Latest news with #Hopie
Fox News
22-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Rory Feek, Jack Nicholson, Tim McGraw have 'traumatic' family secret in common
Rory Feek's daughter, Hopie Feek, recently announced on social media she found out he was not her biological father. After taking a DNA test through 23andMe, Hopie found out she and the 59-year-old musician were not biologically related, adding she discovered who her biological father was, referring to him as "B.C." Rory raised Hopie, and her sister Heidi, as a single parent, after his marriage to their mother came to an end. During a new interview with People magazine, Hopie expressed her dismay over the personal details that Rory recounted in his blog post, including their conversation, which she had thought was "private and sincere," and objected to the way in which he portrayed their mother. "My relationship with my dad is broken. Not because of this new revelation, but because he refuses to go to family therapy," Hopie told the outlet. It seems Hopie and Rory's story is not unique in Hollywood, as many of the industry's biggest names have also opened up in the past about unearthing their family histories. Tim McGraw and Jack Nicholson were both shocked to find out the people they viewed as their biological parents were not, in fact, who they thought they were. Here are some celebrities who have spoken out about how they found out about their biological relatives. Jack Nicholson found out the woman he grew up thinking was his mother, Ethal May, was actually his grandmother, and that his sister, June, was actually his mother in 1974, when he was 37 years old. According to Patrick McGilligan's biography on the actor, titled "Jack's Life," Nicholson first learned of his true parentage when he received a call from a journalist at Time magazine working on a profile of him. After hanging up with Time, the "Chinatown" actor called his brother-in-law Shorty, really his uncle, for confirmation. "Shorty, this is the most f---ed thing I've ever heard," he said, according to the biography. "A guy calls me on the phone, and says that my father is still alive, and that Ethel May wasn't really my mother, that June was my mother." After denying it at first, Shorty handed the phone to Nicholson's sister Lorraine, really his aunt, who confirmed the news for him. While the identity of his mother was now known, little remained known about Nicholson's biological father, including his name, a detail which was unknown to even Lorraine. The actor told Rolling Stone in 1986, "Both grandmother and mother were deceased before this particular group of facts came to my attention," so he wasn't able to ask them. According to the McGilligan biography, June became pregnant in 1936 and gave birth at the age of 18 to Nicholson in 1937. A pact was then made between Ethel May, June and Lorraine to never reveal that June was the baby's actual mother. Nicholson told Rolling Stone he "was very impressed by their ability to keep the secret." Country music superstar Tim McGraw learned who his biological father was when he was 11 years old. During a 2002 interview on "Larry King Live," McGraw shared that he was raised by his stepfather, Horace Smith, who he believed was his biological dad until finding out otherwise at the age of 11. He shared he even went by the name Tim Smith. "My mother used to keep Christmas presents in her closet. I was going through the closet looking for Christmas presents," McGraw said on the show. "I ran across my birth certificate. That's how I found out." He found out his birth father was the professional baseball player Tug McGraw, someone who the singer was a fan of. The "Humble and Kind" singer went on to say that his mom then reached out to Tug and said Tim wanted to meet him. He then went to one of his games in Houston and watched Tug pitch. "It was awkward. I was 11 years old. I was a kid. I think it was more traumatic for everybody around me than it was for me. I think it probably became a little more traumatic for me as I got a little older," McGraw explained. "Actually, at 11, I saw him twice, and then I didn't see him again until I was 18. I didn't talk to him maybe but once." While the two didn't immediately click, McGraw said they grew closer as time went on, and they remained close until the former baseball player's death in 2004. Liv Tyler grew up believing her stepfather, musician Todd Rundgren, was her birth father before finding out she was the daughter of Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler. During an appearance on "The Jonathan Ross Show" in November 2015, Liv recounted the "emotional story" of learning who her father was, saying "my mother was very young when she had me and there was a little bit of confusion about where I came from." "I did find out that [Steven] was my dad, but I kind of figured it out, because he looked exactly like me, and I have a sister named Mia who's a year younger than me and I saw her standing on the side of the stage at a concert, and literally it was like looking at my twin," she explained. "She looked exactly like me, and I looked at my mom and she had tears in her eyes and I kind of put it all together." The "Captain America: Brave New World" star has since grown close to her birth father, but told Jonathan Ross about Rundgren, "I still consider him my father," and addied that "he's been such a beautiful, wonderful influence in my life." Kerry Washington found out the truth about her family history after she told her parents she would be appearing on the PBS series "Finding Your Roots," which helps celebrities learn about their ancestral history through their DNA. Her parents then made the decision to tell the "Scandal" actress that after struggling with fertility issues when trying to have a baby, they chose to use a sperm donor to conceive a child. The discovery led Washington to write her memoir, "Thicker Than Water," telling People that it was her way to help in the journey "to understand my life up until now," and that she has what she considered "the missing puzzle piece" of her life. "I really started to have so much more love and compassion and understanding for my parents," she said. "Taking this deep dive into our family history made me put myself in their shoes and think about the things that they've had to navigate and what they've been through and what they've sacrificed. And it really made me feel closer to them."
South China Morning Post
19-02-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Meet Hopie Feek, daughter of country music artist Rory Feek
Meet Hopie Feek, daughter of country music artist Rory Feek. Photos: @hopiefeek01/Instagram; Getty Images Fame and celebrity Country singer-songwriter Rory Feek's daughter Hopie recently shared a shocking discovery on Instagram this month. Following the results of a 23andMe DNA test, Hopie announced that Feek was not her biological father and that she 'always felt a little bit different'. Feek raised Hopie, 36, and her sister Heidi, 38, as a single dad after splitting from their mother, Tamara Gilmer. In the same video, Hopie went on to share a photo of herself standing next to a man who she introduced as her biological father. 'Turns out this is my dad – not the one everyone knows – and his name is B. C.' A few days after her revelation, Feek recounted the day Hopie broke the news to him in a blog post titled 'a different dad'. In the post, Feek shared that he wasn't completely surprised: he'd always suspected that Hopie wasn't his biological child. He recounted that her due date hadn't aligned with his six-month military deployment and that at one point he'd directly asked Gilmer if Hopie was his, and had been reassured. A childhood photo of Hopie Feek (left) with her father Rory Feek and elder sister Heidi. Photo: @hopiefeek01/Instagram Aside from Heidi and Hopie, Feek has a younger daughter named Indiana who he shared with his late second wife, Joey Martin, who tragically died of cancer in March 2016. 'My love for Hopie isn't based on us having the same blood running through our veins. I love her because she's my child, even if technically … she's not,' Feek wrote. Here's everything to know about Rory Feek's daughter Hopie. Hopie is her nickname
The Independent
13-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Rory Feek speaks out after daughter Hopie reveals he's not her biological father
Rory Feek has spoken out after his daughter, Hopie Feek, revealed that he is not her biological father. The 59-year-old singer shared a blog post on Tuesday about his daughter, days after she shared a video on Instagram about her 23 & Me results, which revealed that Rory wasn't her biological father. In her video, she also explained that she's connected with her biological father, a man named B.C., and they've 'gotten real close' within the last six months. In his post, Rory recalled Hopie calling him out of the blue for the first time in two and a half years and asking to speak in person. She told him that she and her sister Heidi 'recently reconnected with our birth mother, and we've gotten close in the last two years... and she shared something with me that I think you need to know.' ''I don't want to hurt you. But you need know that I took a '23 & Me' test and it turns out that I have a different Dad than Heidi and Indiana,'' he recalled Hopie saying. 'I'm not sure what I thought Hopie was going to say, but I was not expecting to hear that.' According to the blog post, Hopie chose to take the 23 & Me test after her biological mother Tamera Gilmer — who was absent from her and Heidi's childhood — said she was with another man during her relationship with Rory and was certain that he was Hopie's father. However, Rory told Hopie that he wasn't completely surprised by this news before sharing a story about him and her mother from 1988 during a difficult point in their marriage. He said that when he found out his ex was pregnant with Hopie, it was 'frustrating,' since their 'marriage was a mess.' He added that when his daughter was born a week or two past her due date, he had his suspicions about the timing of her pregnancy. Rory said he learned of her pregnancy shortly after he returned from his six-month deployment to the Middle East with the Marines. However, despite his doubts, Tamera insisted that Hopie was his child. After their divorce, Rory initially agreed to raise Heidi while Tamera would raise Hopie. But he later pleaded to keep Hopie with him and Heidi, eventually taking full custody of both daughters. From that moment on, Rory said he 'raised' Hopie as his own. 'When I learned I wasn't Hopie's biological father, it didn't change my love for her,' he wrote. 'This news and this blood test don't change anything for me. I love my daughter and always will.' Hopie issued a response to Rory's blog post on Wednesday. On Instagram, she said that her 'one request' for Rory was 'to be kind and not shame [her] mom,' but he did not do that. 'Today, he shared her private history in his blog, which is extremely disappointing,' she wrote. 'I shared my story because I couldn't keep the secret all to myself anymore. I'm really not a public person, but because Rory is, my private life becomes content for his fans (who are often unkind online).' She went on to criticize Rory, claiming that he was 'hateful and judgemental' when she came out as bisexual. She added that he 'convinced' her to let him write about that experience in his book, which she now regrets. 'When his book came out, he had massive support and I had the opposite,' she added. 'More hate from his fans. The things he wrote in that chapter still hurt.' She also alleged that Rory would try to keep her from his 10-year-old daughter Indy, who he shared with his late wife, Joey Fleek. 'It's like he was already trying to push me out of his life,' she continued. In her initial Instagram video about her 23 & Me results, she shared how similar she is to her biological father and praised the bond they've formed. 'Within 24 hours of finding him and messaging him on Facebook, he was here at my doorstep just to give me a hug and to meet me. I've never experienced unconditional love like that before,' she said. 'I reconnected with my mom this past year and she's freaking awesome. I learned how much she loves me and how much she wanted to be a part of my life but never really could.'
Fox News
13-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Rory Feek's daughter rips country singer for shaming her mom after discovering he's not biological father
Country singer Rory Feek's daughter is speaking out after she discovered he's not her biological father. Hopie, 36, took to Instagram to slam her father in an emotional post and called Rory's actions "extremely disappointing." "When I had the conversation with Rory, my one request was for him to be kind and not shame my mom. Today, he shared her private history in his blog, which is extremely disappointing," Hopie began her lengthy social media post. Her comments come after Rory shared a blog post titled, "a different dad," "… this news and this blood test doesn't change anything for me," Rory wrote. "I love you as my daughter and I always will". On Feb. 8, Hopie posted a video that revealed she took a 23andMe test that determined Rory was not her father. She pointed out that her father was a man named B.C. "I've never experienced unconditional love like that before," she said in her video, as she referred to B.C. Hopie added she has "gotten really close" with her biological father over the last six months. "When I had the conversation with Rory, my one request was for him to be kind and not shame my mom. Today, he shared her private history in his blog, which is extremely disappointing." Meanwhile, on Rory's blog he shared how Hopie's news that he wasn't her biological father didn't "completely surprise" him. He explained that his ex-wife's due date, when she was expected to have Rory, didn't align with when he returned from a six-month deployment with the Marines. When Rory asked his ex-wife if Hopie was his daughter, she adamantly said yes. "I'm disappointed and sad that it took three decades to learn this. But the truth is… I mostly hurt for Hopie," Rory penned in his blog post. "Hopie has such a tender heart, filled with child-like wonder and light, even in the darkest of days. It's heartbreaking that she has had to deal with such an incredible amount of pain and loss in her relatively short life." In response to Rory's blog post, Hopie also noted that she regretted sharing that she was bisexual with the country singer, writing that he was "hateful and judgmental." She also claimed he used her information to sell books. "From now on, I just wish my stories could be my own to tell and share," Hopie concluded her Instagram post. "I want to move forward and find happiness with the people who love me, far away from this online hate." The family feud comes months after Rory revealed that he recently made an attempt to visit his eldest daughters, Heidi and Hopie, amid their ongoing family dispute over his parenting of their 10-year-old sister, Indiana. In September, Heidi, 37, and Hopie decided to take legal action against the 59-year-old country singer after they expressed their concerns that he put Indiana in "harm's way" and stated that their father prevented them from any communication with their younger sibling. In a blog post titled "canceled" that he shared at the time, Rory addressed the conflict, and wrote that their family "isn't perfect" and their struggles "aren't something that just happened this summer." "We've always been a work-in-progress, and I feel fairly certain we always will be," he admitted. "There are things that my older daughters and I need to work out together. Right now we're at an impasse on how that's ever going to happen." Reps for Rory and Hopie Feek did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
