Emma Roberts dad Eric Roberts sheds light on bond with daughter

Eric Roberts insisted his bond with daughter Emma Roberts is not as fraught as it may appear.

On the April 5 episode of Really Famous With Kara Mayer Robinson, the Runaway Train actor addressed speculation about tension with the American Horror Story star.

He said, “It’s only complicated through outside eyes, because they don’t get any of it. So, they have their own take, whatever that is.”

The 69-year-old was quick to praise Emma, adding, “I’m so proud of my kid.”

The actor admitted he was not in a good place emotionally when Emma was born, due to drug abuse.

“I was a wash rag,” he confessed. “I was not to be depended on emotionally whatsoever.”

Calling himself a “car wreck” at the time, Roberts said he now takes “full responsibility” for those struggles.

Despite the difficulties, he recalled a life-changing moment at Emma’s birth: when he sang “Happy Birthday” to her, the newborn stopped crying and tried to find his face.

“It was magic,” he said. “And I’ll always have that.”

Roberts has been candid about the pain of losing closeness with Emma.

He called it the toughest period of his life.

“There’s not a pain, there’s a sadness for the, most likely, misunderstandings [that] I’ll have forever,” he said in a 2024 interview.

Though sober since 1995, Roberts explained that the birth of his grandchildren helped him accept that sadness.

Emma shares 5-year-old son Rhodes with ex Garrett Hedlund, while Roberts has two other grandchildren through his wife Eliza’s children.

He noted that his oldest granddaughter “looks like Emma,” which gave him new perspective.

For Roberts, the bond with Emma remains defined by pride, love, and the memory of their earliest connection.

It is a reminder that, despite challenges, she will always be the light of his eyes.