Elle King Talks About 'Toxic' Relationship With Dad Rob Schneider: 'Sent Me To Fat Camp'

Elle King, born Tanner Elle Schneider, has been candid about her relationship with her father, Rob Schneider, often describing it as strained and challenging. However, in recent years, both she and the comedian have made efforts to mend their bond.

The father-daughter duo has been spotted publicly supporting each other's careers, and Elle has occasionally acknowledged her father's influence on her life and work despite the difficulties they’ve faced in the past.

In a preview clip for an upcoming episode of "Bunnie Xo’s Dumb Blonde" podcast, the Elle King is once again opening up about her relationship with Rob Schneider, reflecting on her childhood and revealing that her dad sent her to a "fat camp" when she was young.

Rob Schneider's busy career often kept him away during her childhood, contributing to their strained relationship. In fact, she said she went “four or five years without talking to my dad."

"If I would ever spend a summer with my dad, it would be on a movie set," she said on the podcast. "I would just get lost in the shuffle. If I ever messed up a shot, if I was ever talking, like, I would get in f-cking trouble."

“... My dad forgot about every single birthday,” the "Exes & Ohs" singer also recalled. “I spent my 18th birthday in a summer school and they brought me cupcakes and I came home and my dad forgot my birthday.”

The country music singer recalled, “I was, like, a really, really heavy child. My dad sent me to fat camp."

She added, "And then I got in trouble one year because I sprained my ankle and I didn't lose any weight. Very toxic and very silly."

Elle was raised mainly by her mother, former model London King following her parents' divorce shortly after her birth. “We really weren't even speaking…,” she said on the latest episode of the "Off the Vine" podcast with Kaitlyn Bristowe last week of her relationship with her dad. “I was a lot closer with my mom's family in Ohio, and so I just have always gone by my mom's last name.”

“My mom was the one, you know, carrying my guitar and sneaking me into bars, and letting me stay out with my friends and taking the guitar home for me,” she told Bristowe. “My mom was always just, like, telling me to take lessons, and she would drive me everywhere. And she took care of me and always made sure that I had some form of a creative outlet."

The 35-year-old began getting tattoos at a young age, and since her dad was very "anti-tattoos," she was forced to wear sweaters in 100-degree weather.

“I disagree with a lot of the things that he says,” she said in the "Bunnie Xo’s Dumb Blonde" podcast preview. “You're talking out of your a-- and you're talking sh-t about drag and, you know, anti-gay rights and it's like get f-cked. He’s just talking out of his a-- and I want to use this opportunity to say that I disagree. I do not agree with what he says.”

Elle has previously spoken about her desire to establish her own identity separate from her famous parents. In a 2023 interview with People Magazine, she discussed her determination to make a name for herself on her own terms.

"Growing up as somebody who was chubby, awkward, funny, has OCD and is weird and quirky and awkward but super sensitive, I had to really fight to be OK as myself. So I didn't want to be known as someone's kid," she admitted. "I wanted to be my own person. I never wanted to borrow money from anybody, and I've worked hard for my family and for me. I want to have a life built for myself, and I want to know that I did it."

The 35-year-old added that “it's an incredible amount of pressure” to be in the “shadow” of someone.

“I mean, God forbid you're good at something that happens and maybe was passed down in your family…” she said. “My showmanship and my stage presence? Sure, I grew up watching my dad. My dad can totally command a theater or a small comedy club. And I grew up around really funny, talented, creative people."

"Of course that's going to leave an imprint on me," she concluded.