Ben Stiller Faces Painful Family Fallout After Kids Call Him Out

Ben Stiller is facing emotional backlash from within his own family after his children publicly accused him of "never being around" during their upbringing.

The actor, now 59, has opened up about the regrets and lessons learned from balancing fame, family, and legacy, and how his past choices continue to shape his present.

Stiller recently sat down on "The View" to discuss the fallout from his children's remarks and how fatherhood has challenged him to confront his own upbringing.

The actor, whose new Apple TV+ documentary "Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost" explores the careers of his late parents, Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, revealed that the project also became a mirror into his own family life.

"Having kids who are now actors also, and experiencing that, that became part of the movie too in terms of talking to them about how cyclically, generationally these things get handed down," he explained.

The "Zoolander" star shares two children with his wife, actress Christine Taylor, daughter Ella, 23, and son Quinn, 20.

Stiller reflected on his approach to parenting, admitting per the Daily Mail, "You want to do better than your parents, but then in some places you do better — sometimes you do worse. It's that struggle we all go through."

The public conversation around Stiller's parenting began when clips from his documentary surfaced, showing both Ella and Quinn candidly discussing his absence during their childhood.

Ella recalled a heartbreaking realization, saying, "I literally can't ever remember you being around when I was growing up."

Her brother Quinn echoed her words, admitting he often felt overlooked. He said he thought he "came last" while his father pursued his Hollywood career.

Stiller addressed their words directly in the documentary, admitting that his professional ambition sometimes took priority over his role as a father.

"After a tough day, or if something was going wrong, you can kind of get into your own head, and when you get into that place, it's hard to get you out of it," he said. "So that would kind of put a damper on the fun part of being on vacation. You have all these hats that you're trying to balance, you know? Being a director, an actor, a producer, a writer. But also just, like, a father. And sometimes, I felt that would come last to these other things."

One of Stiller's deepest regrets centers around a professional decision that had personal consequences.

In "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" (2013), a film he directed and starred in, his daughter, Ella, was originally set to appear in a small role, one he ultimately decided to cut.

In the documentary, Stiller confesses to her, "I cut you out of Secret Life of Walter Mitty. It's probably the worst decision I ever made in my life."

Ella, now a Juilliard graduate and rising actress, responded with grace, explaining that the choice "didn't make sense in the movie."

However, for her father, the decision represents something much deeper, a pattern of perfectionism that often came at the expense of connection.

"For me, it kind of goes deeper," Stiller admitted. "What it relates to is my own issues with my own obsession with my work, or 'perfectionism.'"

Over the years, both of Stiller's children have followed him into the spotlight.

Ella has appeared in "And Just Like That" and "Happy Gilmore 2," while Quinn has also taken roles in "Happy Gilmore 2" and "Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb."

Despite their success, their father's introspection suggests a man determined not to repeat old patterns.

Behind the family drama, Stiller's marriage to Christine Taylor has also seen its share of turbulence.

The couple, who married in a romantic ceremony in Hawaii in 2000, briefly separated in 2017 before reconciling during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I didn't expect we were going to get back together," Stiller previously told The Hollywood Reporter. "But when we broke up, there was a part of me that wasn't ready to just give up on it. Probably a certain amount of that is having watched my parents."

He added, "And I love Christine, I love my family, and I was not ready to just go, 'Okay, enough of this.'"

Their reconciliation, he said, has brought him clarity about what truly matters.

"Sometimes I have to be pulled from it," Stiller admitted, referring to his workaholic tendencies. "I also really love hanging out with my family and Christine and having fun together. So I'm happy that I didn't totally miss the boat on that."

In "Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost," Ben Stiller doesn't shy away from the guilt that comes with being both the son of showbiz legends and a father striving to do better.

He reflects on how the demands of the entertainment industry mirror those of his parents' generation, and how those cycles of absence and ambition can echo through time.

"I just remember missing them terribly," he said of his own childhood. "And when they would come back, my sister and I would act out Jesus Christ Superstar or something in the lounge."

He continued with brutal honesty: "But, then, I probably f-cked up more with my kids than my parents did with us… my son tells me that being a dad might not have been at the top of my list."

These reflections reveal a man torn between legacy and redemption, a star who can command a movie set but still wrestles with the everyday struggles of fatherhood.

Despite the criticism, there are signs of healing. Both Ella and Quinn have joined their father at recent red carpet events, including the premiere of "Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost" earlier this month.

Over the weekend, Ella and Stiller appeared together at the Academy Museum Gala in Los Angeles, smiling for photos, perhaps a quiet sign that the wounds are beginning to close.