Emma Roberts appeared overjoyed as she married Cody John on Saturday, saying her vows during an intimate ceremony held at his family’s property in Idaho.
The 35-year-old actress beamed throughout the romantic wedding as she said “I do” to John, 36, with her aunt Julia Roberts among the guests, alongside Hollywood names including Kristen Stewart and Demi Moore.
One notable relative, however, was missing from the celebration: Emma’s father, 70-year-old actor Eric Roberts.
The Daily Mail has since learned that a long-standing strain in their relationship played a role in his absence from the wedding.
“Emma did not invite her father to her wedding because she doesn’t want to be around him,” a source told the Daily Mail. “No one told her to invite him to the wedding, they know better than to bring that up.
“She has been mad at him for many years, mostly because she feels he has not been a supportive father. He wasn’t around when she was young.”
Eric later responded in a statement to the Daily Mail, saying he “loves” his daughter and believed it was “perfectly wonderful for her to celebrate however she wants, with whomever she wants.”
Emma Roberts looked radiant as she wed Cody John at his family’s Idaho property on Saturday, though one family member was absent from the big day
Though her father Eric Roberts told the Daily Mail on Monday that he felt it was ‘perfectly wonderful for her to celebrate however she wants, with whomever she wants,’ there has been friction between father and daughter. Seen in January
Eric himself admitted in April during an appearance on the Really Famous with Kara Mayer Robinson podcast that he was ‘not to be depended on emotionally whatsoever’ when Roberts was a child and his career was flourishing with hit films like The Cable Guy and Heaven’s Prisoners in the mid 1990s.
He also wrote in his 2024 book Runaway Train that he ‘abandoned’ Roberts when she was seven months old. ‘I loved my little daughter with the strength of Hercules, despite my own weaknesses,’ he wrote. ‘However, I couldn’t handle the realities of an infant coming into my life, and I couldn’t handle being a parent! I’m still not a father figure.’
In the memoir, Eric also revealed that he had battled a drug problem. ‘The biggest consequence of my drug use was losing Emma,’ he wrote. ‘I never saw myself as someone who deserved to have physical custody of Emma, not in a million years.’
A source told the Daily Mail that Eric was ‘simply not around much’ and it was Roberts’ mother, Kelly Cunningham, who did all the hard work. According to the source, Eric instead spent most of his time with his wife Eliza, whom he wed in 1992, a year after Roberts was born.
Then Roberts’ career surprisingly took off. When she was ten years old, she was given a small part as the daughter of Johnny Depp’s drug dealer in the 2001 film Blow.
‘Emma became in demand, everyone wanted to hire her,’ said the source. ‘And she wanted to act! She was into it. She got a manager and agent, everything.’
And when her film Aquamarine became a hit with teens in 2006, Roberts quickly became one of Hollywood’s busiest young stars, following up with roles in the Nancy Drew movie in 2007, the movie Wild Child in 2008 and the TV series Unfabulous.
Her father Eric Roberts – seen with his wife Eliza – was not invited to the wedding, the Daily Mail has learned
Emma posing with her mother Kelly Cunningham in 2004
‘Suddenly Emma started having this big teen career when her dad started working less,’ said the source. ‘There was a big shift.’ According to the source, Roberts’ success caused issues in the family, as Eric ‘became competitive.’
‘When she got famous, he became competitive with her, his ego was in overdrive, and he was like, what about me?’ noted the source. ‘So the pain goes way back.’
When Roberts hit her twenties, Eric reportedly began to regret how hard he’d been on his daughter. ‘He knows he made mistakes and he has apologized,’ said the source.
At some point, however, Roberts turned her back on her father. ‘It was over a decade ago. She has bad feelings and she won’t forgive him,’ the source added.
‘He didn’t raise her, her mother Kelly did, so it’s complicated. Emma is super close to her mother Kelly, they talk every day, because Kelly has been by Emma’s side every step of the way, she has been an amazing mother and supports her with her career, her life, she guides her in every way.’
Now, Eric is pretty much out of her life.
‘Emma has not gone to her dad’s birthdays at the Back on the Beach Cafe in Santa Monica or Father’s Day brunches for many years and it breaks his heart but what can he do? He can’t do anything about it. They don’t hang out. It’s very sad and it bothers him a great deal,’ added the source.
‘Eric may have been a jerk when he was younger because I think fame overwhelmed him. He is a sweet man now, though.’
And a reunion seems unlikely. According to the source, ‘Eric has given up on reaching out to Emma. She knows that if she wants a relationship, he is there for her. He doesn’t see Emma or her son Rhodes, they don’t talk.’
A source said that Eric does not see Roberts nor her five-year-old son Rhodes, whom she shares with her ex, actor Garrett Hedlund
Last week, the Daily Mail was invited to Eric and Eliza Roberts’ house, which sits on a quiet street in Sherman Oaks, California, where the average home price is around $1.7 million.
While there was no talk of Roberts’ impending wedding, she was still a presence in the room. A framed photograph of a smiling young Roberts was displayed prominently on Eric’s office desk next to notes and scripts the actor is reading for an upcoming TV project.
As far as Roberts’ actress aunt Julia, 58, that relationship is also complex, a second source told the Daily Mail.
‘When Emma was starting out in Hollywood, she really wanted to do well, she really wanted a great career, but Julia did not help her out,’ said the source.
‘It was nothing personal, it was just that Julia has a “no help” policy. She never helps anyone with their careers because she feels it is better if people make it on their own.’
About 15 years ago, however, Julia became closer to Roberts.
‘They became a lot closer at some point, with Julia always including Emma in family stuff,’ said the second source. ‘Julia has been a great aunt. Emma and Julia have become closer over the years, so it’s not a shock Julia was at the wedding. Emma really likes Danny and Julia’s kids, so they are close.’
Julia and Eric are ‘not super close, though they do talk,’ added the second source.
Emma’s aunt Julia Roberts was at the wedding
The two have become even closer over the years
Julia and Eric are ‘not super close, though they do talk,’ added the second source
He wrote about Julia in his book Runaway Train
According to the source, some of the tension between the siblings stems from past instances in which he allegedly shared details about her personal life.
In 2022, he told the Behind The Velvet Rope With David Yontef podcast: ‘She’s got these three adolescent children now. I mean, her life, her life is not a day at the beach, dude. You know? And, and she’s got a lot of s**t she has to deal with.’
‘When Eric told the world that Julia has her hands full because she has teenagers, Julia got pissed and told him to stop talking to the press,’ said the source. ‘Eric has a big mouth, because he is just that way, he is unfiltered, so no one in the family tells him much.’
The Daily Mail has contacted representatives for Roberts, Eric and Julia for comment.
In a 2018 interview with Vanity Fair, Eric also claimed that both his daughter and Julia owed their success to him: ‘If it weren’t for me, there would be no Julia Roberts and no Emma Roberts as celebrities, as actresses, and I’m very proud of that.’
Eric added: ‘When Julia first came to New York, I went into William Morris and I said, “Which one of you is going to sign my sister Julia?” And I am so proud that everybody knows I was first, because I was first by a long shot. I was first to get Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations, so I’m proud of that.’
In September 2024, Eric apologized for his comments in his memoir Runaway Train: Or, The Story of My Life So Far, saying that his sister would have become successful on her own. ‘I hope Julie will accept this more public apology. It was an asinine thing to have said. I was proud of her, but it was pride turned on its head, to my own advantage,’ he wrote.
In April, Eric said during the It Happened in Hollywood podcast that he gets along with Julia and any rumors of a rift are untrue. ‘We’re fine. We have disagreements, as people do, but we like and respect each other very much,’ he said.
‘She’s a wonderful actor, she’s a wonderful human. I think she’s even a wonderful mother – that’s the hardest job there is,’ he continued. ‘So, you know, she’s a cool chick and I like her.’
