During an April appearance on CBS Sunday Morning, got candid about her strained connection to her biological father, . When asked what her relationship with her dad is like now, Kate, 45, said, “I don’t really have one,” before adding a glimmer of hope about what the future might hold: “But it’s warming up.”
It’s been a long and winding road for Kate, her older brother , 47, and Bill, who was married to their mom, , from 1976 until 1982. The siblings have been open about feeling abandoned by Bill when they were kids.
In 2015, Oliver posted a scathing Father’s Day message on Instagram, writing, “Happy abandonment day,” alongside a throwback photo of Oliver and Kate with Bill. Afterward, Bill said he didn’t want to see his eldest children “ever again” but reconnected with Oliver three years later.
Now Bill, 74, exclusively shares in the latest issue of Us Weekly that the family is embarking on a fresh start together.
“Kate put it perfectly. We are warming up [and] letting things take their course,” Bill says, who is also dad to Emily, 42, and Zachary, 38, with his late ex-wife, , and 18-year-old Lalania with ex . (He also had son Paul as a teen, who was put up for adoption.) “All families have rifts. It’s nice that our rift is healing.”
In 2016, Kate told that Bill “was around when we were young, then it sort of teetered out.”
His absence was painful for the siblings. “I think we both probably suffered differently and very similarly to anybody who feels abandoned by a parent,” Kate said a few months earlier. (Goldie’s longtime partner, — affectionately called “Pa” by Oliver and Kate — was a hands-on stepdad. Goldie and Kurt, 73, are also parents to Wyatt, 37.)
Bill tells Us their relationship had “years of ups and downs,” so as the family mends fences, they’re taking things slow.
“There’s no pressure,” Bill explains. “We’re just letting it be what it will be. Because no one is pushing it, there’s no turmoil or issues.”
They’re also doing their best to look forward. “A lot went down, and we aren’t revisiting it,” Bill says. “No one wants to rehash the past. You can’t move forward if all you’re doing is analyzing the past. We’re in the present.”
Kate and Oliver aren’t just reuniting with their dad — they’re also back in touch with their stepsiblings.
“My sister and I and my brother have all just started communicating again,” Kate revealed during a January episode of the “Sibling Revelry” podcast, which she cohosts with Oliver. “I had this moment last year where I was like, ‘I don’t know why I don’t talk to my other siblings.’”
Kate noted that she’d reached out to one of her sisters, believed to be Emily. “I got on the phone with [her], and we just started bawling our eyes out. It was great. She even said it. We start now. We start now,” she said.
Bill says he’s thrilled everybody is getting along. “My daughter Emily just had a baby [and] Kate’s been great about that,” he tells Us, adding that Emily — who’s a songwriter — and Zachary — who’s also a musician — recently attended Kate’s premiere party for her upcoming debut album, Glorious.
“It’s great,” he says of the renewed bond. “I love it. We’re all coming back. Everyone has gone through life experiences and all the crap in the public eye and realized that all you have is your family.”
As for future get-togethers between the stepsiblings, a source tells Us that things “will happen naturally,” adding, “Everyone is married with kids, and everyone is busy and off doing their own thing.”
The insider also notes that Bill has met his grandkids: Oliver shares Wilder, 16, Bodhi, 14, and Rio, 10, with wife ; Kate has Ryder, 20, with first husband ; Bingham, 12, with ex ; and Rani Rose, 5, with fiancé .
Goldie, 78, is said to be supportive of Kate and Oliver as they explore making amends with their dad. “She’s happy about it,” the source says. “They’re adults, so they can do what they want. Everyone is cool with what everyone is doing at this point.”
During a recent episode of “Sibling Revelry,” Oliver talked about his experience attending a weeklong course at the Hoffman Institute. During the personal growth retreat, he spent time “unpacking” some of his childhood trauma.
He said he felt “unprotected” at times by his mom when she was away working and that the limited time he spent with Bill was “incredible,” adding, “We played football, we played basketball, we were on the beach, he taught me how to fish. He was so present, but he was never there.”
Oliver later clarified that he was not disparaging his mom: “I don’t know who I would be without my mother. The love I have for her and the respect and the reverence that I have for her is beyond anything.”
