Tatum O'Neal calls out dad on live TV: 'If you're watching this, I love you'
Tatum O’Neal was on Megyn Kelly Today on Tuesday morning and talked about her estranged relationship with her father, actor Ryan O’Neal. The two have had a rocky past, although Tatum avoids the bad parts in this interview, instead focusing on the positives. She appears to want to mend the broken relationship, saying, “I want to say to my dad, if you’re watching this, I love you, I’ve always loved you, and forgiveness is the best policy.”
At age 10, Tatum became the youngest Academy Award winner for her role in the 1973 film Paper Moon, in which she starred alongside her father. She told Kelly how that came about: “He said, ‘Well, do you want to be in a movie?’ And I just said, ‘Well, do I not have to go to school?’ And he said, ‘You don’t have to go to school.’ And I liked being with the grownups.”
However, being around the grownups at such a young age became an issue for Tatum, as she struggled with drugs and alcohol — issues that her father fought with too.
In her 2005 autobiography, A Paper Life, she says she was physically and emotionally abused by her father, who has denied these allegations. Despite this, she seems willing to focuses on the positives now.
This is not the O’Neals’ first attempt at reconciliation, as both Ryan and Tatum took part in 2011’s reality show for the OWN network titled Ryan and Tatum: The O’Neals, which focused on their efforts to redevelop their father-daughter relationship after 25 years. It seems the effort is ongoing.
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