A Woman Asked if She Was Wrong for Telling Her Dad He’s Not Entitled to a Relationship

No doubt about it, family dynamics are always tricky.

And they’re especially tricky when parents get divorced and the kids have to deal with the fallout… and that damage can last for years.

A 27-year-old woman shared a story on Reddit’s “Am I the *sshole?” page about a sticky situation with her father.

AITA for telling my dad he’s not entitled to a relationship with me?

“When i (27f) was around 10 my parents divorced, it was a messy thing, no one ever told me the reason and i do not really care. My mom won custody because she was able to prove in court that my father was an unfit parent.

My father never took it well and it showed whenever i had visitation at his house (2 weekends a month). Instead of spending time with me he would spends hours playing video games, order take out and the only time he would ever take me somewhere was when my grandma forced him, needless to say i never had a very close relationship with him

Then once i got older he started to bring up a college fund he had set aside for me and he always said that if my grades stayed up and i do well in school the money would be mine, and i did just that.

I got good grades, was part of many clubs in school and never got into trouble, i was basically the kid your parents brought up when they were comparing you to your friends.

In my senior year my dad got married to his current wife, it was a beautiful and extravagant ceremony. I’m pretty sure some of the arrangements were more expensive than my phone but whatever, i didn’t think much of it.

It wasn’t until i went to talk to my dad about my college fund that i found out he had used it to pay for his ceremony. I was in disbelief when he said it and the more he explained the more i wanted to cry, he didn’t even apologize, he said it with all causality of “Oh, you were looking for that thing you left in the fridge? Sorry, i ate it”

When he realized that i was upset he turned it around on me and told me that i was being selfish and that i was not entitled to his money.

Luckily, got scholarship that covered my entire tuition. Also, my mom and stepdad also had a fund set aside for me, they apparently knew my dad would pull that on me, so i was able to go to college without a lot of debt.

Since then i’ve been distant from my dad, i’ll not lie, i feel conned. If the money was always his, why did he bother mentioning it to me? I don’t care if he used it or not but to promise someone something, hold it over their heads for years, and not give it to them when you should because they’re “not entitled to it” is just a way too lengthy way to say that you’re an unreliable *ss in my eyes.

My dad has tried to reconcile but he still claims that i was not entitled to that money and even says that the money was not needed because i got a scholarship. The last time he said that to me was when i was at his house, visiting my new baby brother, and i got so d*mn annoyed that i said “I’m not entitled to your money but you’re also not entitled to a relationship with me so i guess we’re in a stalemate here”, i guess that hurt him because he got quiet until i left.

I’ve been remembering what i said for a while so i wonder if i was way too out of line in my statement? I was annoyed and wanted him to stop bringing it up but i didn’t want to hurt him.”

Here’s how people responded to the story.

This person said that the woman is not the jerk in this situation and that her father seems to be gaslighting her.

Photo Credit: Reddit

Another person argued that they could sympathize with the woman because they had a similar upbringing.

Photo Credit: Reddit

Another reader said they had a similar situation with their father and it took them years to finally come to terms with it.

Photo Credit: Reddit

This Reddit user said that the woman’s father is clearly the *sshole in this situation for his actions and that she needs to cut him out of her life.

Photo Credit: Reddit

Finally, this individual said that the woman really doesn’t owe her father anything because he’s been…well, less than an ideal parent.

Photo Credit: Reddit

Now it’s your turn to speak up.

What do you think about what this woman did?

Share your thoughts with us in the comments!

The post A Woman Asked if She Was Wrong for Telling Her Dad He’s Not Entitled to a Relationship appeared first on UberFacts.

Scientists Actually Performed These Unethical Experiments

It’s not a secret at this point that science has, on several occasions throughout history, gone too far in its pursuit of progress.

Unethical experiments have been performed on human beings without the agency to resist, lies have been told, dangerous substances haven’t been protected, and psychological damage has been waved aside, even in rooms with children.

Below are 4 experiments that all under that umbrella, and the scientists involved all surely knew better before they even began.

4. Testicle transplants.

While Dr. Leo Stanley was in charge of the health of prisoners at San Quentin Prison in California, he surgically transplanted the testicles of executed criminals onto living inmates in a desire to find out whether raising testosterone levels would reduce an urge to criminal behavior.

More than 600 inmates suffered at his hands, some even being injected with liquefied animal testicles, when there were no human ones available.

Stanley claimed success after a Caucasian prisoner claimed to feel “energetic” after receiving a testicle from an executed African-American convict.

3. Unit 731

Image Credit: Free Use

In 1938, the Japanese government set up Unit 731 with the intention of developing biological weapons that could be used in warfare.

The unit used Chinese prisoners and Asian civilians as guinea pigs, without their knowledge and/or consent, and infected them with cholera, anthrax, plague, and other horrible pathogens.

Many died, but still, after WWII America (and other countries) provided safe passage to some of the researchers involved in exchange for ownership of their research.

2. The Stanford Prison Experiment

Image Credit: Eric. E. Castro

In 1971, hoping to investigate the causes of conflict between prisoners and guards, took 24 students and assigned them to one role or another. They were then placed in a prison-like environment.

The researchers planned for the experiment to last two weeks, but had to pull the plug after only six days because they were unable to maintain any semblance of order.

One in every three “guards” abused the prisoners, sometimes violently, leading to at least two of the prisoners suffering emotional trauma.

We learned a lot about how power and certain situations can influence an individual’s behavior, but no one involved was quite the same afterward.

1. Two-headed dogs.

Vladimir Demikhov’s studies have helped medical science advance, and his attempts to graft the head of a puppy onto the neck of a German Shepherd, especially, led to huge advances in the field of organ transplants in humans.

It wasn’t so great for the dogs, though, who – although they could move independently of each other – did not survive long due to tissue rejection issues. Of the 20 two-headed dogs that were created, only one survived for an entire month.

Science never ceases to amaze me – in good ways and horrible ways, sometimes in equal measure.

What’s the worst science experiment you’ve learned about? If it’s not on this list, tell us about it in the comments!

The post Scientists Actually Performed These Unethical Experiments appeared first on UberFacts.

Scientists Actually Performed These Unethical Experiments

It’s not a secret at this point that science has, on several occasions throughout history, gone too far in its pursuit of progress.

Unethical experiments have been performed on human beings without the agency to resist, lies have been told, dangerous substances haven’t been protected, and psychological damage has been waved aside, even in rooms with children.

Below are 4 experiments that all under that umbrella, and the scientists involved all surely knew better before they even began.

4. Testicle transplants.

While Dr. Leo Stanley was in charge of the health of prisoners at San Quentin Prison in California, he surgically transplanted the testicles of executed criminals onto living inmates in a desire to find out whether raising testosterone levels would reduce an urge to criminal behavior.

More than 600 inmates suffered at his hands, some even being injected with liquefied animal testicles, when there were no human ones available.

Stanley claimed success after a Caucasian prisoner claimed to feel “energetic” after receiving a testicle from an executed African-American convict.

3. Unit 731

Image Credit: Free Use

In 1938, the Japanese government set up Unit 731 with the intention of developing biological weapons that could be used in warfare.

The unit used Chinese prisoners and Asian civilians as guinea pigs, without their knowledge and/or consent, and infected them with cholera, anthrax, plague, and other horrible pathogens.

Many died, but still, after WWII America (and other countries) provided safe passage to some of the researchers involved in exchange for ownership of their research.

2. The Stanford Prison Experiment

Image Credit: Eric. E. Castro

In 1971, hoping to investigate the causes of conflict between prisoners and guards, took 24 students and assigned them to one role or another. They were then placed in a prison-like environment.

The researchers planned for the experiment to last two weeks, but had to pull the plug after only six days because they were unable to maintain any semblance of order.

One in every three “guards” abused the prisoners, sometimes violently, leading to at least two of the prisoners suffering emotional trauma.

We learned a lot about how power and certain situations can influence an individual’s behavior, but no one involved was quite the same afterward.

1. Two-headed dogs.

Vladimir Demikhov’s studies have helped medical science advance, and his attempts to graft the head of a puppy onto the neck of a German Shepherd, especially, led to huge advances in the field of organ transplants in humans.

It wasn’t so great for the dogs, though, who – although they could move independently of each other – did not survive long due to tissue rejection issues. Of the 20 two-headed dogs that were created, only one survived for an entire month.

Science never ceases to amaze me – in good ways and horrible ways, sometimes in equal measure.

What’s the worst science experiment you’ve learned about? If it’s not on this list, tell us about it in the comments!

The post Scientists Actually Performed These Unethical Experiments appeared first on UberFacts.

Infographics That Show There’s an Infographic for Just About Everything

Remember how roughly ten years ago people would make jokes that there’s an app for everything?

Well these days, the same could be said for infographics.

Here are 21 completely random infographics that prove there really is one for every situation.

1. When you need to borrow the TARDIS

Talk about a beautiful chronology of Doctor Who.

Image credit: eBaum’s World

2. When you need to decorate some cupcakes

Now you know which pastry tip to use.
(But does anyone outside of Master Chef actually use a pastry bag?
Because those things are THE WORST imo.)

Image credit: eBaum’s World

3. When you need to know how to trim your beard

Hipsters everywhere, rejoice!

Image credit: eBaum’s World

4. When you care about the Superbowl

I mean, for more than just the commercials or halftime show.

Image credit: eBaum’s World

5. When you’re curious about copper

I love this, actually.

Image credit: eBaum’s World

6. When you need a donut STAT

And I mean, like, yesterday.

Image credit: eBaum’s World

7. When you’re challenged to a duel in Japan

I’ll take the sharpest one, please.

Image credit: eBaum’s World

8. When you need to make a scenic get-away

(Because you lost the duel?)

Image credit: eBaum’s World

9. When you don’t know how to pronounce your car’s make

(And you want to sound super pretentious by getting it right.)

Image credit: eBaum’s World

10. When you’re looking for the House of the Rising Sun

Or whatever happens in New Orleans.

Image credit: eBaum’s World

11. & 12. When you’re curious about colors

Whether it’s to pick your favorite color…

Image credit: eBaum’s World

Or so you can find your car in a crowded parking lot…

Image credit: eBaum’s World

13. When you don’t know what book to read

No matter how long your TBR list is.

Image credit: eBaum’s World

14. When you want to know where the party is

And you’re wiling to drive to get there.

Image credit: eBaum’s World

15. When you’re having dinner with Miss Manners

And you don’t want to look like a hayseed.

Image credit: eBaum’s World

16. When you need to double-check your family tree

It can get complicated pretty fast, if you’re counting second cousins twice removed.

Image credit: eBaum’s World

17. When you have a turtle emergency

Whether or not it is of the teenage-mutant-ninja variety.

Image credit: eBaum’s World

18. When there’s science

There should honestly always be an infographic about science.
It’s practically the law.

Image credit: eBaum’s World

19. When you spill wine

Sorry, does anyone spill anything else?

Image credit: eBaum’s World

20. When you have a ghost problem

I mean, when don’t you?

Image credit: eBaum’s World

21. When you’re trying to keep the body count straight

It can be hard. We got you.

Image credit: eBaum’s World

Honestly, these were so weird and random that they totally made my day.
I kind of want to make an infographic for literally everything now.

What do you think? Have you seen one that belongs on the list? Let us know in the comments.

The post Infographics That Show There’s an Infographic for Just About Everything appeared first on UberFacts.

Her Husband Ate a Whole Pie as a Midnight Snack, But She’s the One Wondering if She Was in the Wrong

Marriage sure is complicated. If there is one single truth about life and relationships that everyone can agree on, that must be it. It’s tough to not only love someone through decades of ups and downs and life changes, but to put up with sharing the same space with them all that time, too.

This woman is raving on Reddit about how her husband ate the entire family’s dessert for the next day in the middle of the night, but those of us who have been married all must be wondering what she’s really upset about, right?

It begins like an average day in the life, with a couple discussing what’s for dinner and dessert, then putting out a pie ahead of time like responsible adults.

So I made dinner and I asked my husband to get an apple pie out of the freezer for dessert. We baked it and then we went outside and made a campfire.

The didn’t eat the pie because they have kids and they’re always changing our plans; they had s’mores instead, putting the pie in the fridge for the following night.

Did they discuss this? She doesn’t say.

We ended up making s’mores that night because the kids asked.

So the pie went in the fridge until the next night.

Or so I thought.

The next morning she found two bites of pie and a fork in the fridge (and perhaps the lingering scent of marijuana in the garage?).

I wake up the next day and this dude has a fork and literally 2 bites left in it in the fridge.

I’m talking about the big marie whatever apple pie with the crumbles on top.

When she confronted him about the absurdity of consuming an entire pie under cover of darkness he replied that he didn’t know they were going to eat it as a family.

He has kids, so this seems suspect AF.

I’m like wtf why would you eat the pie we were going to eat for dessert?

He said well we didn’t eat it last night.

I said yeah no shit we all ate s’mores and thought we would eat it tomorrow after dinner.

He went on to tell me it was no big deal and I shouldn’t be so emotional over it.

Which is when she lays out what we all suspect, which is that it’s not about the pie, per se.

It’s about his not thinking about his family or considering their happiness and needs before he takes care of his own wants.

I’m like it’s not that I’m emotional about the pie…. it’s the fact your a$s ate a whole pie in the middle of the night because you get so stoned and can’t control your eating at night.

AND that you are so selfish that you didn’t even think about the wife and kids.

And he does that sh%t all of the time.

He will be a glutton and eat sh%t and I have to hide sh%t. So am I overreacting?

There’s the crux of it.

Is she overreacting? Let’s see what Reddit has to say!

More than a few people pointed out that eating an entire pie could definitely be a cry for help.

Image Credit: Reddit

In marriage, the little things become big things for a reason.

Image Credit: Reddit

People who claim to love you should think of your needs and happiness, too.

Image Credit: Reddit

See? Definitely not about the pie.

Image Credit: Reddit

Reddit loves to get to the root of it.

Image Credit: Reddit

I think these two need to go to counseling – about the pie, but also not really about the pie.

I’m sure a trained professional can help them sort it out. Or not.

The post Her Husband Ate a Whole Pie as a Midnight Snack, But She’s the One Wondering if She Was in the Wrong appeared first on UberFacts.

Take a Look at These Infographics That Could Really Help You Out

A picture is worth a thousand words.

And while I sometimes think a few words would go a long to providing context for pictorial furniture instructions, I do love a good infographic.

Here are 15 super useful infographics that you might want to keep close at hand.

1. For quick, easy reference

I love an easy reference cooking chart. I use the one for my InstantPot ALL. THE. TIME.

Image credit: eBaum’s World

2. For every day mishaps

I literally needed this yesterday. Time to put it on the fridge.

Image credit: eBaum’s World

3. For those with a black thumb

If only it covered every kind of plant. Specifically snake plants (asking for a friend).

Image credit: eBaum’s World

4. For those who like to party

The longer I look at this, the more fascinating it becomes.

Image credit: eBaum’s World

5. For those who really like to party

Just kidding, this is actually really useful information that everyone should know.

Image credit: eBaum’s World

6. For life’s little disappointments

Keep this one in your glove box. It should come free with every pair of jumper cables.

Image credit: eBaum’s World

7. For when you want to be fancy

Keep it in your purse for dining out. I love that there’s a special signal that you didn’t like your meal.

Image credit: eBaum’s World

8. For sending a subtle message

Tape this on the back of the remote, the Ipad, the laptop…

Image credit: eBaum’s World

9. For planning your epic family vacation

Get ready Route 66, the road trip is about to have a resurgence.

Image credit: eBaum’s World

10. For when technology feels overwhelming

Because you know you’re getting old when you’re grouchy about new USBs.

Image credit: eBaum’s World

11. For when you need to prove a point

Welcome to healthcare in America.

Image credit: eBaum’s World

12. & 13. For when you have a pressing science question

About space…

Image credit: eBaum’s World

or about anatomy…

Image credit: eBaum’s World

14. For when you want to avoid an allergic reaction

Is it worth the risk? Only you can decide!

Image credit: eBaum’s World

15. For when you have a pressing frosting need

I personally only use the large round one, but that’s just me.

Image credit: eBaum’s World

These all definitely show how an infographic can go a long way to helping in any situation.

I kind of wish I had known about them as a kid. I think I would have won a lot more arguments.

Are you a visual learner? Do you like a good graphic? Let us know in the comments.

The post Take a Look at These Infographics That Could Really Help You Out appeared first on UberFacts.

This is How Your Street Ends Up With Those Annoying Potholes

It’s coming up on pothole-fixing season, friends. I suppose this is superior to pothole-making season (winter and early spring) but honestly, all of our lives and cars and pocketbooks would be better off if there were no potholes at all.

Maybe the key to preventing potholes is knowing how they get there in the first place (it’s worth a shot, right?) but even if it’s not, knowledge is never a bad thing.

Image Credit: iStock

So, without further ado, here’s what makes those annoying, broken spots in the road over the winter.

Potholes happen when water seeps into the rock, gravel, and soil that sits underneath the asphalt on the road and then freezes, which is why they’re most common in the winter and early spring.

Once frozen the water expands, pushing up against the pavement, weakening the asphalt until the pressure finally cracks it, allowing the water to seep toward the surface. Along the way it will freeze and then thaw several more times, leaving gaps and voids and more cracking.

Image Credit: iStock

This weakening is further exacerbated by the constant traffic putting pressure on the pavement from the top, which pushes asphalt back into the gaps created by a melting cycle in the ice.

The result is a hole, sometimes the size of a crater, always willing to make you spill your coffee on the way to the office in the morning.

Potholes cause damage to car tires by puncturing them or bending the rims, and can also knock your alignment out of whack fairly quickly. Make sure you’re paying attention, that you keep space between you and the car in front of you, and slowing down if you can’t avoid running through one.

Image Credit: iStock

So stay away when you can, y’all – fixing your car isn’t cheap.

Do you have any more tips for saving money on car maintenance? Share them with us in the comments!

The post This is How Your Street Ends Up With Those Annoying Potholes appeared first on UberFacts.

What Hobbies Are Considered Boring But Really Aren’t? Here’s What Folks Said.

One of my friends is borderline obsessed with plants and gardening.

And when he started getting really into it, I thought to myself, “how boring!”

But now that I’m a little bit older…I think he was on to something.

Because plants are awesome are gardening isn’t boring at all!

What hobbies are considered boring but really aren’t at all?

AskReddit users shared their thoughts.

1. A good one!

“Language learning.

It’s a really fun process although sometimes it can feel like a grind.”

2. Just like Mr. Miyagi.

“Bonsai.

I thought it would be a nice little jaunt since you only have to look after them like 3 times a year and major attention every few years as long as you water and fertilize regularly.

Lies. All lies.

Days planning and diagramming how I’m going to f**k up this tiny tree I’ve invested years in. Multiple books bought and read.

Then like 12 f**king hours wiring up this tree and painstakingly watching to see if the apex is gonna do what I want or if that Jin is going to f**king work out.

I grow orchids. I thought they were b*tchy. I had not yet experienced the wrath of a juniper in a place that does not hit freezing temps.”

3. Mapmaker.

“Making detailed and realistic maps.

I grew up poor so to entertain myself I used to draw very realistic maps and play imaginary scenarios based on the map.

Eventually my family got a computer and I started using google sketch up to make maps and flags.

Now as an adult with a good paying job, I play EU4, HoI4 and CK2.

But I still enjoy making maps whenever I have a pencil and a blank paper. Imagination has no limits.”

4. Sounds good to me.

“Finding cool rocks. No joke.

You get to walk about, seeing cool things, breathing fresh air, and you get a geology lesson.”

5. I’d like to try this.

“Painting.

You’re constantly adapting to what the paint is doing, thinking, using your intuition, and you’re a lot more active than you appear to be.”

6. Playlists for days.

“I don’t know if this qualifies as a “hobby”, but I love making Spotify playlists for super obscure themes, like “the summer of 1997” or “the feeling you get when you realize you are driving too fast and it’s raining” or “these would make a good soundtrack for a zombie movie”.

I’m currently working on a playlist of songs to play a stranded Victorian era time traveler to get them up to speed on 21st century American musical culture.”

7. Can’t stop, won’t stop.

“Woodworking with hand tools.

I’m addicted and have bought 5 hand planes and can’t stop.”

8. Knittin’.

“Actually, knitting.

If you can do it right it’s actually fun.

Note that you’ll probably rage quit if you get it wrong.”

9. A green thumb.

“Raising plants, particularly succulents, has been way more eventful and exciting than I expected it to be.

I always thought raising plants was like this thing where you water something every day and then six months later it grows an inch and that’s it.

But I have a decent collection of different plants now, and they all have their own needs, their own unique behaviors, they’re different ages and so some flower and some don’t yet, they express their needs in different ways, and they change and move around much faster than you might expect. I’ve got some that are eternal and unchanging of course, but many more that are different every day.

I’ve got one plant that is so fast it can practically dance, and if it needs more light I’ll find it twisted into a completely different position every day until I move it somewhere more sunny and it settles down.

Not to mention by gaining an interest in plants, I’ve started paying attention to the plants around me in my neighborhood as I walk my dog, and I’ve started cataloging all the different flowers and weeds and shrubs I find. I’ve even found a few wild-growing succulents that I’ve taken samples of and am now cultivating at home, one of which even bloomed and gave me seeds which I’m going to try to grow!

It’s been so much fun and very educational.”

10. Aerial combat.

“Bird watching.

Sometimes you see aerial combat taking place with these birds, especially crows against hawks.”

11. Highly recommended.

“Geocaching.

I started this when my then GF and I were dirt poor in college and now we have logged about 1700 caches in about a dozen different countries.

Even just doing it near our home is awesome, because you get to see things you’d never see otherwise.

Highly recommend.”

12. Explore the night sky.

“Astronomy.

I got my first look through a telescope at 13 yo. My school had its own little observatory, and a few of us (mostly those specialising in physics or maths for A-level) were in the Astronomy Club. What hooked me wasn’t the stars, it was the planets.

Even with quite a lot of light pollution there was, for me, something magical about being able to look at the moon as if you were hovering just a short distance above its surface. And the planets all have their own charms. Jupiter is perhaps the most interesting, both in terms of the planet itself and in terms of its moons: I love checking that the moons are where they’re meant to be – I think of them as a sort of clock.

I know that I’m doing nothing more significant than checking the observations that others have made before me, and verifying what others have already calculated, but I feel that in some small way I’m helping to continue the validation of the great work of others. And like many others, I have my little patches of lunar geography that I watch pretty regularly, just in case anything has changed.

I suppose it’s not exciting, but it’s interesting to see our neighbor as the light and shadows change.”

What “boring” hobbies do you think are actually pretty awesome!

Talk to us in the comments.

We’d love to hear from you!

The post What Hobbies Are Considered Boring But Really Aren’t? Here’s What Folks Said. appeared first on UberFacts.

You Don’t Need Siblings to Laugh at These Funny Jokes

There are lots of posts and lists filled with jokes and truths about life with siblings, but listen – some people don’t have the pleasure (or curse) because they’re only children.

That’s why we put this list together, filled with funnies about life as an only child that you don’t need friends around to laugh at – so please enjoy!

11. I mean, why bother?

I hope you find a supportive spouse.

Image Credit: Pleated-Jeans

10. Food is such a big thing for kids.

No one wants to share it!

Image Credit: Pleated-Jeans

9. They have no one to blame but themselves.

I’m just saying.

Image Credit: Pleated-Jeans

8. He and her mom had talks about another baby on those nights.

Just because of the corn thing.

Image Credit: Pleated-Jeans

7. I’m sure we went back and forth a bunch of times.

But here we are.

Image Credit: Pleated-Jeans

6. What about the “hasn’t bros” huh?

This is hilarious and clever.

Image Credit: Pleated-Jeans

5. Hahaha I never thought about that.

Kids look at things so differently.

Image Credit: Pleated-Jeans

4. Like I said, advantages.

Like quiet, for example.

Image Credit: Pleated-Jeans

3. Here, play with this.

A dog is work but not like a baby.

Image Credit: Pleated-Jeans

2. It’s adorable, right?

I hope that’s what he said as a followup.

Image Credit: Pleated-Jeans

1. Sure you are.

You might want to do one of those DNA kits.

Image Credit: Pleated-Jeans

All of us have wished we were only children at some point, right?

If you’re an only child, what was your favorite part of growing up? Share with us in the comments!

The post You Don’t Need Siblings to Laugh at These Funny Jokes appeared first on UberFacts.

Read About the Heartbreaking Tragedies in the Life of Judy Garland

I’m sure there are people out there who only know Judy Garland’s name and face and voice from her iconic role as Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of OzThose people might even be lucky, because they don’t realize how horribly tragic and wasted her beautiful life can seem when you know all of the rest of it, too.

If you know a little and are interested in stomaching more, here are 7 pretty tragic truths about the life of one of Hollywood’s most misunderstood classic ladies.

7. She was assaulted by one of the owners of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM).

Image Credit: Public Domain

Studio head Louis Mayer openly referred to Judy Garland, a minor, as “My Little Hunchback,” and also routinely assaulted her by touching her inappropriately whenever they were alone. When Garland confronted him he gaslit her, claiming he felt like a father figure.

He was also part of the decision to keep her looking as young as possible by taping down her chest, shoving her into a corset, and giving her parts that required her to look the part of a teenager.

Eventually, when she was too mentally exhausted to comply, he fired her in 1950.

6. She had a terrible stage mother.

Image Credit: Jonathunder

Frances Ethel Gumm – who would become Judy Garland – was born in Grand Rapids, MN in 1922. Even that was lucky, as her mother, Ethel, consulted a doctor about an abortion before ultimately going through with the pregnancy.

She was a vaudevillian who was determined to make more of her kids, putting 2.5 year old Frances on stage with her two older sisters before moving them all to California when her youngest was just 4.

Judy remembered her mother as “the real Wicked Witch of the West.”

Ouch.

5. Her minders starved her and encouraged substance abuse to control her weight.

Image Credit: Public Domain

Judy Garland was 17 when she starred in The Wizard of Oz, and though it would cement her stardom, it would come at a price. Studio executives were determined to starve her for the role, instructing her minders to steal her food and feed her black coffee and as many as 80 cigarettes a day instead.

She was also given stimulants and depressive drugs in order to finish the film and get through a promotional road show with Mickey Rooney, the entire process likely kickstarting her long and lasting substance abuse problems.

None of her co-stars thought to help; they were too busy being annoyed that a “child” was getting more attention than they were.

4. Her parents had an unhappy marriage.

Her father, Frank Gumm, was also on vaudeville. He and her mother had an onstage act together, but offstage, he consorted with other men as well as women, which reportedly drove the move to California.

Judy said,

“As I recall, my parents were separating and getting back together all the time.

It was very hard for me to understand those things and, of course, I remember clearly the fear I had of those separations.”

Her father died in 1935, right after she signed her first studio contract.

Nothing started or ended well for Judy.

3. Her first marriage ended after just 8 months.

Image Credit: Public Domain

In an attempt to get out from under the thumb of her overbearing mother and her abusive studio minders, Garland married bandleader David Rose when she was just 19.

She became pregnant quickly but had an abortion at the behest of her husband and others. The marriage ended in 1944, and they lived together only 8 months.

2. No one cared about her health.

Image Credit: Public Domain

The studio originally saw 13-year-old Judy as a wholesome, childish foil to their “bombshell” lineup, and strove to keep her looking that way for as long as possible.

She was forced to make herself look younger than she was, and the abusive control of her clothing, weight, and other aspects of her physical appearance are well documented.

1. Her second marriage was no better (it was worse).

Image Credit: Public Domain

She married Vicente Minnelli in 1945, after he directed her in one of her first “adult” roles in Meet Me in St. Louis.

They had a daughter, Liza, but the 20-year age gap, Minnelli’s bisexuality, and Garland’s erratic behavior and substance abuse quickly put a strain on things.

It ended after she found him fooling around with a male employee and then tried to slit her wrists.

They divorced in 1951.

Ugh. I mean, just ugh. Talk about setting someone up for failure.

Is there something we’ve missed on this list? Share it with us in the comments.

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