Emma Roberts and dad Eric's relationship explained after he shared reason he 'skipped' her wedding
Questions have been raised over the state of Emma Roberts' relationship with her father, Eric, after he skipped out on her recent nuptials.
The actress tied the knot with long-term partner Cody John on Saturday (25 July) in an intimate Idaho ceremony after four years together.
Emma, 35, was reportedly walked down the aisle by her five-year-old son, Rhodes, whom she shares with former flame Garrett Hedlund, wearing a Monique Lhullier dress, which she paired with a matching headband.
Despite inviting a whole host of celebrity guests - including her famous auntie, Julia Roberts - one was noticeably absent.
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Emma's 70-year-old father, Eric, failed to attend.
The following morning, Eric - also a film star, best known for his role in Runaway Train, which earned him both Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations - was photographed leaving a Los Angeles gym.
What did Eric Roberts say about missing Emma's wedding?
Suddenly, speculation regarding a family fall-out hit headlines around the world, spurring Eric to share a statement.
He told Page Six in an emotional message: "I love my daughter, always have, always will.
Eric added: "It is perfectly wonderful for her to celebrate however she wants, with whomever she wants."
Despite his remarks, Eric's absence has unearthed comments he previously made about his relationship with Emma.
As a reminder, Eric welcomed his daughter with partner Kelly Cunningham in 1991, 11-months before the couple sadly parted ways.
A year later, he remarried casting director Eliza Garrett while embroiled in a bitter custody battle for Emma.
In the end, a judge ruled that custody would go to the child's mother, Kelly, given Eric's prior drug addiction battles.
Why did Eric lose custody?
He described the decision as the 'toughest time' of his life during an October 2024 interview on the Inside of You podcast.
"Probably the loss of a relationship with my daughter," Eric reflected before shutting down the idea that there was still 'pain' surrounding the issue.
Instead, he described it as 'a sadness for the most likely misunderstandings we’ll all have forever because we’re human'.
Eric also noted that having welcomed his grandson, Rhodes, into his life - who 'looks like Emma' - 'reminded' him of what he 'didn't have' with her.
This wasn't the first time that Eric reflected on his rocky personal history, writing in his 2024 memoir, Runaway Train: Or, the Story of My Life So Far: "I loved my little daughter with the strength of Hercules, despite my own weaknesses.
"However, I couldn’t handle the realities of an infant coming into my life, and I couldn’t handle being a parent! I’m still not a father figure."
Elsewhere, Eric wrote: "I was still impossibly coked up when she was born, which explains everything."
He continued: "I never saw myself as someone who deserved to have physical custody of Emma, not in a million years. We both knew better than that. Kelly never claimed I was trying to get physical custody of Emma, so therefore, Julia never sided with Kelly in a custody fight.
"There really was no custody fight."
What has he said recently about their relationship?
During a recent appearance on the Really Famous with Kara Mayer Robinson podcast, however, he claimed he and Emma had never been estranged.
Asked at the time if things between them were complicated, Eric replied: "Not really. It's only complicated through outside eyes because they don't get any of it, so they have their own take, whatever that is.
"It’s not a straight line ‘cause they aren’t really involved. So it’s just thoughts, possibilities, interests, fantasies, whatever it is. But it’s not a real relationship with the subjects. So, how can it be anything but a thought?"
Reflecting on his addiction issues, he continued: "I was not to be depended on emotionally whatsoever because I was a car wreck. I was a car wreck because of many things, but I take full responsibility for it."
He added, however, that he'll 'always' remember one evening when Emma was a baby, he soothed her to sleep by singing 'Happy birthday'.
"She stopped screaming and tried to find my face with her little blind eyes," Eric recalled. "It was the most complete moment maybe I have ever had in my life. That something I did was recognised by a brand-new creature who had my DNA.
"And there she was, and she already knew me. She tried to find me. It was magic."
Rhianna Benson