Elle King is not holding back when it comes to discussing her relationship with her dad, comedian Rob Schneider. In a candid interview on Bunnie Xo’s Dumb Blonde podcast, the 35-year-old singer opened up about some difficult aspects of their relationship, including his recent controversial comments and the time he sent her to fat camp as a child.
Reflecting on her childhood, Elle revealed that spending summers with her dad often meant being on movie sets, which wasn’t the idyllic bonding experience one might imagine. “If I would ever spend a summer with my dad, it would be on a movie set. I would just get lost in the shuffle,” she shared. The chaos of the set life didn’t leave much room for father-daughter bonding. “If I ever messed up a shot, if I ever was talking, I would get in fu–ing trouble,” she added, painting a picture of a childhood where she often felt like an outsider in her dad’s busy world.
Elle also touched on the fact that she and her father didn’t really connect until she was much older. She described how, as a young girl, she struggled with her weight and how Rob sent her to fat camp. “I was like a really, really heavy child. My dad sent me to fat camp…and then I got in trouble one year because I sprained my ankle and I didn’t lose any weight,” she recalled. The experience was clearly painful for Elle, who also noted that she had to cover up her tattoos while at camp because of her father’s disapproval. “I had already started getting tattooed 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 that differed from what he wanted.”
The conversation then shifted to Rob Schneider’s recent public comments, particularly his criticism of drag queens and the LGBTQ+ community. Rob had taken to social media to express his displeasure with the inclusion of drag queens in the Olympics opening ceremony, tweeting, “I am sorry to say to all the world’s greatest athletes, I wish you all the best, but I cannot watch an Olympics that disrespects Christianity and openly celebrates Satan. I sincerely hope these Olympics get the same amount of viewers as CSPAN.”
Elle didn’t mince words when responding to her father’s views. “I disagree with a lot of the things that he says,” she stated bluntly. “You’re talking out of your ass and you’re talking sh-t about drag and, you know, anti-gay rights. And it’s like, get fu–ed. He’s just talking out of his ass, and I want to use this opportunity to say, I disagree! I do not agree with what he says!” Her strong language underscored the deep divide between her and her father on these issues, highlighting how different their worldviews are.
The podcast host also asked Elle if her father ever helped her in her career, especially considering his own fame in the entertainment industry. Elle was clear that she never sought or received help from him. “He never helped me. I also never wanted his help,” she said. Elle emphasized her desire to carve out her own path, separate from her father’s legacy. “He also didn’t have a very good reputation. I don’t want to be associated with him… He’s just not nice. You can want someone to change so much. You can’t control anyone else’s actions and you can’t control people’s feelings. All you can control is how you react and what you do with your feelings.”
