Actor Eric Roberts has apologised to his sister Julia Roberts for saying “untrue” things about her in the past.
Previously, Eric had claimed responsibility for Julia’s career, saying he made her famous. The claim was most notably made in a 2018 Vanity Fair interview, in which he also discussed his daughter, American Horror Story star Emma Roberts.
Now, he’s admitted that was “an asinine thing to have said” about Julia in his new memoir, Runaway Train: Or the Story of My Life So Far.
He explained: “Now one of the things I’d like to apologise for in this book is for publicly saying on more than one occasion, ‘If it wasn’t for me, there would be no Julia Roberts’…That’s not only unfortunate, but it’s also untrue. And I hope Julie will accept this more public apology. It was an asinine thing to have said. I was proud of her, but it was pride turned on its head, to my own advantage” (via Entertainment Weekly).
He goes on to say Julia needed no help to get where she did as one of Hollywood’s most celebrated actresses. “She’s a very driven woman,” he continued. “Someone would have plucked her out of the crowd in a place like New York without my help.”
Later in the same chapter, Eric goes on to say how he did think his sister seeing his own career as an actor in New York flourish may have nevertheless inspired her. Eric is a prolific character actor in American film and television and early in his career, earned a Golden Globe and Oscar nomination. He is well known for his roles in The Dark Knight, The Expendables and Runaway Train and has amassed over 700 credits in total.
Eric Roberts and Julia Roberts attend ‘Goose and Tomtom’ on August 28, 1986 at Lincoln Center in New York City. (Photo by Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)
He continued: “I was born to do this. I moved to New York City when I wasn’t even old enough to drink a beer in public… If Julie had stayed in Atlanta, she’d probably have married a wealthy dude and lived a very different life. So I will take credit, once I had broken away from my father (or thought I had) and moved to New York City, for telling my sisters, ‘Come on up, girls; the water’s fine.’ That’s when, it seems to me, she saw my life as a young actor in New York, and saw what I was doing for my livelihood, and she wanted to try it.”
He explained how his two sisters, Julia and Lisa, moved in with him in New York, but difficulties arose due to his drug taking.
“Little did they know that I would become so difficult to be around,” Eric wrote. “That’s why Julie and Lisa soon wanted a place of their own. I was already deep into drugs. They lived with me for the better part of a year, and then I got them their own place.”
Robert went on to say that he paid for his sisters’ apartment for a year. “I needed my privacy because I was such a fucked-up guy who wanted to do fucked-up things, but I had enough sense to take care of them, to get them out of my apartment and out of harm’s way.”
The two have had a turbulent relationship over the years. His struggles with addiction led to a split from his partner Kelly Cunningham and Julia funded Cunningham’s legal fees during a custody battle for their daughter Emma.
Emma Roberts – CREDIT: Gregg Deguire/Variety via Getty Images
It is thought that they have repaired their relationship somewhat, but Eric recently also stated during an appearance on the Still Here Hollywood podcast that discussing his sister is off limits.
“I love my sister, but I can’t talk about her. She don’t want to talk about it,” he said.
He added that Emma also has told him “not to talk about her”, but he could not resist heaping praise on her nevertheless.
“I’m in love with my daughter’s work these days. I can’t believe how great she’s become. I’m so proud of her I can’t see straight. Since her performance in [2023 romcom] Maybe I Do until right now, she overwhelms me with pride and just, ‘Oh my God, here she goes again.’ And I’m just so happy to be her dad because she’s kicking ass. And I’m so proud.”
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