We discussed Ariel Winter’s mom, Crystal Workman, right after the Emmy’s. Inside Edition posted some quotes from an interview with Crystal in which she voiced her opinions about how Ariel conducts herself in public. I said at the time, and still maintain, that I don’t give a sh-t about Crystal’s opinions on Ariel because she gave up that right when she forced Ariel to take her to court due to an abusive household. When the quotes were released post-Emmys, Ariel just called her mother’s grab for attention “sad.”
Wednesday, however, Inside Edition aired the interview. Wednesday also marked the season premiere of Ariel’s show Modern Family. Unfortunately, Ariel must have watched the interview because she responded yet again on Twitter. First she addressed her mother:
If someone loves and cares about you, they tell you to your face and are right beside you, not on television telling everyone else.
— Ariel Winter (@arielwinter1) September 27, 2017
Ariel has not spoken to her mother in five years. In the interview, Crystal tries to frame this estrangement as a petty beef on her two daughters’ part. Of course it’s not, the women have distanced themselves from their mother for a very good reason. Ariel’s tweet breaks my heart because it makes me think Crystal never told her she loved her when they were in the same room, when Ariel was a child.
Ariel then went for Inside Edition not just for airing the interview but for interviewing Crystal in the first place:
Feeling sad for @InsideEdition that they have nothing else to report on, and that they feel the need to allow a mother to bash her daughter.
— Ariel Winter (@arielwinter1) September 27, 2017
When I read this, I thought it was a (justifiably) angry tweet by someone sick of seeing their abusive mother capitalize off them. At first I wished Ariel had not given the interview any more bandwidth. But then I watched it and OMG – Ariel really pulled her punch with that tweet. Inside Edition is serving Crystal everything she needs for her little pity fest. They’ve printed out pictures from Ariel’s Instagram and suggested they were “unairable.” When Crystal couldn’t find the right poor-little-me response to their questions, IE fed it to her. They went to the storage space Crystal claimed to live in, which looks more like an office space. I probably could have accepted an unbiased journalist presenting the other side of the story in an interview but IE clearly staged a sensational story. A court of law agreed that Crystal provided a home so unsafe for her underage daughter that Ariel was removed. And instead of apologizing, Crystal continues to blame Ariel and her sister Shanelle for not sharing their income with her. It’s disgraceful.
If you want to see the interview and why it likely triggered Ariel to reply, you can watch it here. Obviously, I’m not unbiased nor am I trying to present Crystal’s side in a fair manner. Seriously, as I watched the interview, this is what was playing in my head, especially after Crystal claimed Ariel attacks her. “I think she wants the headlines. I think she craves attention. If that means throwing your mother under the bus and hurting her and breaking her heart, she’s going to do it.” Man, Crystal is something else.
Photo credit: WENN Photos, Twitter, YouTube and Getty Images
All the mother wants is headlines. She got herself a Real Housewives makeover (paid for by Inside Edition?) and is trying to cash in. It’s gross.
This makes me so angry for Ariel. That interview was exploitative, pure and simple. I.E. is trash and so is the “mother.”
That woman is so gross, and IE is gross for giving her airtime. Thanks for the reminders that Winter needs our support and respect; she’s doing a pretty kick ass job of adulting considering what her life has been like.
totally agree! ariel is clearly a lot more mature than this sorry excuse for a mother even if she walks down the street in a thong next time around. if there was any doubt about what kind of person crystal is, it is now and forever known.
“She’s doing a pretty kick ass job of adulting…” I agree. Only a misogynist would dismiss this girl as lacking self-respect and boundaries.
even though risking your journalistic honor by being biased, Hecate, I think you shouldn’t post the link to the interview. the more clicks they’re getting, the more they’ll see how profitable this story is & will just continue.
I so agree. We should not give them more clicks.
Ugh, agree that is disgusting to give this woman a platform from which ti bash her daughter. Same goes for all estranged parents/siblings/friends of celebrities. There is no reason to give people a platform to air personal grievances. None.
Normally I’m all for the high road but sometimes you need to put people in their place. Her mother is vile and I applaud Ariel for calling out IE for their sh*t story.
And people wonder why Ariel has issues. Courts don’t just allow emancipation for minors for funsies. The burden of proof that must be met for it to be approved is high, for a reason. Shame on this disgusting bi-ch for treating her daughter this way, then trying to gain sympathy and publicity for it. Inside Edition pulls this crap all the time. I am so sick of the “estranged family” member whining about how they live because they are “family” to a celebrity. When someone cuts family out of their life, it is probably usually for a good reason. Just because person A has money or fame (which doesn’t always mean rich), doesn’t mean all of their relatives are entitled to live the good life. If this woman truly wants her daughters back in her life, she needs to shut the f up, admit she was a horrible mother, and work to regain their trust. And she needs to do it privately. Rant over.
She just started college at UCLA this week…in her daisy dukes. And I am extra impressed because UCLA is incredibly difficult to become accepted; celebrity, rich kid or not. I think she is faulting just fine.
She can attend in a string bikini for all I care. Girl is making sure to take care of herself and educate herself and that is all that matters. Good for her.
IE and her “mother” are disgusting. I’m sorry Ariel has gone through all this, but I’m glad her sister stepped up and they have each other.
“Crystal continues to blame Ariel and her sister Shanelle for not sharing their income with her”
Why does she feel entitled to their income?
I know why Ariel feels compelled to publicly reply, but that is what her mother wants so she’s going to have to stop responding in public and stop feeding the beast.
It’s a reall catch-22, isn’t it? Publicly defending herself against her mother publicly dragging & shaming her gives her mother the “headlines” and attention she wants. I feel so bad for her.
I’m pissed at Inside Edition for doing that.
I have not spoken to my mother since I was 11 (30+ years ago). I fully support Ariel in both cutting her mother out of her life and speaking about it when she wants to (or, not speaking about it when she doesn’t). It’s her story too. She was affected by all of this. I also just want to reiterate that I respect the hell out of her.
That’s got to be hard. I’m sure people are like, thats your mom. Well some people don’t deserve to have kids. I’m sure you have your reasons
Truly, by the time it gets to ‘that’ point where it’s a valid option/necessity, it’s actually less hard than staying. Some mothers in the wild are unfit and eat their young. Humans do too but in different ways. and, I hear you, I do get the ‘that’s your mom/family’ and really, no, that’s NOT my mom. That’s the woman whom I am by circumstances out of my control, genetically related to.
I like your measured and sensible take on it 🙂
Nice of this woman to prove the court so justified in removing her parental rights. I don’t call her a mother, because she’s not fit for the title. She’s vile. And her child shows extreme class in being so restrained in her reactions. Lord knows it wasn’t something she learned by example.