Elle King says dad Rob Schneider’s public apology for being an absent father means nothing

Elle King doesn’t regret spilling the tea about her dad, Rob Schneider.

In August, the “Exs and Ohs” singer got brutally honest about her complicated relationship with the comedian, who she said was absent for most of her childhood. Schneider, 60, then publicly apologized to King, 35, while speaking with right-wing commentator, Tucker Carlson. But now, King admits that she wasn’t particularly impressed by this olive branch.

“A lot of people said, How could she say that about her family? and Everything needs to be behind closed doors.’ No it doesn’t,” she told PEOPLE while reflecting on the reaction to her comments. “Sometimes you have to just say things and get them off your chest so that you dont have to carry it for the rest of your life.”

King added, “But ultimately, I think an apology on Tucker Carlson is like a double negative, right? Means nothing.”

Elle King and Rob Schneider.

Taylor Hill/FilmMagic; Slaven Vlasic/Getty

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King also made it clear that delving into their relationship was not an intentional attack on Schneider, noting that she had no idea it would garner so much attention.

“I was not trying to hurt him,” she continued. “I never in a million years thought that that was going to go viral. I was just speaking about my childhood and about my truth. I was not trying to hurt him.”

During her August visit to Bunnie Xo’s Dumb Blonde podcast, King recounted her father sending her to “fat camp,” forgetting her birthdays as a child, and being largely absent. The singer-songwriter, who was raised by her mother and stepdad, explained that she often went “four or five years” without talking to Schneider but when she started making a name for herself in the music industry, he called her up to say “don’t f—ing talk about me in the press.” Clearly, that wasn’t advice that she took to heart.

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In the aftermath, the former Saturday Night Live star addressed his daughter via Carlson’s podcast.

“It’s fun being a parent, isn’t it?” Schneider joked when Carlson introduced the subject. He then spoke directly to King: “I want to tell my daughter, ‘Elle, I love you, and I wish I was the father in my 20s that you needed, and clearly I wasn’t. I hope you can forgive me for my shortcomings.’”

He added, “I love you completely, I love you entirely, and I just want you to be well and happy with you and your beautiful baby, Lucky. I wish you the best. I feel terrible, and I just want you to know that I don’t take anything you say personally.”

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Elle King and Rob Schneider.

Jason Davis/Getty

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Aside from divulging the details of their estrangement, King also used the podcast interview to distance herself from her father’s controversial comments about the LGBTQ+ community, making it clear that she disagrees “with a lot of the things that he says.”

Reflecting on her decision to directly tackle the subject, King said she is grateful to have sparked a conversation about allyship.

“The best thing that came from that is that my incredible LGBTQ+ community knows that they have an ally in me,” she shared. “And if that’s the biggest thing to come out of that platform, then I would’ve done it 10 more f—ing times because I am an ally, they have one in me, and I’m grateful.”

King is now gearing up to release new music, with her latest single, “High Road,” slated to debut on Friday, Sept. 20.