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Jennette McCurdy’s new memoir is a barrage of bombshells, beginning with its title: I’m Glad My Mom Died. And people are taking notice, as the book soared to #4 on Amazon’s best-seller charts (and #2 in memoirs), before the physical copy sold out on Amazon altogether. Luckily, you can still pick up the former Nickelodeon star’s tell-all at Target.com, or buy the Kindle e-book on Amazon (Amazon is also expected to re-stock the book online here).
Target
I’m Glad My Mom Died centers around the abuse McCurdy suffered from her mother, but it also recounts the manipulative, inappropriate treatment of child stars at Nickelodeon. Although some have been critical of McCurdy’s title, the overall response has been positive. “There shouldn’t be no Jennette McCurdy discourse tbh – just endless support,” reads one Tweet that received 110,00 Likes.
In the book, the iCarly star remembers anorexia-inducing body shaming, manipulation through her mother’s religion (Mormonism), and falsified paternity — all at the hands of her mom.
“I’m in the ICU with my dying mother,” writes the 30-year-old, “and the thing that I’m sure will get her to wake up is the fact that in the days since mom’s been hospitalized, my fear and sadness have morphed into the perfect anorexia-motivation cocktail and, finally, I have achieved mom’s current goal weight for me. Eighty-nine pounds.”
The memoir also delves into the underbelly of Nickelodeon. McCurdy was one of the network’s stars in the late oughts and 2010s, playing Sam in iCarly and the show’s spin-off, Sam & Cat, with Ariana Grande.
At Nickelodeon, “The Creator” (who is likely iCarly’s creator and producer, Dan Schneider) pressured McCurdy to wear bikinis, drink alcohol before she was of legal drinking age, and massaged her without consent. “I want to say something, to tell him to stop,” she writes, “but I’m so scared of offending him.” At one point, McCurdy declined $300,000 in hush money from the network.
McCurdy also details frustrations with Ariana Grande, her co-star on Sam & Cat, who was allowed to ditch filming sessions for other opportunities, while McCurdy was not. “So I have to turn down movies while Ariana’s off whistle-toning at the Billboard Music Awards? Fuck. This,” writes McCurdy.
Pick up I’m Glad My Mom Died now at Target.com, or buy the Kindle version on Amazon.com.
