Jennette McCurdy is recounting her early years as well as her final interaction with her mother, Debra.
The “iCarly” star, who is promoting her book “I’m Glad My Mom Died,” made an appearance on Wednesday’s episode of “Red Table Talk” and spoke with Jada Pinkett Smith, Willow Smith, and Adrienne Norris about the violence she endured at the hands of her mother.
McCurdy told the audience, “There seems to be a need to keep moms up on a pedestal. And I put my mother on a pedestal, which had a negative impact on my mental health.
She started her interview the same way she started her memoir: by giving a description of her upbringing and the state of the apartment she shared with her three brothers when she was just two years old. McCurdy revealed that her mother’s hoarding tendencies were to blame for their home’s rat and possum issues.
She read a passage from her book, “I recall a time when [my brothers] Marcus, Dustin, and Scott slept in their trundle bunk bed and I slept in my nursery, but today our bedrooms are so cluttered with things that you can’t even find the beds, much less sleep in them.”
“We no longer sleep in our own beds. We bought trifold mats from Costco to sleep on in the living room. The mats were probably intended for gymnastics drills for children.”
After describing her childhood home as a “embarrassment” and “shameful,” McCurdy said that she “hates this house.”
The “Sam & Kat” actor also spoke about her battle with anorexia, claiming that her mother was the one who first introduced calorie restriction at the age of 11 and taught her how to be anorexic.
McCurdy, who was brought up a Mormon, also revealed that her mother once washed both her and Scott, who was 16 at the time, together, which left them both feeling “embarrassed.”
McCurdy read a passage from her memoir, “We normally just look away from each other and Scott diverts himself by sketching Pokémon on the fogged glass.” “He performs reasonably well.”
McCurdy recalled that when her older brother asked to take a shower by himself, their mother sobbed because she didn’t want their kids to grow up.
“Mom gives me a breast and front/butt exam, as she refers to my private parts, whether or not Scott is present. She claims that because they could be cancerous, she wants to make sure I don’t have any suspicious lumps or bumps “She read out loud.
Despite the awkward situation she and her brother were put in, McCurdy revealed at the “Red Table” that they still shared a “very beautiful bond.”
She claimed that at the age of 16, she began to detest fame, but by the time she was 21, she “despised it.” “Millions of people desire fame, but here I am, already famous and detesting it.”
According to McCurdy, who discussed her experience on “iCarly,” “I’m set in people’s minds as the person I was when I was a kid. A person I feel like I’ve far outgrown, but the world won’t let me outgrow it. The world won’t let me be anyone else. The world just wants me to be Sam Puckett.”
McCurdy recalled the last chat she had with her mother before she passed away toward the end of the in-person interview. As her mother lay in a hospice bed in the middle of their living room, she described her as being “separated behind the eyes.”
McCurdy revealed that she and her brothers made an effort to “wake up” their mother from the daze-like state she was in by telling her about their “wonderful news.”
“I complained, “Mommy, I’m so skinny right now,” as if my thinness were the best thing I could offer. I genuinely thought that would cause my mum to awaken at the time. She seemed to care more about my appearance and weight, in my opinion, than she did about anything else that might have come out of my brother’s mouths.”
