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Charlize Theron Tells All On The Night Her Mother Shot & Killed Her Alcoholic Father
![Charlize Theron Mom Killed Alcoholic Father Long](https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/QwL8Ixqmn/480x251/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-Long.jpg 480w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/QwL8Ixqmn/640x335/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-Long.jpg 640w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/QwL8Ixqmn/768x402/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-Long.jpg 768w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/QwL8Ixqmn/1024x536/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-Long.jpg 1024w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/QwL8Ixqmn/1280x670/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-Long.jpg 1280w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/QwL8Ixqmn/1440x753/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-Long.jpg 1440w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/QwL8Ixqmn/1600x837/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-Long.jpg 1600w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/QwL8Ixqmn/2160x1130/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-Long.jpg 2160w)
Jul. 22 2017, Published 3:46 p.m. ET
Charlize Theron is speaking out about the night that changed her life forever: the night her mother shot and killed her alcoholic father. In an interview with Howard Stern, the Atomic Blonde actress, who was recently linked to model Gabriel Aubry, opened up about the terrifying night and the way it’s affected her life ever since. According to Charlize, she struggled to tell the story for so long because she didn’t want people to think she was a victim. Charlize, who is a parent herself, admitted it wasn’t until she got therapy that she started feeling comfortable telling people the truth about what happened to her father. Click through for more details on Charlize’s frightening childhood.
![Charlize Theron Mom Killed Alcoholic Father 04](https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/W4x6XEAd2/480x299/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-04.jpg 480w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/W4x6XEAd2/640x398/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-04.jpg 640w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/W4x6XEAd2/768x477/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-04.jpg 768w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/W4x6XEAd2/1024x636/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-04.jpg 1024w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/W4x6XEAd2/1280x795/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-04.jpg 1280w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/W4x6XEAd2/1440x895/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-04.jpg 1440w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/W4x6XEAd2/1600x994/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-04.jpg 1600w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/W4x6XEAd2/2160x1342/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-04.jpg 2160w)
“I just pretended like it didn’t happen,” Charlize told Howard. “I didn’t tell anybody — I didn’t want to tell anybody.”
![Charlize Theron Mom Killed Alcoholic Father 06](https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/LHZcwinQw/480x276/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-06.jpg 480w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/LHZcwinQw/640x368/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-06.jpg 640w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/LHZcwinQw/768x442/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-06.jpg 768w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/LHZcwinQw/1024x589/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-06.jpg 1024w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/LHZcwinQw/1280x736/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-06.jpg 1280w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/LHZcwinQw/1440x828/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-06.jpg 1440w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/LHZcwinQw/1600x920/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-06.jpg 1600w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/LHZcwinQw/2160x1242/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-06.jpg 2160w)
Charlize revealed that when people would ask her how her dad died, she would say “in a car accident” because she worried what people would think.
![Charlize Theron Mom Killed Alcoholic Father 02](https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/cJRN6fA16/290x499/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-02.jpg 290w)
“They don’t know how to respond to that,” Charlize explained. “And I didn’t want to feel like a victim. I struggled with that for many years until I actually started therapy.”
![Charlize Theron Mom Killed Alcoholic Father 05](https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/B5r6c8gtN/480x307/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-05.jpg 480w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/B5r6c8gtN/640x409/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-05.jpg 640w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/B5r6c8gtN/768x491/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-05.jpg 768w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/B5r6c8gtN/1024x655/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-05.jpg 1024w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/B5r6c8gtN/1280x818/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-05.jpg 1280w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/B5r6c8gtN/1440x921/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-05.jpg 1440w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/B5r6c8gtN/1600x1023/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-05.jpg 1600w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/B5r6c8gtN/2160x1381/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-05.jpg 2160w)
Charlize also revealed it wasn’t her father’s death that affected her but more so “living in the house with an alcoholic and waking up and not knowing what was going to happen.”
![Charlize Theron Mom Killed Alcoholic Father 03](https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/kWNrZSdVg/480x293/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-03.jpg 480w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/kWNrZSdVg/640x390/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-03.jpg 640w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/kWNrZSdVg/768x468/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-03.jpg 768w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/kWNrZSdVg/1024x624/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-03.jpg 1024w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/kWNrZSdVg/1280x780/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-03.jpg 1280w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/kWNrZSdVg/1440x877/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-03.jpg 1440w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/kWNrZSdVg/1600x975/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-03.jpg 1600w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/kWNrZSdVg/2160x1316/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-03.jpg 2160w)
“And not knowing how my day was going to go and all of it dependent on somebody else and whether he was not going to drink or drink,” she continued.
![Charlize Theron Mom Killed Alcoholic Father 08](https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/E0A_23VJ3/480x289/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-08.jpg 480w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/E0A_23VJ3/640x386/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-08.jpg 640w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/E0A_23VJ3/768x463/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-08.jpg 768w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/E0A_23VJ3/1024x617/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-08.jpg 1024w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/E0A_23VJ3/1280x771/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-08.jpg 1280w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/E0A_23VJ3/1440x867/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-08.jpg 1440w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/E0A_23VJ3/1600x963/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-08.jpg 1600w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/E0A_23VJ3/2160x1300/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-08.jpg 2160w)
Charlize credited her mother, who she said “never really had therapy dealing with something like that,” with helping her move on from the trauma.
![Charlize Theron Mom Killed Alcoholic Father 07](https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/Y7JAFFHW2/480x281/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-07.jpg 480w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/Y7JAFFHW2/640x375/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-07.jpg 640w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/Y7JAFFHW2/768x450/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-07.jpg 768w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/Y7JAFFHW2/1024x599/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-07.jpg 1024w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/Y7JAFFHW2/1280x749/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-07.jpg 1280w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/Y7JAFFHW2/1440x843/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-07.jpg 1440w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/Y7JAFFHW2/1600x936/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-07.jpg 1600w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/Y7JAFFHW2/2160x1264/2017/07/Charlize-Theron-Mom-Killed-Alcoholic-Father-07.jpg 2160w)
“Her philosophy was ‘This is horrible. Acknowledge that this is horrible. Now make a choice. Will this define you? Are you going to sink or are you going to swim?’ That was it.”