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Bindi Irwin slams estranged grandfather online: ‘He has ignored me’
Bindi Irwin has broken her silence on an ongoing family feud, making a number of shocking claims against her grandfather, Bob Irwin, in a new social media post.
The 22-year-old posted on Instagram to celebrate Father’s Day in the US and took to the comments section to slam her dad Steve’s father for not being a part of her life.
Bindi shared a gallery of photos on Sunday, celebrating her dad Steve, her husband Chandler Powell, and her father-in-law Chris for being “the three most incredible fathers in my life”.
This is Chandler’s first Father’s Day since Bindi gave birth to Grace Warrior in March.
When a fan asked her why she didn’t include any mention of her grandfather in the post, Bindi broke her silence about the family rift.
“Unfortunately my grandfather Bob has shown no interest in spending time with me or my family,” she commented.
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The mother of one went on to say the 82-year-old has gone as far as send back gifts from her after he has already opened them.
“He has ignored my correspondence and from the time I was a little girl he has ignored me, preferring to spend time doing anything else rather than being with me,” she continued.
“He has never said a single kind word to me personally. It breaks my heart but it is not healthy to engage in an abusive relationship.”
Bindi confirmed her mother Terri still writes and sends gifts to him on Christmas and his birthday, but doesn’t get a response.
She also claimed her family have been his financial support since he retired from Australia Zoo in 1992.
The Wildlife Warrior ended the post by saying while she wants Bob to be happy, she has to take care of her mental health as the relationship brings her “enormous pain”.
“I hope everyone remembers to be kind to one another but most of all care for your own mental health,” she told her followers.
Bob Irwin reportedly had a falling out with his family just 18 months after Steve’s death in 2006, and the relationship never fully recovered.
It’s rumoured the feud was because of his feelings towards the ‘over commercialisation’ of Australia Zoo, which he established in 1970 before handing over to Steve and Terri in 1992.
Bindi first hinted at her estrangement from Bob in 2015 on the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards (AACTA) red carpet.
“Everyone deals with grief differently,” she said at the time. “When my dad passed away, he chose to distance himself from everything that dad loved the most.”
“At the moment we are really just respecting his wishes because he hasn't had anything to do with us for a long time, and he decided to take his own path. That's important, so good for him.
“There was one year where we sent birthday presents to him and he opened them up and he sent them back.”
Most recently, Bob told the Courier Mail in September 2019 that he wrote a letter to Bindi wishing her well after her engagement announcement, but didn’t receive a response.
At the time of publishing, Bob is yet to publicly respond to Bindi’s comments.
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