Tragic Details About Tatum O'Neal

After Joanna Moore lost custody, Tatum O'Neal and her brother, Griffin O'Neal, went to live with their father. Unfortunately, the actor has claimed that life with Ryan O'Neal wasn't much better. According to Tatum's interview with Dateline NBC, she was "exposed" to her father's sexual escapades and drug use as a young child. The Oscar winner went on to recount how the Love Story actor's alleged physical, emotional, and verbal abuse affected her. She often asked herself, "Am I going to be loved today?" adding, "It's hard to grow up like that."

For his part, Ryan has woven an ambiguous narrative in interviews. He has denied many of his daughter's claims, but also admitted to Vanity Fair in 2009 that he was a "hopeless father." However, in the same interview, he changed course again and railed against both children, calling daughter Tatum a derogatory term and expressing fury over her A Paper Life memoir. While appearing on Piers Morgan Tonight in 2011, Ryan insisted, "She had a wonderful childhood. She met Queen Elizabeth."

At the time of the Piers Morgan interview, the father-daughter duo were in the midst of filming a reality show, Ryan and Tatum: The O'Neals. Previously estranged, the pair used the show as a means of reconciliation. Sadly, their relationship continued to be volatile after the series ended, with Ryan publicly expressing his displeasure with Tatum in the years that followed.

If you or someone you know may be the victim of child abuse, please contact the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline 24/7 at 1-800-4-A-Child (1-800-422-4453) or contact their live chat services at www.childhelp.org/hotline.

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