Aug 13
Elle King Opens Up about Rocky Relationship with 'Not Nice,' Anti-LGBTQ+ Dad Rob Schneider
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 2 MIN.
Singer-songwriter and actor Elle King spilled the tea on how she's not close to her comedian dad Rob Schneider, saying that Schneider is "talking out of [his] ass... about drag" and LGBTQ+ equality.
"I disagree with a lot of the things that he says," four-time Grammy-nominee King told Bunnie Xo, host of the "Dumb Blonde" podcast, Variety relayed.
"You're talking out of your ass and you're talking shit about drag and, you know, anti-gay rights," the "Ex's & Oh's" singer said of her dad's hard-right views, with his comedy sets reportedly including anti-vaccine rhetoric as well as transphobic and misogynistic material.
"And it's like, get fucked," King added.
The rift between father and daughter has deep roots that extend back to King's childhood. King recalled how Schneider – with whom she appeared onscreen in the 1999 movie "Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo" in her feature film debut – disapproved of her body and pressured her to lose weight when she was young.
"I was like a really, really heavy child," King recounted, adding that Schneider "sent me to fat camp" before recalling that she "got in trouble one year because I sprained my ankle and didn't lose any weight."
The famously tattooed singer noted that "I had already started getting tattooed" at an early age, "and it was like 108 degrees. So I had to wear sweaters because my dad was very anti-tattoos or any form of self-expression."
Variety recalled that Schneider recently piled on with other American conservatives who claimed that a moment during the opening ceremony for the recent Olympics in Paris made fun of Christianity by re-imagining a Da Vinci painting of The Last Supper as a wild celebration that included drag queens.
The moment in question was not, however, referencing The Last Supper or mocking the Christian faith. In fact, explained artistic director Thomas Jolly, "the performance is a nod to a pagan celebration featuring Dionysus, the Greek god of fertility, wine and revelry," USA Today reported.
That didn't stop conservative bishops and right-wing commentators from continuing to insist that the Christian faith was being "mocked," however. Variety recounted how Schneider joined in on the chorus of complaints, posting that the opening ceremony presented "an Olympics that disrespects Christianity and openly celebrates Satan," before following up with an even more wild misrepresentation in which he claimed the scene depicted "Guys with their genitalia hanging out in front of children?! Drag Queens?!"
"I wasn't sure if I was watching the Olympics or if I was watching a school board meeting," Schneider declared.
King didn't hold out hope for a reconciliation with Schneider, telling Bunnie Xo that her father is "just not nice," and refusing to feel responsible for his comments.
"You can't control anyone else's actions and you can't control people's feelings," Variety quoted King. "All you can control is how you react and what you do with your feelings."
Watch a clip from King's appearance on the podcast below.
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.