Tatum O'Neal Reveals Her Bold 3-Word Response to Being Left Out of Late Dad Ryan's Will

Tatum O'Neal spoke out about her complicated relationship with her late father, Ryan, and how she felt when she realized she was left out of his will.

The Paper Moon star, who won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in the '70s flick when she was only 10 years old, claimed "things got ugly" between them after her nomination.

Ryan even went so far as to not allow her to audition for Jodie Foster's role in Taxi Driver, due to the subject matter in the film — a loss Tatum said she "never really recovered from."

His alleged jealousy of her success also caused him to lash out at her verbally, according to the 61-year-old.

"He was controlling, and telling me, ‘No, you’re not good,'" she told a news outlet. "And so then I started to get not good, feeling scared all the time."

Their tense relationship continued for years following her childhood, yet Tatum still chose to visit her father shortly before his death in December 2023. At the time, she had not been aware his health was failing, but she noted he "didn't look well at all."

After he passed, she was upset to learn that she'd been removed from the late actor's will — however, she's since been able to adopt a new mindset about the snub.

"Keep it, motherf-----," she said during a recent interview with a news outlet.

Her son, Kevin McEnroe, 38, agreed and called Ryan's fortune "blood money."

Despite her own traumatic childhood, the young man gushed his mother has been "full of love" as a parent.

"And I think that that’s something that she was born with," Kevin added.

Returning the compliment, Tatum called her son "the most joyful" and "the most loving," even through their shared struggles with substance abuse.

"That really changed us. And look at him now and look at me now," she said. "It’s just beautiful. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful ... My son Kevin is brilliant. Brilliant!"

As OK! previously reported, Tatum admitted she "cried" for the first time in a long while after a memorial service celebrating her father's life back in January 2024.

"I had actually stopped crying throughout my life, and I cried this morning really hard," she added. "It was beautiful."

Regardless of the ups and downs of their relationship, she said that if she could, she would tell her father she loved him and that she "always will" because he "meant the world" to her.

Tatum spoke with Variety about her response to being cut from her dad's will.