20 Celebrities Who Rose To Fame Without Their Family’s Support

These Apples Fell Far Away from The Tree

Parental support is an important factor in deciding the success of a child since his early age. However, some children are not fortunate enough to witness the unwavering strength of their parents backing them up while they try to claim the peak. Here are some celebrities whose parents did not support them during their rise to stardom.

20. Ariel Winter

As a child, she had to face emotional and physical abuse from her own mother. Her sister was granted guardianship, and Winter was officially emancipated at age 17. She has spoken openly about the pressure and control her mother exerted over her life and career.

19. Leighton Meester

Leighton was born while her mother was in a federal prison, but still she used to manage her daughter's career until 2011. Leighton sued her mother, alleging that the money she sent home for her brother's medical care was instead being used by her mother for cosmetic procedures, leading to a complete and public severing of their relationship.

18. Mindy Kaling

Once again, the lofty expectation of immigrant parents ended up being a skeptical influence and deal breaker in the case of Mindy Kaling. She has said that her parents, while loving, were "baffled" by her choice to pursue comedy and writing. They didn't understand that a career in the arts was a stable or respectable option

17. Angelina Jolie

With famous parents, comes the risk of ending on their bad side and facing a lot of public shaming. Angelina Jolie had to face exactly that with her father, Jon Voight. She was accused of being mentally ill by her own father publicly. This decades-long, complex family drama meant she largely navigated her own path to stardom.

16. Jennifer Aniston

Jennifer Aniston had support from her father, but her mother was constantly disapproving of her acting career. The relationship fractured completely after her mother published a "tell-all" book in 1999 about their relationship, From Mother and Daughter to Friends: A Memoir.

15. Macaulay Culkin

This entire story is about support turning into toxicity, Macaulay's father, Kit Culkin, was his manager and notoriously one of the most aggressive "stage parents" in Hollywood history. The control was so bad that Macaulay successfully sued his parents for emancipation and kicked them out of $17 million fortune.

14. Madonna

In face of her Catholic upbringing, Madonna's provocative, rebellious, and boundary-pushing career was a direct challenge. Her father Tony Ciccone was extremely strict with his children after her mother's death. There was a major rift between her and her father due to her decisions and themes in her songs.

13. Kumail Nanjiani

Kumail's Oscar winning film 'Big Sick' beautifully explores and speaks up about his past of hiding his career. His traditional Pakistani Muslim parents wanted him to be a doctor or an engineer. He kept his stand-up comedy a secret from them for years, fearing their deep disapproval and disappointment in his chosen path.

12. Katy Perry

Katy Perry and her pop career was a direct conflict with her strict, religious upbringing. Her breakout hit, "I Kissed a Girl," caused a massive rift. Her mother, Mary, even wrote a book that partly detailed her disapproval of her daughter's music and public persona, though the family has since grown closer.

11. Brad Pitt

Just like many other entries on this list, Brad Pitt was due to get a degree in Journalism, a highly respected profession. Just two credits shy of graduating, he dropped out and drove to Los Angeles to become an actor, telling his parents he was going to attend an art school. He has stated that his parents were not "unsupportive," but were, like any parent, shocked and worried.

10. Lucy Liu

Her acting and her desire to pursue was a "disgrace" to her family who were immigrants. They even went as low as calling it a "step below prostitution." She was, for a time, essentially disowned, forced to support herself completely while trying to break into the industry.

9. Michael Jackson

In music history, Michael Jackson is the biggest name and one of the greatest singers of all time. But, when we talk about his father, Joe Jackson; he had a tense and complex bond with his father. The duo worked together for Michael's career but ultimately parental support came at the cost of relentless control. Michael Jackson used to speak up openly about the fear and trauma.

8. John Lennon

Even though the Beatles had man supporters, it didn't stop Lennon's aunt from being skeptical of him. She had raised John but she did not believe he would ever be successful. She is widely quoted as telling a young John, "The guitar's all right, John, but you'll never make a living out of it." A famously incorrect prediction among the celebrities.

7. Eminem

The fractured relationship between Eminem and his mother is well known to the fans and casual listeners alike. It broke down to the point that Eminem had to release a song about her abusive and disapproving habit- "Cleaning Out My Closet'" Their public feuds and lawsuits are a testament to their deeply troubled dynamic.

6. Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Lopez's mother, Guadalupe, wanted her to go to college. When J.Lo decided to drop out after one semester to pursue dancing full-time, it caused a major rift. The conflict became so intense that Lopez moved out of the family home at 18, sleeping on a cot in her dance studio for months as she fought for her dream.

5. Sandra Oh

The Grey's Anatomy and Killing Eve star's parents were Korean immigrants who wanted her to find a respectable, stable profession. When she announced she was turning down a university scholarship to attend theatre school, her parents were devastated, telling her acting was "a step below prostitution." They simply couldn't understand why she would throw away a promising academic career for such a "low" pursuit.

4. Gemma Chan

The Crazy Rich Asians and Eternals star is another child of immigrant parents who prioritized stability. She has said her father was "very, very" unsupportive, telling her, "You'll be a starving artist, you'll be a waitress for the rest of your life." He wanted her to pursue law, a field she was on track for before she secretly switched her focus to drama school.

3. Simu Liu

The star of Shang-Chi has been very open about the immense pressure from his immigrant parents. They had a set path for him: a high-paying, stable job in accounting, which he briefly held. When he was laid off, he decided to pursue acting, a choice his parents saw as a complete failure and a betrayal of the sacrifices they made coming to Canada (Shang Chi in real life).

2. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson

It's hard to imagine, but Dwayne's father, professional wrestler Rocky Johnson, was dead-set against him entering the family business. He had seen the brutal toll of the industry and wanted his son to have a more stable career, pushing him toward football. Dwayne had to go against his father's wishes to pursue wrestling, a decision that ultimately launched his global superstardom.

1. Oprah Winfrey

Oprah's road to fame was marked by incredible difficulties throughout her childhood. Her family's lack of support only added to the abuse and poverty she faced growing up. Her success was not the result of parental encouragement but of her own resilience and determination to build a life her family could never have imagined for her.