FORMER Nickelodeon child star Jennette McCurdy isn’t being coy about the controversial subject matter of her new book.
The iCarly alum titled the autobiography, I’m Glad My Mom Died. And she’s ready to defend and explain her choice.
The 29-year-old announced her upcoming memoir on Instagram, with a photo of the book’s cover.
Under the title is a picture of Jennette in a pink dress, smirking as she holds a matching pink urn bubbling over with shredded confetti paper.
She captioned the cover reveal: “I’m genuinely thrilled to announce my memoir, I’m Glad My Mom Died, will be out on August 9th, 2022.
“I laughed and cried a lot while writing it, and I’m proud of what it’s become.”
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Jennette has made no secret in the past about her disdain for her mother, Debbie, who died of cancer in 2013, saying it was an abusive relationship.
On Twitter, fans and users reacted to the title, with many defending the star.
“To those confused, her mom would abuse her & that resulted in an eating disorder, so the title is DESERVED.”
Another person continued: “She would get abused and even got into an eating disorder cause her mom wouldn’t feed her and made her feel bad about her body.
“She also retired because of her mom since she never wanted to act in the first place.”
The actress left Hollywood behind shortly after her mom passed away.
But last year, she turned her pain into a one-woman LA comedy show under the same name.
The child star has reflected on her performance as a healing mechanism for their “abusive” relationship that sent her spiraling into “eating disorders and addiction.”
“It’s thought-provoking,” she told People in regards to the comedy routine.
“But even though it may seem black and white, there’s a fullness to my narrative. Life can be dark and messy. Nobody has a perfect life.
“My earliest memories of childhood were of heaviness and chaos. My mom’s emotions were so erratic that it was like walking a tightrope every day. The mood fluctuations were daily,” the Nickelodeon star added.
TROUBLED PAST
Jennette explained how growing up, she would watch physical fights between her parents, Debbie and Mark.
When the actress turned six, her mother became obsessed with the notion of turning her into “a star.”
“My mom had always dreamt of being a famous actor and she became obsessed with making me a star.”
Jennette began attending auditions although she felt she was painfully “shy.”
“I felt like my job was to keep the peace. And I wanted to make my mom happy.”
Debbie became increasingly preoccupied with her daughter’s appearance, bleaching her hair and whitening her teeth by the time she turned 10.
When Jennette was 11 her mom began teaching her how to count calories, and when she landed her first big role on Nick’s iCarly, she had developed “full-fledged anorexia.”
DISORDERED DIET
The singer-songwriter fell victim to multiple eating disorders, developing binge eating, and later bulimia.
In a bizarre confession, the blonde told the outlet that “Debbie insisted on performing vaginal and breast exams and never let her shower alone.”
“I know if my mom were alive, I’d still have an eating disorder. It was only distance from her that allowed me to get healthy,” she explained, adding that she finally got healthy in 2018 after “intense” therapy.
FRESH START
After Debbie passed in 2013, Jennette left acting behind was finally able to rebel, as she felt she had been “repressed and delayed developmentally” throughout her childhood.
However, her rebellion turned into years of bulimia and eventually an alcohol dependency, which she only recently confronted as a bi-product of her harmful home life.
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“It’s a risk to change your life, but I made it my mission,” she claimed, as she abandoned her acting career and has pivoted into writing and directing.
“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.”
