Emma Roberts’ dad Eric Roberts on ‘loss of relationship’ with her

Eric Roberts is sharing more about his relationship with daughter Emma Roberts.

The actor, 68, spoke to Michael Rosenbaum on a new episode of the “Inside of You” podcast. When asked by Rosenbaum what the “toughest period” of his life has been, Roberts responded, “Probably the loss of relationship with my daughter.” 

“There’s not a pain, there’s a sadness for the most likely misunderstanding is what I’ll have forever, because we’re human,” he said.

Roberts, who recently competed on “Dancing with the Stars,” went on to explain that he only came to understand the immensity of that loss recently.

“I started accepting that about myself with the birth of my grandchildren,” he said. 

Roberts has three grandchildren from the two stepkids he shares with his wife, Eliza Roberts, and one grandchild from his daughter Emma, a 3-year-old son, Rhodes Robert Hedlund, whom she shares with her ex Garrett Hedlund. 

“The Pope of Greenwich Village” star said that it was his oldest granddaughter who, in particular, brought the point home as she looks like Emma. “And so it reminds me of what I didn’t have,” he shared.

Roberts recently released a memoir, “Runaway Train: The Story of My Life So Far,” detailing how his past drug use damaged his relationship with Emma and with his sister, Julia Roberts. 

“Of course, the biggest consequence of my drug use was losing Emma,” Roberts wrote. The actor lost custody of Emma to her mother, Kelly Cunningham when the future star was a baby. Julia supported Kelly in the custody dispute, a move that Roberts cited as the beginning of his strained relationship with Julia. 

“I imagine I will remain as Julia’s brother and Emma Roberts’ dad for the rest of my life,” he added. “I’d like to make good on that, to move aside proudly and with grace. That’s part of the reason for writing the book.”

Roberts also used his book to offer Julia a mea culpa for remarks he made in 2018, taking credit for her career. 

“If it wasn’t for me, there would be no Julia Roberts and no Emma Roberts as celebrities, as actresses,” he told Vanity Fair at the time. “And I’m very proud of that.” 

“I hope Julia will accept this public apology,” he wrote of his remarks. “It was an asinine thing to have said.”

So far, it seems Julia has no objection with what Roberts wrote in his memoir about their family life. 

“If she did, we’d certainly hear about it,” he said recently. “She’d let us know she’s upset.”