Tatum O’Neal’s Blunt Reaction to Late Dad Ryan O’Neal Cutting Her Out of His Will: ‘Keep It, Motherf—er’

Tatum O’Neal, daughter of Paper Moon and Barry Lyndon star Ryan O’Neal, has had quite a tumultuous life. After decades of mental and physical abuse at the hands of her father, a highly-publicized tabloid relationship with tennis player John McEnroe, and her subsequent spiral into addiction, the word ‘survivor’ seems like an understatement.

O’Neal is the youngest Oscar winner in history, after winning Best Supporting Actress for acting alongside her father in Paper Moon. Her 2004 memoir A Paper Life laid bare how poorly her father had treated her, and how he became violent with her after getting jealous of her acting success. In one final attempt to harm her, she discovered after his death in 2023 that he had purposefully left her out of his will. Her response? “Keep it, motherf—er,” she told Variety.

She surmised that her father probably made the decision after her book was released, which included details of harrowing incidents from her early life—like the sexual abuse she experienced from one of her father’s friends, or how her father punched her after finding out she was Oscar nominated for Paper Moon and he wasn’t.

Her son, Kevin McEnroe, concurred with O’Neal’s reaction and said everything in the will was “blood money.” Now that her father is dead, he said, “More things are coming our way as she starts to see the good in people and the good in the world. Something really shifted when he died that allowed her to be—” “Just Tatum! Without my dad,” O’Neal said.