Carol Burnett seeks guardianship of grandson while daughter Erin deals with 'addiction issues'
Carol Burnett is seeking to be appointed the legal guardian of her teenage grandson while her daughter Erin Hamilton struggles with addiction issues, the actress confirmed to USA TODAY.
In a statement, Burnett, 87, said that Hamilton, 52, has been struggling with "addiction issues and other circumstances" that have impacted "her immediate family dynamic." Burnett said she and her husband Brian Miller petitioned to become legal guardians of their 14-year-old grandson, Dylan West.
"Guardianship will be for oversight purposes concerning his health, education and welfare and not intended to deny him nor the parents proper visitation with one another," she added. "We look forward to recovery being the next stepping stone towards normalization and ask for privacy at this time to allow that process to occur."
As a child, Burnett lived mostly with her grandparents while her parents dealt with alcohol addictions.
The actress and comedian's oldest daughter, Carrie, died at 38 of brain and lung cancer in 2002. As a teenager, Carrie struggled with drug addiction, which Burnett reflected on dealing with in her 2013 book, "Carrie and Me," in which she wrote "you have to love your kids enough to let them hate you."
"I was so scared of upsetting her," Burnett told USA TODAY at the time. "If I did this or that, would she think less of me. We weren't that well versed in addiction, but yes, you do have to love them enough to let them hate you. But it's the disease that's hating you, not them."
Contributing: Craig Wilson
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Carol Burnett seeks guardianship of her daughter Erin Hamilton's son
