That show, I say it all the time,
it continues to be funny. It's a great show. >> Thank you so much. >> It is, and you're the smart one on it too,
which must be fun to play the smart one. >> It is really fun, I love my character. >> Yeah.
>> You know, I think it's really important to have young girls see that
it's cool to be smart as well. You can still have friends,
be cool, do all that stuff. >> You're actually
the coolest one on there, because you're the smartest one on there. >> Thank you.
>> You haven't been on here since, how old are you now? >> I'm 18. >> You were 13 the last
time you were here. >> Yeah. >> And you have been through a lot. There's a lot going on with you and
your life at this young age. So you were emancipated from your mother,
right? >> Mm-hm.
>> Explain what people don't know what that is,
what does that mean? >> Well emancipation is basically,
you become your own entity, nobody controls you anymore. You handle your own business affairs, your
own living arrangements, your own money. Everything is sort of in your hands. >> At 15 you did this? >> Well, actually from 14 to 17
it was a legal custody battle. My sister was granted
temporary custody first. And then when I was 17 in the beginning
of the year she was granted permanent custody. And then to kind of just move forward
with the process and end it altogether, we got me emancipated. >> Yeah.
>> So I could just handle my own affairs. >> So your sister has been really there
for you and great for you, right? >> She's been the best part of my life. She really is my best friend. She is the most important thing to me. She's been there for me through absolutely
everything and I I just love her so much. I count on her more than anything. >> Does she have a relationship
with your mother? >> Neither of us do. >> Neither of you do.
Okay so and I think a lot of people that don't
understand because nobody really knows anybody's personal family business,
why you would do that. Obviously there's a reason you would
not want to be connected to her, and what is that reason? >> Well, it's most definitely hard
to grow up in the industry, but just grow up in any instance without
a mother from a very young age. And it has been very sad for me, but
at the same time it's been much better for me emotionally and
physically to be on my own and have a better, safer household and
support system. I don't really talk about the reason
that I I don't speak to my mother, it's kinda been publicized. But the reason I don't really
share that is because I want to give her the same respect
that she didn't give to me publicly. >> Yeah, she went on Dr. Phil to try to show her side of the story
which is, that to me is enough. >> Well, it just really didn't try and
fix anything with me, it just tried to make herself look better,
and I'm not interested in doing that. People can make their own judgments,
I did what I had to do for myself. >> And so you're 18 years old. [APPLAUSE]
>> And you are, tell me if this is wrong, you
love the show, you love doing what you do. >> I do.
>> But from a young,
young age this was not your choice. It was kind of not your choice to go into
this business, you were kind of pushed and forced into this business. >> Well my mother put me in
the industry when I was four years old. And I think when you're four years old you
don't really know anything that you want to do, you want to be everything. Not to say that this isn't my passion and
I don't love it. I do love it and I would love to continue
doing it for the rest of my life. >> Right.
>> But I also love to explore other avenues. I wanted to go to college since I was
very young, I've worked very hard. I go to real high school, and I do my best
to move forward in my future that way. I would love to be a lawyer and
I've applied for college, and I'm going through that process right now. >> Good for you,
you go to real high school right now? >> Yes. >> And obviously they know who you are? >> Mm-hm. >> And they must be so excited
>> Well actually they're really wonderful
because no one really cares. [LAUGH] I know that seems weird but nobody
really does, everyone's been really good to me they just treat me
normally which is what I love. I've met some amazing friends and
it's just been an amazing experience for me thus far. >> Good for you, I mean you're so,
it's hard enough to grow up at that age, you're going through so much anyway,
much less what you've gone through. And then on top of it you got bullied
because you got a breast reduction, which is a decision that obviously
that was important to you. >> Yeah.
>> You get bullied for body image then you get bullied
because your scars were showing. I mean, how do you let everything
just roll off your back? It's definitely been a process, and
I don't say now that I am totally over it. I think criticism always hits people,
regardless of how old they are, how far they've come. It definitely, we all have insecurities. And I'm not gonna say that I'm totally
above it and it doesn't hurt me, it does. But I've learned a little bit
to be able to brush it off. I've been dealing with criticism
since I was 12 years old. And I first started developing, which was
already very hard to grow up in front of the public and
also have your body changing. And then go through a surgery which I
decided to make public because I thought it was very important to talk to women
about it in general, because I know there are so many people who have been
in my position that needed the surgery. And I thought it was
important to talk about it. And although I got backlash from that,
and criticism and everything, at the end of the day
it was what I needed to do. The people who supported me
are the people that matter in my life. And that's what I just kind of had
to train myself to remember, is that the people that love me and support me
are what mattered, their opinions matter. >> [APPLAUSE]
>> I support you. >> Thank you. [LAUGH]
