when she made the comments about trying to process their complicated relationship.

Speaking of other friends who had lost their mothers, she said: “All their mums are gone, and my mum’s not.”

“And I’m like, ‘Well, I don’t have that luxury’,” she continued.

“But 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 so I can grow.

“I actually want her to be happy and thrive and be healthy.

“But I have to f***ing grow in spite of her being on this planet.”

Drew Barrymore lashed out in the video posted to Instagram. Credit: Instagram/Drew Barrymore

Later in the same interview, Barrymore said she regretted what she had said lest it be misconstrued as wishing ill will on her mother.

But that’s exactly what happened, with numerous outlets running with headlines such as “Drew Barrymore wishes her mother was dead” and “Drew Barrymore ‘cannot wait’ for her mother to die.”

That prompted Barrymore to post an angry video to Instagram, arguing that her comments had been badly misinterpreted.

“To all you tabloids out there, you have been f***ing with my life since I was 13 years old,” she began, visibly seething.

“I have never said that I wish my mother was dead.

“How date you put those words in my mouth?”

Drew Barrymore said her words had been twisted. Credit: Instagram/Drew Barrymore

She went on to explain that she had been trying to convey that she didn’t want to wait until after her mother was gone to learn to heal or grow, but the sentiment had been misconstrued.

“I have been vulnerable and tried to figure out a very difficult and painful relationship, while admitting it is difficult to do while a parent is alive,” she said.

“Don’t twist my words around or ever say I wish my mother was dead.

“I have never said that, I never would.”

It seems that three words in particular, “I cannot wait,” had been jumped on by various outlets as meaning Barrymore somehow “looked forward” to the death of her mother so her healing could begin.

“In fact, I go on to say that I wish I never have to live an existence where I would wish that on someone, because that is sick,” Barrymore said.

Drew Barrymore attends the 2023 Time100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center on April 26, 2023 in New York City. Credit: Arturo Holmes/WireImage

The star’s followers applauded her for speaking out.

“Go off Drew!!!! I love that you are speaking up!!!” one person wrote.

“You’re amazing,” wrote another.

“Preach Drew! We know you are a good human and wouldn’t wish that on anyone,” wrote a third.

“I appreciate your vulnerability about your mother, because I also don’t speak to my mother.

“It’s hard to explain to people and also none of their business at the same time.

“We are allowed to have boundaries and keep ourselves and children safe.”

Barrymore’s mother famously took her nightclubbing when she was a child and she was introduced to drugs and alcohol at a young age.

Drew Barrymore with her mum Jaid, who took her to parties and nightclubs from a young age. Credit: Getty

“She had lost credibility as a mother by taking me to Studio 54 (so wrong, but so fun) instead of school,” Barrymore wrote in her memoir Wildflower.

“And I was out of control due to working since I was 11 months old and what that had done to my childhood, which made me grow up too fast.

“Work was a very positive thing in my life, and sadly it had been taken away, because my mother also put me in an institution because she felt helpless.

“But when people found out, they just wrote me off as damaged goods, and I sadly understood that.”

Barrymore became legally emancipated from her parents at the age of 14 and moved into her own apartment aged 15.

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