Teen Mom's Farrah Abraham Shares Why She Cut Contact With Her Parents
Though Farrah Abraham still has 17 months until daughter Sophia officially becomes an adult, she's got her offspring's milestone birthday present all picked out.
Checking into a trauma center in early 2022 "literally was the saving grace, the biggest gift I could ever give myself," the Teen Mom alum reflected in an exclusive interview with E! News. "And that's why I'm giving that to my daughter when she turns 18."
Among the struggles the 34-year-old worked through: Losing boyfriend Derek Underwood just two months before they were set to welcome Sophia as teens and an increasingly fraught relationship with mom Debra Danielsen.
"I had a really bad mother wound," explained Abraham, who relived the decisions that led to the 2013 release of Farrah Superstar: Back Door Teen Mom in a recent episode of A&E’s Secrets of Celebrity Sex Tapes. "I had a really bad complex with my mom not being the mom that I needed."
And while time can't heal all wounds, intensive therapy can.
For Abraham, working on herself meant submitting to a 12-step relationship program that included what's called a relationship inventory.
"And that's going down your mom, your dad, maybe some people you dated, some others—relationships that stand out to you, that may have impacted you in a good way or a bad," Abraham explained. "Then by the end of that, you see, 'Hey, what are these patterns that I've allowed in my life with people?' And number one was giving my love for protection, and I never got protection from anyone in my life."
So, now, continued Abraham, "That's why you really don't see anyone in my life of the past, because they did not serve something that I definitely need, which is a safe space."
Instead, the Nebraska native has learned to safeguard herself.
"It's not a sad, not a bad, not a hard thing," she explained of no longer speaking to Danielsen or dad Michael Abraham. "It's just we have been conditioned otherwise to not be our own independent selves. And I think that's what everyone is fighting for in their life, and some never get to see that."
Her dad shared on Secrets of Celebrity Sex Tapes, "The last time I talked to her, I told her that I just want her to be happy and I want her to be safe." And Abraham has certainly embraced her life as miss independent.
"I see so many people wrestling with this, talking to me about this every day," said Abraham. "And I have to say, the more that you have your independence, the more that you have your own brain, the more that you are authentically and only you. And no one else gives you that, only you can give that gift to yourself."
The My Teenage Dream Ended author says her difficulties with her parents really began after her high school boyfriend died in a 2008 car accident.
"There was a lot of anger within me back then," noted Abraham. "If you make anything harder towards a young lady who is a widower, you will see some anger, like you have never seen a darkness of anger."
And for Abraham that rage stemmed from her parents' reaction to the tragic incident.
"The whole anger of my parents not being involved and not wanting to even speak towards Sophia’s dad's death kind of helped me say, 'I don't think I even want to be around these people,'" Abraham recounted. Feeling her family was "not supporting her" through that stretch, she added, "I was like, 'I really can't wait to go live a life with my daughter where people actually care, where people can actually show love.'"
Learning from the example set, Abraham continued, she realized that "if anything taught me to be a better mom, it was from all the people who never really were there when I was deeply sad."
In contrast, she's with Sophia round-the-clock, even choosing to homeschool the teen once she started struggling in elementary school.
"My daughter was just getting gaslit," detailed Abraham, "introduced to abuse, introduced to bullying, introduced to a bunch of bad things."
Considering what Abraham dealt with even before she was a pregnant high school cheerleader, "I couldn't take it," she said, "because I had so much woundedness at my public schools growing up that I was just like, I'm not going to repeat this."
Not only does she swear that homeschooling is "honestly not a big job," it affords the mother-daughter duo a large swath of freedom.
"Sophia’s school is all automated, all online," noted Abraham. "We get to travel—we're doing music festivals and stuff right now in between schooling."
And then there are all the lessons not offered up in books.
As Abraham works on her stand-up career, a new memoir and a push to prevent teen pregnancy, Sophia has her own hustle.
"I think it's time for Sophia to have her own biopic and take that agency and take that voice of her own and share her perspective from Sophia looking out to the world," reasoned Abraham. "If I can make that happen, we're very excited. And I know that Sophia has her own book coming out soon, so I can't wait to support her."
While Abraham notes she has "mad love" for her daughter, she's not the first celebrity to struggle with her own kin. We're breaking down even more famous feuds.
Bobby (pictured second from left) addressed rumors of a falling out with Tan (middle) in January 2024, two months after he announced his exit from Queer Eye after eight seasons.
"I want people to know that Tan and I—we will be fine," he told Vanity Fair. "There was a situation, and that's between Tan and I, and it has nothing to do with the show. It was something personal that had been brewing—and nothing romantic, just to clarify that."
In March 2024, Tan responded to allegations that he had campaigned to replace Bobby on Queer Eye with his friend Jeremiah Brent.
"Netflix and the production companies did a full-on casting. I didn't put my friend up for the job. They ended up getting it because they were the best person for the job," he said on Instagram. "But I didn't get them hired by getting rid of somebody else."
Following years of rumors of a feud between the two, on a December 2023 episode of her podcast Let's Be Clear, Shannen's former Charmed costar Holly Marie Combs alleged that Alyssa had once made an ultimatum to a show producer to choose between herself and Shannen, which ultimately led to the latter leaving the show in 2001.
In February 2024, Alyssa said on Instagram, "I did not have the power to get anyone fired" and that "this was so long ago that any retelling of these stories from anyone is just revisionist history."
A day later, Shannen said at a panel event at MegaCon Orlando, "There is no revisionist history happening in the truth that I know we told."
Shannen passed away in July 2024 after a yearslong battle with cancer.
In September 2023, while playing a game called Stir the Pot with her daughter Kelly Osbourne on E! News, Sharon said the That '70s Show alum was the rudest celebrity she had ever met, branding him, a "rude, rude, rude, rude little boy" and a "dastardly little thing."
He did not respond to her remarks publicly.
Five years prior, Sharon told Larry King that when Ashton appeared on The Talk in 2014, he had an "attitude" after she got his name wrong.
"He goes, 'What are you, what have you done in this industry?'" she recalled. "And I was like, 'Kid, don't start with me, because I'm gonna eat you up and s--t you out.' So I was just like, 'You don't know what you're dealing with, kid.'"
In August 2022, Cassadee and Maren traded harsh words with Brittany, wife of fellow country star Jason Aldean, after she shared an Instagram Reel of herself applying makeup on Aug. 23, writing, "I'd really like to thank my parents for not changing my gender when I went through my tomboy phase. I love this girly life."
During a 2022 TikTok challenge, JoJo Siwa described Candace Cameron Bure as the "rudest" celebrity, later explaining that she felt snubbed when Bure once refused to take a picture with her on a red carpet. Shortly after the dig, however, the Full House alum apologized: "I kind of broke your 11-year-old heart. I didn't take a picture with you. Ugh! I feel crummy, I feel—JoJo, I'm so sorry."
The two made amends. But months later, Candace was asked if she expects the Great American Family network, of which she serves as chief creative officer, to feature same-sex couples as leads in holiday movies. She said no, adding, "I think that Great American Family will keep traditional marriage at the core."
JoJo, who came out as a member of the LGBTQ+ community in 2021, wrote on Instagram that the actress' comment is "rude and hurtful to a whole community of people."
Back in June 2021, Courtney Love accused Olivia Rodrigo of copying her band Hole's album cover for a promotional photo without giving credit. Olivia responded, "Love u and live through this sooooo much." Courtney then replied, "Olivia - you're welcome. My favorite florist is in Notting Hill, London! Dm me for deets! I look forward to reading your note [winking face emoji]."
During an appearance Watch What Happens Live, the Happy Days actor was asked why he didn't get along with the Forrest Gump star on the set of the 1989 flick Turner & Hooch.
"I was directing that movie for 13 days and then I was called into [producer] Jeff Katzenberg's office and he said, 'You have everything with you? Go home,'" he said.
Winkler did, however, seem to get along with Hanks' four-legged co-star. "I got along great, great with that dog," he said. "Love that dog."
He also refused to admit if he's even seen the flick.
"You know what you did!"
Fans of The Hills will remember that iconic line, delivered by Lauren on the season three premiere. Their feud began when Heidi started dating her now-husband Spencer Pratt, and hit its peak when Lauren accused Heidi and Spencer of starting a rumor that she had made a sex tape with Jason Wahler.
The costars reignited their ongoing feud when Tyrese publicly called out Dwayne on Instagram after the Fast and Furious 9 release date was pushed back to April 2020. That same day, it was announced that a Fast and Furious spinoff starring Dwayne and Jason Statham would hit theaters in 2019. The following month, Tyrese threatened to quit Fast 9 if Dwayne was in the movie.
Tyrese then opened up about the feud, telling Van Lathan on The Red Pill podcast, "I have yet to talk to The Rock to this day, and we will have a conversation." He shared that he did have a conversation with the former wrestler's producing partner, but not the actor himself.
"I found myself being the messenger on behalf of various people associated to the franchise, but stupid me was the only one who went public about those feelings, which is my own fault," Tyrese said. "It's not professional, it's not cool."
No more bad blood here.
Taylor and Katy had been in a feud for years, even allegedly inspiring Taylor's song "Bad Blood." The drama, which reportedly started over a backup dancer and competing tours, came to an end after Perry sent Taylor a literal olive branch before her Reputation Tour kickoff.
"So I just got to my dressing room and found this actual olive branch," Taylor said in an Instagram video. "This mean so much."
Taylor captioned the video, "Thank you Katy."
Sex and the City costars Kim and SJP had dodged feud rumors for years. But they were reignited after Kim decided not to return for a third movie and made comments about her costar that raised eyebrows.
"What was your reaction to Kim Cattrall telling Piers Morgan that you were never friends just colleagues?" Andy Cohen asked SJP on a Sept. 2017 episode of Watch What Happens Live.
As she explained, "Just...heartbroken. I mean that whole week, you and I spoke about it because I was just...I don't know I found it really upsetting because that's, you know, that's not the way I recall our experience."
"So...it's sad but I'm kind of...I don't know, I always think that what ties us together is this singular experience is the thing. It was a professional experience but it became personal because it was years and years of our lives. So I'm hoping that that sort of eclipses anything that's been recently spoken," she continued. "That many years spent doing something so special that people had a connection with is such a privileged."
And though they didn't film scenes together, Kim did make a small appearance on And Just Like That.
The iconic singers have been feuding since 2004. While accepting the Classic Songwriter Award at the Q Awards that year, Elton said to attendees, "Madonna, best f--king live act? F--k off! Since when has lip-syncing been live? Sorry about that, but I think everyone who lip-syncs in public on stage, when you pay like 75 quid to see them, should be shot."
The former Grey's Anatomy star sparked a feud with the series creator in 2008 when she removed her name from the Emmy Awards consideration. The actress stated that her reason for the move was because she wasn't "given the material to warrant a nomination."
Shonda later opened up about Katherine's decision during an interview with Oprah Winfrey on Oprah's Next Chapter in 2012. "On some level it stung and on some level I was not surprised," she said. "When people show you who they are, believe them. I carry that [mantra] with me a lot. It has served me well."
It was the New York Fashion Week fight heard 'round the world when Nicki and Cardi got into a heated altercation at the Harper's Bazaar Icon party. The following month, Cardi opened up about the catalyst for the fight with Nicki.
"For a while now she's been taking a lot of shots at me," Cardi said in W magazine's Art Issue. "I spoke to her twice before, and we came to an understanding. But she kept it going."
The real spark of the fight came when Cardi saw that Nicki had allegedly liked and then unliked a tweet about Cardi's parenting skills, which Nicki has denied.
"I was going to make millions off my Bruno Mars tour, and I sacrificed that to stay with my daughter," Cardi continued. "I love my daughter. I'm a good-ass f--king mom. So for somebody that don't have a child to like that comment? So many people want to say that party wasn't the time or the place, but I'm not going to catch another artist in the grocery store or down the block."
Tension between Kanye and Taylor first started in 2009, when the "Stronger" rapper took the stage during her acceptance speech at the MTV Video Music Awards. Years later, the two would make up and even become friends, but that came to an end in 2026 after the release of his song "Famous," in which he name-checks the "End Game" singer.
In February 2025, one day before the Grammys, Kanye updated his Instagram to follow only Taylor. He added no further comment, and the fellow musician did not respond publicly to the move.
"I don't know her."
It's been over 15 years since Mariah and J.Lo's "feud" has been going on. It all started when the Queen of Christmas was asked to give her opinion on several singers during an interview. When asked her opinion on Jennifer, she replied, "I don't know her."
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