Eric Roberts credits addiction battle with costing him bond with daughter Emma Roberts
Eric Roberts has admitted his struggle with addiction cost him his relationship with his daughter Emma Roberts.
Eric Roberts says his addiction battle led to him losing his daughter Emma Roberts.
The 68-year-old actor - who has been open about his past struggles with drug use - split with his ex Kelly Cunningham when Emma, now 33, was just a baby, and he lost the custody battle at the time.
In his new memoir 'Runaway Train: Or the Story of My Life So Far', he wrote: "Of course, the biggest consequence of my drug use was losing Emma.”
He also acknowledged the impact his addiction had on his relationships with his sisters Julia and Lisa Roberts.
HHe added: "I wouldn’t be surprised if they suffered from PTSD from when it was dangerous to be around me.
“Lisa and Julia needed love and protection — instead they got fear and uncertainty.”
At the time of his breakup from Kelly, his estranged sister Julia Roberts took his ex's side in the legal case because of his addiction issues.
While he doesn't go into detail in the book, he has admitted he now realises it was the rigth decision.
He added: "I imagine I will remain as Julia’s brother and Emma Roberts’ dad for the rest of my life.
“I’d like to make good on that, to move aside proudly and with grace. That’s part of the reason for writing the book.”
Eric - who married Eliza Garrett since 1992 - has been open about his own difficult childhood, describing his father Walter Roberts as a man who drank and would have violent outbursts, having also been raised by an abusive father.
He said his dad was jealous of his career and "was a very screwed-up individual and not safe for me, or anyone, to have as a father".
Now, he feels he has come to terms with his own father, and the shame he felt seeing some of his dad in himself.
He wrote: "I knew that I loved him. I couldn’t live down the shame of loving him or of who he was, someone capable of terrible things.
"I was ashamed of being so much of him and so much like him... If you’ve ever loved a parent … with a cruel nature, it’s never too late to begin to recover from the shame and pain of it all.”
