Elle King Addresses Viral Feud With Dad Rob Schneider
Originally appeared on E! Online
Elle King is feelin' alright about how she handled herself.
One month after the "Ex's and Oh's" singer gave insight into her tumultuous relationship with dad Rob Schneider, she reflected on the subsequent fallout of their public back and forth.
"I never in a million years thought that that was going to go viral," Elle told People in an interview published Sept. 19. "I was just speaking about my childhood and about my truth. I was not trying to hurt him."
And the singer—whose mother is Rob's first wife, London King—didn't regret divulging details about her childhood.
"A lot of people said, 'How could she say that about her family?' and 'Everything needs to be behind closed doors,'" she continued. "No, it doesn't. Sometimes you have to just say things and get them off your chest so that you don't have to carry it for the rest of your life."
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The 35-year-old—who shares son Lucky, 3, with partner Daniel Tooker—also wasn't too impressed with her dad's apology.
"Ultimately, I think an apology on Tucker Carlson is like a double negative, right?" she added, referring to the former Fox News commentator's eponymous podcast. "Means nothing."
Last month, Elle shared on the Dumb Blonde podcast that her father was often absent in her life, even when she was under his care. For instance, she said the Saturday Night Live alum missed her birthday every year and that she often felt she was in the way when she joined him on set.
"I would just get lost in the shuffle," she said. "If I ever messed up a shot, or if an arm was in the camera, or I was talking, I would get in f--king trouble."
As she got older, the "America's Sweetheart" singer decided to keep her distance from Rob, who's made transphobic and homophobic comments in the past.
"He's just not nice," she explained. "I disagree with a lot of the things that he says. You can want someone to change so much and ultimately, you can't control anyone else's actions. You can't control people's feelings. All you can control is how you react and what you do with your feelings."
Ultimately, Rob responded to the allegations and their lack of communication.
"I want to just tell my daughter: Elle, I love you, and I wish I was the father of my 20s that you needed, and clearly I wasn't," the 60-year-old said on The Tucker Carlson Show podcast two days later. "I wish you the best. I feel terrible, and I just want you to know that I don't take anything you say personally."
Keep reading to see what else Elle has said about her famous father and childhood.
Live From New York
Rob Schneider married model London King in 1988. Their daughter Elle King was born in July 1989, not long before they split up, and he started at Saturday Night Live in 1990.
"I have lots of memories" from her dad's time on SNL, Elle said on the Watch What Happens Live After Show in January 2023. "I don't know what I'm allowed to share...but I have a memory of Chris Farley and my dad. [Chris], like, plopped me on his lap and he was holding a balloon and doing this thing that he does"—she flashed a vintage Farley smile—"and I remember feeling terrified. I also saw Phil Hartman punch my dad in the face."
When they got in a cab later, Elle recalled, she asked him along the lines of [speaking in a little girl voice], "'Daddy, why'd that mean man hit you?'"
But to this day Elle doesn't know why. "I don't know if he deserved it or not," she said, "he won't tell me."
Piercing Memory
Elle's mom sent her to live with her dad when she was 13 after she came home with a pierced tongue, the "Ex's and Oh's" singer told Billboard in November 2015.
The timing meant she got to go to Amsterdam while Rob filmed the 2005 sequel Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo.
"So, I can roll amazing joints," Elle said. "Really wonderful."
The Fame Meister
Spending time with her father, Elle told Billboard, "One important thing I learned is, when you have a big personality, you can walk into a room and be the life of the party, or you can be in a bad mood and suck the f--king life out of it. You have to be really careful with that."
Why She Doesn't Use Her Dad's Name
Born Tanner Elle Schneider, she changed her name to Elle King as soon as she was 18.
"I was born out of a Vegas marriage," she told Billboard in February 2015. "My parents got married three days after they met."
And they split up months after having Elle. "Soon as I was 18, I took on my mom's last name because she raised me," she explained, "and I wanted to be my own person."
When "Ex's and Oh's" hit the singles chart, Rob said of his daughter's success on The Meredith Vieira Show, "She did it all on her own, she really did. That’s why she wanted to have her own name, because it’s tough being the kid of a famous person. But she did it on her own, I'm really proud if her."
Why She Doesn't Feel the Nepo Baby Tag Applies to Her
"Yeah, people know who my dad is," Elle told ABC News in 2015. "But I think that my voice and my music speaks for itself, that I am my own person."
And she later resisted the label that the world was eager to slap on the kids of celebrities who also wanted to pursue that artist life.
"I don't think I ever really get scooted into the 'nepo baby' thing," Elle said on an August 2024 episode of Off the Vine With Kaitlyn Bristowe. Rather than draw her toward show business, her dad was "more of a deterrent," she added. "We weren't super close when I was starting out performing, when I got signed. We really weren't even speaking."
And it was her mom who was "always just, like, telling me to take lessons," Elle shared, "and she would drive me everywhere. And she took care of me and always made sure that I had some form of a creative outlet."
She also credited Justin Tesa, her stepdad since 2000, for championing her career from the beginning.
"I am only a musician because of him," the singer told ABC News. "I think that it was something that was inside of me, but he saw that and he definitely nurtured it and pushed me to, you know, dig deeper into music and step outside of things that were beyond just pop culture and, uh, learn about good rock and roll."
Chip Off the Old Block
Elle takes after both parents, just maybe not in the ways you might assume at first glance.
"My dad can sing!" she said on Off the Vine. "He does the best Elvis I've ever heard… He's Filipino, and Filipino people are very gifted in the singing realm, and I definitely got some of my charisma from my dad."
But, she added, "I got my funny from my mom. My mom is the funniest person that I've ever met. We're easy laughers. I wish I would have gotten some of her height."
No Laughing Matter
"Comedians are not funny," Elle declared on The Kelly Clarkson Show in July 2023 when she was asked what it was like having a famously funny father. "I think a lot of comedians are extremely intelligent and they have this weird vision—and they use all of their joy to make other people laugh, and then off-stage..."
"But," she added, "I also grew up around a lot of my dad's friends and they were always really, really funny to be around."
On the Outs for Now
Elle put her dad on blast on an August 2024 episode of Bunnie XO's Dumb Blonde podcast, sharing that after finally having more of a bond with him as an adult, their relationship was still all over the place, not least because of the political views Rob has been espousing lately.
"Right now, we’re not flowing," Elle said. "I disagree with a lot of the things that he says. And he is just, I don't know, you can want someone to change so much. And ultimately, you can't control anyone else's actions. You can't control people’s feelings. All you can control is how you react and what you do with your feelings."
But, she admitted, "Sometimes I f--king boil up, and I boil over, and I f--king bust my lid.”
When she started getting famous, Elle continued, "and people finally started asking about my dad, my dad called me and was like, 'Don't f--king talk about me in the press.' Like, all right. OK, great. But also it's like, get f--ked. I don’t care."
"He's Just Not Nice"
Elle said on Dumb Blonde that her dad sent her to "fat camp" during the summers when she was 11 and 12, and, one year when she sprained her ankle and didn't lose any weight, she "got in trouble."
"So it’s like very toxic and very silly," she said. And when she started to make a name for herself in the music world, she wasn't eager to play up her family ties, adding, "He's just not nice."
Responding to her Dumb Blonde interview, Rob said on Tucker Carlson's podcast that he wasn't taking anything Elle said personally, he loved her, and he was sorry she was hurting.
"I apologize completely for and accept responsibility for not being the parent that I am now with my new kids," the comedian said. "She didn’t get that, and I missed a lot."
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