Zooey Deschanel Shares a Painful Story From Her Childhood
- - Zooey Deschanel Shares a Painful Story From Her Childhood
Nicole MooreDecember 18, 2025 at 1:30 AM
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Photo by Chris Haston/WBTV via Getty Images
Actress and singer Zooey Deschanelis opening up about being bullied during her childhood.
During an appearance on the December 17 episode of theCall Her Daddy podcast, Deschanel discussed getting bullied when she was in the seventh grade. The New Girl star explained that she was ridiculed for being "kind of chubby." She clarified that she doesn't believe "there's anything wrong with that."
In addition, she said she became the target of bullying because she was "just like an awkward person," who "hadn't quite like figured out [her] personality yet."
"I had like this one girl who bullied me, like, really bad, who like spit in my face. It was just awful," recalled Deschanel.
Deschanel said that the individual who was bullying her also accused her of "trying to act like [she was] thin."
"I remember her saying that to me and being like, 'Am I trying to act like I'm thin? I don't think so.' I think I'm just acting like myself," said the Elf actress. "And I also was like, 'Why are you coming after me?' I was trying to hide from her all the time."
Deschanel said that the summer before the eighth grade, she "grew six inches" and lost weight after joining the swim team.
"So when I came back I had, like, a new lease on life. Because in eighth grade everyone was like 'Are you the same person? You look really different,'" said Deschanel, who is the daughter of actress Mary Jo Deschanel and cinematographer Caleb Deschanel.
Zooey Deschanel Said She's Talked to Her Children About Bullying
While recording the Call Her Daddy podcast episode, Deschanel said she's talked to her children, Charlie, 8, and Elsie, 10, whom she shares with her ex-husband, Jacob Pechenik, about bullying.
"We can't always control how other people act toward them, but we can help them give them tools like on how to react when people do something that's not very nice. And also help them be the kindest people they can be," said the actress in the interview.
She also said that she has "made a real effort to never show" her insecurities to her children.
"I don't want them to ever think like, 'Oh, mommy's insecure or my mom doesn't like this.' I always want them to think I'm happy with myself. Because they get their self-esteem from their parents. So it's important to me to show up with confidence," said Deschanel during the podcast interview.
She also said that her "identity was never super wrapped up in [her] appearance."
"I always made an effort to be more about what I'm presenting. It's more about my style and artistic and creative expressions," said the She & Him singer, who is engaged to HGTV star Jonathan Scott.
This story was originally published by Parade on Dec 18, 2025, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
