Celebrity Families That Can't Get Along

Beyond the on-screen appearances, cult followings, endorsement deals, magazine covers, and red carpets, celebrities have their own personal lives — lives which are sometimes plagued with conflicts and lifetime feuds with their own relatives. After all, they are humans, just like us. Elon Musk's transgender daughter Vivian Jenna Wilson, for example, publicly cut ties with the tech billionaire after filing to change her name. "I no longer live with or wish to be related to my biological father in any way, shape or form," Wilson wrote in the petition, per The Guardian. Then of course, there are the far less intense, yet frequent scuffles between Kim Kardashian and her older sister Kourtney Kardashian that got to be so bad that the Poosh founder even took a brief break from "Keeping Up with the Kardashians." 

Bottom line, it is not uncommon to find celebrity families who do not (or simply can't) get along — even if their public reputation depends on it. But while a few of these stars are often able to hug things out and resolve their conflicts, even if it's just for the cameras, many others can't bring themselves to pretend to the rest of the world that there is no trouble looming in paradise. Get ready, because we're about to walk you through a handful of stars who have struggled with major family drama. 

Raised to excel in various aspects of the arts from her childhood, singer Britney Spears always knew she would end up in entertainment. "I found out what I'm supposed to do at an early age," she told Rolling Stone in 1999. However, what may have seemed to many as the singer living out her childhood dreams soon turned into a nightmare — one that lasted over a decade. After being put on psychiatric hold only weeks before, Britney entered into a temporary conservatorship in February 2008, with her father Jamie Spears and her lawyer Andrew Wallet named as temporary conservators. What was supposed to be a temporary situation however soon took a turn when a judge ruled that the conservatorship be made permanent, leaving Jamie in control of his daughter's financial and personal life.

For the next 13 years, Britney remained under the conservatorship, and eventually, harrowing details about the arrangement came to light.  "I truly believe this conservatorship is abusive," the singer told a court in June 2021, per Variety. "It's my wish and my dream for all of this to end." The conservatorship did end in November 2021, and Britney has continued to call out her father and her mother Lynne Spears, the latter of whom she's accused of doing nothing to help her. "I pray you all burn in hell !!! Kiss my mother fu***** ass  !!!!," she once wrote to her parents on Instagram, per HuffPost.

For as long as they can remember, actors Kate Hudson and Oliver Hudson have been estranged from their father.  Oliver was about 5 years old and Kate was 18 months when their parents Goldie Hawn and Bill Hudson divorced. The two siblings ended up being raised by their mom and her longtime partner Kurt Russell, whom they fondly regard as their father. Still, the sting of growing up without their biological dad lingers. "I have a stepfather who stepped in and played a huge, huge part in sharing what it is to have a dependable father figure in our life," she told "Today" in January 2021. "But it doesn't take away from the fact that we didn't know our dad."

On Father's Day in 2015, Oliver lobbed a shot at Bill on social media while also appreciating Russell for his love. "Happy abandonment day," Oliver wrote in an Instagram post. Kate also took the social media platform, sharing a picture of herself and Russell and writing, "Pa, just simply..... Thank you. Happy Fathers Day I love you to the moon and back." After he saw the posts, Bill told the Daily Mail that he no longer wanted anything to do with Kate and Oliver. "They are no longer a part of my life. Oliver's Instagram post was a malicious, vicious, premeditated attack. He is dead to me now. As is Kate," he said.

When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced they were stepping down from royal duties in 2020, it confirmed long-standing rumors of tension between the Sussexes and the rest of the family. As royal expert Katie Nicholl shared in "Kate v Meghan: Princesses at War?," trouble started brewing as early as 2017 when Prince William supposedly suggested Harry pump the brakes on his relationship. This apparently did not sit well with the smitten prince. I don't think things have been quite right ever since," Nicholl added.

Per Harper's Bazaar, during his and Meghan's bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey, Harry said of William, "Our relationship is 'space' at the moment. And time heals all things, hopefully." He also admitted he wished King Charles III showed Meghan more support, alluding to the way his late mother, Princess Diana, was treated by the media. "I feel really let down because he's been through something similar. He knows what the pain feels like," Harry said. In the same interview, Harry also accused unnamed members of his family of being racist toward Meghan and their son, Archie. 

After Queen Elizabeth II died in September 2022, historian Robert Hardman told People that she not only was close with Harry, but was rooting for resolution. "I think she was one of the conduits between Windsor and California, and it would have been one of her dearest wishes that [the family] patch things up," Hardman said.

As if Prince Harry being estranged from other members of his royal family wasn't enough, wife Meghan Markle has also had her fair share of family drama — particularly with her father Thomas Markle. A few days before her May 2018 wedding to Harry, the Daily Mail broke a story confirming that Thomas had teamed up with British paparazzi to stage pictures for the tabloids. Per the outlet, he made about £100,000 from the deal. Controversially, Thomas, who was at the time set to walk his daughter down the aisle, pulled out of the wedding last minute, telling TMZ he was scheduled for an emergency heart surgery. From that point forward, things changed forever between the father-daughter duo.

Speaking in a July 2018 interview, Thomas claimed he had not spoken to his daughter for two months. "I had a heart attack, doesn't anybody care? I could actually die soon," he told The Sun. "It is probably the longest time I have gone without speaking to her ever." The former light director also offered a public apology to Meghan: "I'm sorry for anything that went wrong. I'd like to put our differences behind us and get together."

Though Meghan may never totally make amends with her father, she wants to find peace. "I think forgiveness is really important. It takes a lot more energy to not forgive," she told The Cut in August 2022. "But it takes a lot of effort to forgive."

50 Cent has a fraught dynamic with his eldest son, Marquise Jackson, to say the least. In a 2017 interview, Jackson, who was raised by mom Shaniqua Tompkins, claimed 50 Cent was an absent father to him. "It completely went south when I was probably like 10 or 11," he told Rap Up. "He wasn't really around enough ... He's still alive but I can't tell you our last conversation or the last time we even had a dialogue."

Things between the father-son duo seemingly took a turn for the worse in 2018 when Jackson shared a photo of himself hanging out with the son of 50 Cent's longtime rival Kenneth McGriff. According to People, 50 Cent commented on the post that he wouldn't care if a bus were to hit his son or McGriff's son. Though the rapper has since retracted his comment, his relationship with his child is still very much strained.

In October 2022, Jackson called out his father's monthly child support rate. "Since y'all think $6,700 is sooo much money someone tell my pops I will pay him $6,700 for just 24hr of his time so we can do everything I ever wanted to do with him as a kid," he wrote in an Instagram post. And when Charlamagne asked about this on "The Breakfast Show," Fifty replied, "I don't think the relationship works."

Since childhood, Ariel Winter has had a difficult relationship with her mother, Crystal Workman. "I definitely had an interesting family dynamic when I was growing up," Winter said to La Palme Magazine in 2017 (via Insider). "It was mostly my mom and I, and we didn't have a fantastic relationship." When she a teenager, she moved in with her sister and was eventually emancipated from her mom. 

Winter has accused Workman of not only both physical and emotional abuse, but of sexualizing her at an early age. "People thought I was 24 when I was 12," she told The Hollywood Reporter. "If there was going to be a nude scene when I was that age, my mother would have a thousand percent said yes."  Sharon Sacks, Winter's teacher during her "Modern Family" years, told the outlet the young actor's mom placed her on a strict diet and didn't seem to have any regard for her schedule. "Her mother kept her out late at night at these ridiculous parties. She was 12 and 13 years old and had to be on set at 6:30, 7," Sacks said.

Though Workman has previously called for a reconciliation, per "Inside Edition," Winter apparently has no interest in mending their relationship. To date, she remains estranged from Workman.

If you or someone you know may be the victim of child abuse, please contact the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child (1-800-422-4453) or contact their live chat services.

Since 2004, Melissa Gorga has been married to Teresa Giudice's only brother.  And since 2011, "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" fans have watched the sisters-in-law butt heads. From Guidice calling Gorga a gold digger to Giudice accusing Gorga of cheating to Giudice suspecting Gorga went behind her back to join the show to a controversial batch of sprinkle cookies, their drama has fueled the reality television series.

Though they've reconciled more than once, it never seems to last. Ahead of her August 2022 wedding to Luis Ruelas, Guidice confirmed to Andy Cohen on "Watch What Happens Live" that Gorga was not a part of her bridal party. Gorga would also later confirm to Andy Cohen that she was not on speaking terms with Guidice. Neither Giudice's brother nor her sister-in-law attended her nuptials.

As for fans of "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" who have been hoping that these two would call a truce once and for all, Gorga suspects it's unlikely. "I think that everyone was always rooting for us to be besties, but, and I just hate to let everyone down... but it's just, it's not going to happen," she told Extra in May 2022. 

No pun intended, but very few rock feuds have rocked our worlds like the one between brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher. Before the fame, Liam and Noel, who are five years apart, surely bickered. But once their band Oasis took off in the '90s, that bickering turned into a full-blown war. During Oasis's 1994 American tour, Noel famously bowed out of the tour altogether after he'd had it with Liam changing lyrics to songs. Per the Mirror, only a year after, Liam and Noel were caught in yet another altercation during one of the band's recording sessions. In the years that followed, the siblings continued to duke it out.

In 2009, Noel made an announcement that would change rock 'n' roll forever. "It's with some sadness and great relief to tell you that I quit Oasis tonight," he wrote in a statement at the time, per The Guardian. "People will write and say what they like but I simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer." But even though they no longer work together, Liam and Noel continue to take digs at each other whenever they get a chance.

If you are holding your breath for an Oasis reunion, it's probably never going to happen. As Noel quipped to "Pub Talk" in October 2022, "Er, would you go on holiday with your ex-missus?" Needless to say, it's probably best to let those reunion dreams slide away.