Brooke Shields has shared haunting new details about growing up with her mum, Teri Shields, as her manager in an appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show.
In the interview, the former child actresses swapped stories of their similarly complicated experiences growing up in the spotlight: “We both had mothers we needed to navigate and keep alive and take care of. They were broken,” Brooke said.
Drew went on to ask Brooke if her mother had dated her boyfriends, as her own mother had.
“No, ‘cause she was in love with me. I was her main focus,” Brooke answered.
“And both of us were going to be cut off from our sexuality; I was gonna stay a virgin, she was going to be just Teri Terrific and being there,” she went on.
The conversation continued, with Drew admitting, “I think my mum might have been so enamoured with me that she actually wanted to be with the people I was with.”
Brooke responded as only anyone who had shared in their unique upbringing could, saying, “I don’t get it but I get it. It’s so layered and it’s so needy. And it’s so sad and broken.”
At another point during the interview, Brooke also touched on the complicated dynamic of “ownership” that accompanied having her mother as her manager.
Drew asked, “Did she ever explain to you why she would sit next to you in [every interview]?” to which Brooke responded, “No, it was just the way it should be.
“It was, ‘No one’s going to get you, I’m gonna be there. I’m there first. You’re mine. I’m not gonna give you to somebody’… Under the guise of protection. But it was more ownership and fear, I think.”
The women also swapped stories of working to support their families—even as very young children.
“It’s like, I did a movie and we got a car,” Brooke said.
“We got a car too!” Drew exclaimed, adding “my mum couldn’t afford one otherwise.”
The interview comes weeks after Brooke’s documentary, Brooke Shields: Pretty Baby, was released. In the two part film, she recalls more of her experiences growing up in Hollywood, including a sexual assault she suffered at the hands of an executive in her early twenties.
Naturally, the internet also fell in love with how candid both women were, noting in particular Drew’s incredible ability to put her guests at ease, even when discussing the most difficult of topics. Below, we round up our favourite reactions to the interview.
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