Tori Spelling shares emotional post about her kids being bullied: 'This human has endured enough bullying for a lifetime'
Tori Spelling’s posts about her large family — she and husband Dean McDermott have five children together, plus his son from his first marriage — have made her a frequent target with mommy shamers, who have criticized her for everything from letting her 8-year-old daughter have purple hair to including them in sponsored ads.
The former Beverly Hills, 90210 star has occasionally waded into her comments to stand up for herself as a parent. But now she’s coming to the defense of her kids, speaking out about the bullying two of them have faced.
In an emotional post shared on Saturday, Spelling explained that her two eldest kids, 12-year-old Liam and 11-year-old Stella, “have been thru [sic] so much bullying [that] I can no longer not share and express ourselves.”
The 46-year-old went on describe in detail the tough times the children have faced, revealing that she has even moved them to other schools because she felt the situation wasn’t being handled properly.
“Between her last year at her elementary school [and] the first year at her middle school, this human has endured enough bullying for a lifetime,” she said of Stella. Spelling added that her daughter was accused of “playing the victim” at her old school, and complained that the alleged bully didn’t face “any consequences” because his parents sat on the school board.
After changing schools, however, Stella was once again bullied (“including comments about her weight and sexual things he said that my daughter didn’t even know about,” Spelling noted); the school reacted by expelling the student in question.
“But the damage had been done,” the actress wrote. “She now associated her education with boys that have been so horrific to her. She wanted to empower other girls and be a business leader. Now she has panic attacks and doesn’t want to return to school. This girl, two years ago, told me she wanted to be president or work to empower women daily.”
In Liam’s case, Spelling accused his former principal of call him “unmotivated and lazy,” which made the boy, who turns 13 next month, feel “stupid.” He too was bullied at his new middle school, “to the point that he developed severe emotional-based headaches and stomach aches.” She added that he has left his school because administrators didn’t offer him the same help they had provided his sister.
“He is a hilarious, smart, outgoing and a creative, kind guy,” she said of her son. “He continued to be bullied so bad we had to leave. Was hesitant to post this [because] as celebs we are sometimes judged for having problems others have.”
Indeed, Spelling did receive a critique from a commenter who accused her of setting a bad example for her “poor little rich kids” — prompting a reply from the star.
“You embody the misinformed opinionated individual that kept me from posting this for so long,” Spelling wrote. “Shame on you. I’m allowed to voice our reality and look for help within my community as a mother.”
But by and large, the response to the “heartbreaking” post was overwhelmingly supportive.
“I want to hug them both,” read one comment.
“I am so sorry Tori,” designer Joy Cho added. “This is not OK no matter who you are or where your kids go to school.”
“Celebs or not, this shouldn’t be tolerated in any school!” another follower wrote.
“No matter who you are ... if you’re a mama, your heart hurts when your babies hurt, maybe even more,” a fan responded. “It doesn’t matter if you’re rich, poor, famous, or anything in between. I’m sorry you’re having to go through these trials with your babies. As a teacher, it is appalling to me that nothing was done to help them.”
Other parents shared their own experiences with bullying and offered Spelling support.
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