Jennette McCurdy’s Family Guide: Meet Her Loved Ones (2024)

After beginning a journey of self-healing, Jennette McCurdy started to open up about her difficult childhood — and her complicated relationship with various family members.In her memoir, I'm Glad My Mom Died, Jennette broke down the years of alleged abuse she faced at the hands of mother Debra McCurdy. After the book's release in August 2022, Jennette addressed her family's reaction to the title."My brothers have been so supportive, so understanding," she told The Hollywood Reporter about her siblings, to whom she dedicated the book. "They get the title, to put it simply. It was also a title that I knew I wanted early on."According to the iCarly alum, the online concerns about the title didn't faze her in the slightest. "I wanted something that was bold and also something that I meant sincerely. I would never use a bold and attention-grabbing title if it weren't authentic," she added. "I would never do it if it were just coming from a flippant place. That's not my approach to humor. I knew that anybody who had experienced parental abuse would understand the title, and anybody who had a sense of humor would understand the title."[sendtonews type="float" key="pQSu6mt0w0-2833881-14453"]Jennette previously offered a glimpse at how her dynamic with her family has changed since her mother's passing. "My relationship with my brothers has been a great source of camaraderie and support for me. My grandfather provided me a lot of love and support," she told Time that same month.The California native admitted it took a while for her to feel comfortable discussing her past. "Because it’s so personal, I felt like it was important that I had a lot of experience in therapy," she continued. "I didn’t sit down with a therapist and say: 'So I want to write a memoir. How can we get me to a place where I’ve got the perspective to do it?' But it was several years of really intense therapy before I started feeling like I could explore all that personal stuff creatively."Jennette also noted that working through her issues creatively allowed her to get to a better place with her mental health."My mind just went: 'Is it possible to be so full of s--t that you can’t see when you’re full of s--t?' And then I was like: 'No, I think I’ve done too much therapy for that,'" she detailed. "I consider myself fully recovered from eating disorders, and I’m really, really proud of that. And yet, I think that elements of my relationship with my mom will always be something that I’m exploring in some way, whether that’s just subconsciously kicking around or whether that’s creatively. But I don’t think that’s a bad thing. It doesn’t feel retraumatizing for me to explore that relationship creatively."Scroll down for a guide to Jennette's family:[podcast_block]

Since her mother's death in 2013, Jennette has addressed their tumultuous relationship in her one-woman show and later in I'm Glad My Mom Died. The child star claimed that the late parent forced her into acting, introduced her to eating disorders and was emotionally abusive all her life.

In August 2022, Jennette revealed that her bond with the adults in her life dwindled over the years.

“I get how complicated [my father’s] role in that family was,” she told Buzzfeed. “My mom had this long affair, had these three other children that weren’t his, and I imagine the timing of her cancer played a factor in his sticking around. But, as much as I try to see it from the point of view of the various adults that were in the household, I just don’t have much respect for their approach.”

In response to Jennette's comments in I'm Glad My Mom Died, her brother weighed in on his own complicated feelings about their past.

“While I may have known the outline, the sketch of what had happened, there were more details presented in her [one-woman] show that surprised me [about our mother's abuse],” he told The Washington Post ahead of his sister's book release. “But I do realize intellectually, of course, that that was kind of the whole point: It was a very deliberate, very covert, clandestine relationship.”

He added: “Back then, it seemed like Jennette often tried to get us in trouble and kiss up to Mom. Now, I totally get it. She just wanted to stay safe in whatever way she could.”

During an interview with Buzzfeed, the Nickelodeon alum reflected on her current relationship with her family.

“I recently went on a Disney trip with Claire, my brother Mark’s daughter, and I was watching her and went to the bathroom and just cried because it’s so beautiful to watch a child just be able to be who they are,” she explained in August 2022. “That is an opinionated, hilarious child that is so authentic. I think I've healed through watching them and their relationship with their parents. Just being able to be around children who are so free.”

Jennette dedicated I'm Glad My Mom Died to all three of her siblings.

In her memoir, Jennette recalled meeting her biological father with Miranda Cosgrove following her mother's death.

In August 2022, Jennette opened up about being in a “healthy, loving” relationship for the past six years.

“There’s no active form of dysfunction in my life at all,” she told The Washington Post at the time. “I’m in a good place, which is such a weird thing to say. I feel more fulfilled than I ever have, and I wish it wasn’t new, but it is very new for me.”

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