Fatherhood Fails: Celebrity Parents Who Disappointed Their Famous Children

Nobody Wants This creator Erin Foster recently revealed that her father, famed composer David Foster, wasn't really part of her or her sister Sara's lives after he divorced their mom, Rebecca Dyer, in 1986.

By 1991, he was wed to wife No. 3, Linda Thompson, and stepparenting her two sons with ex Bruce Jenner, Brandon and Brody.

"We never lived with our dad after our parents broke up," said the 42-year-old. "So, from the ages of 3 and 5 we were living with our mom, and our dad was living in this $20 million house with Brandon and Brody. It had the trolley, it had the pool and [everything]."

Yet David, 75 — currently with fourth wife Katharine McPhee, was a proud pop when asked about the Netflix hit, which Sara coproduced with her sister.

Calling the show "fantastic," he said, "As a father, it's amazing [to see their success]."

"Growing up, I didn't have the greatest relationship with then-Bruce [Jenner]," the 41-year-old said of the Olympian, now Caitlyn Jenner, 75, adding his dad "wasn't really around for me growing up."

After Brody and girlfriend Tia Blanco welcomed daughter Honey in July 2023, the Hills: New Beginnings star shared that he was using his dad as an example of what not to do.

"I think that… just doing the exact opposite, being the absolute best father I can possibly be and getting ready for that journey [is what I want]," said Brody.

As her dad Ryan O'Neal's pint-size costar, 10-year-old Tatum O'Neal became the youngest person to ever win a Best Supporting Actress Oscar, for 1973's Paper Moon. But in her 2004 autobiography, the 61-year-old said her relationship with her father soon deteriorated because of Ryan's "deep resentment" and "out-of-control" jealousy of her success.

The pair were estranged for decades, only beginning to repair their relationship after the 2009 death of Ryan's longtime partner, Farrah Fawcett. By the time of the Love Story actor's 2023 death, they'd reconciled.

"I'll miss him forever," she said. "I feel very lucky that we ended on good terms."

When the Emily in Paris star was 5, her rock legend dad, Phil Collins, announced he was no longer in love with her mother and moved to Switzerland with his third wife. His sudden absence from her life scarred Lily Collins, 35.

"I became extra careful about what I said and how I said it, afraid he'd think I was angry or didn't love him," she wrote in her book of essays, Unfiltered: No Shame, No Regrets, Just Me, adding that many of her insecurities can be traced back to issues with Phil, 74.

She invited him to reboot their relationship: "I'll always be your little girl."

The Friends star got emotional recalling the day her father, soap star John Aniston, left her and her mom, Nancy Dow, in 1979.

"I went to a birthday party, and when I came back, my mother said, 'Your father's not going to be around here for a little while,'" said Jennifer Aniston, adding that, as a 10-year-old, she didn't know what that meant. "I just remember sitting there, crying, not understanding that he was gone."

The Morning Show star also became estranged from her mom after Nancy wrote a tell-all about their relationship but reconciled with both before their deaths.

"I forgave my mom," the 56-year-old said. "I forgave my father. I forgave my family."