In his memoir "Runaway Train: Or the Story of My Life So Far," Eric Roberts reflects on his challenges as a father to his daughter, Emma Roberts, after separating from her mother, Kelly Cunningham, when Emma was just seven months old.
“I loved my little daughter with the strength of Hercules, despite my own weaknesses,” he wrote, per Entertainment Weekly. “However, I couldn’t handle the realities of an infant coming into my life, and I couldn’t handle being a parent!”
In his memoir, Eric looked back on his decision to “abandon” Cunningham when Emma was only 7 months old.
“We went through a lot, and [Cunningham] saw me at my absolute worst — yet she stayed, for a time, though I’m sure she questioned whether or not she should,” he recalled. “We both wanted a child — maybe I did more than she — but we both wanted to become parents.”
The pregnancy was very exciting,” Eric continued. “I fell madly in love with Emma the first minute I saw her.”
Eric noted that his struggles with cocaine addiction at the time led to his inability to be a parent to Emma.
“The biggest consequence of my drug use was losing Emma,” he wrote. “I was still impossibly coked up when she was born, which explains everything.”
While Emma has remained private about her relationship with her father, he has previously spoken about her. During an appearance on Steve Kmetko’s Still Here Hollywood podcast in July, Eric claimed that he wasn’t allowed to publicly speak about his sister Julia Roberts or daughter Emma.
“I love my sister, but I can’t talk about her. She doesn’t want to talk about it,” he said at the time. “And also, my daughter’s told me also not to talk about her, but I stumble and do. I’m not supposed to talk about either of them, but I do.”