Actor Eric Roberts offers apology for eyebrow-raising claim about sister Julia Roberts

As well-known star of both the large and small screen has recently opened up about a longstanding family controversy involving his similarly famous sibling.

As US Weekly reports, actor Eric Roberts has offered a public apology to his sister, actress Julia Roberts, and he is no longer claiming that he deserves credit for her superstardom, a past assertion that has long caused strife and friction within their family.

Actor offers mea culpa

An acclaimed performer in his own right, Eric Roberts has stepped forward to make amends for what he admitted were “asinine” remarks he has made regarding his sister Julia's rise to fame.

Detailing his thoughts on the subject in a new memoir entitled Runaway Train: Or the Story of My Life So Far, Roberts appears ready and willing to mend fences with his superstar sibling with regard to his prior claims of responsibility for her success in show business, which he made in a lengthy 2018 Vanity Fair interview.

Entertainment Weekly published a section of the book in which Eric Roberts comes clean on the topic and says, “Now one of the things I'd like to apologize for in this book is for publicly saying on more than one occasion, 'If it wasn't for me, there would be no Julia Roberts.”

He went on, “That's not only unfortunate, but it's also untrue.”

Calling his mega-star sister by the name used within the family, Eric Roberts candidly continued, “And I hope Julie will accept this more public apology. It was an asinine thing to have said. I was proud of her, but it was pride turned on its head to my own advantage.”

“If it wasn't for me...”

The comments that got Eric Roberts into familial hot water also referenced his own daughter, actress Emma Roberts, regarding whose career he also claimed to have a key role.

“If it wasn't for me, there would be no Julia Roberts and no Emma Roberts as celebrities, as actresses, and I'm very proud of that,” he told Vanity Fair in the aforementioned profile.

He elaborated on what he said was his involvement, saying, “When Julia first came to New York, I went ito William Morris and I said, 'Which one of you is going to sign my sister Julia?'”

While he now appears to be reconsidering the wisdom of those comments, his memoir also still suggests that he did have a least some hand in Julia's eventual superstardom, simply by showing her the life he was building in the Big Apple during the early part of his career.

“That's when, it seems to me, she saw my life as a young actor in New York, and saw what I was doing for my livelihood, and she wanted to try it,” he said.

Rift repaired?

Eric and Julia Roberts spent many years estranged from one another, perhaps in part due to his comments about her career, but US Weekly indicated that they have since patched things up to the point of exchanging email messages and spending the odd holiday together here and there.

With regard to his daughter, of whom he lost custody years ago due to his drug addiction, Roberts acknowledges that he has been asked to stay mum about her life and endeavors, saying, “My daughter told me not to talk about her, but I stumble and I do,” evidence that the actor just can't seem to stop putting his foot in his mouth when it comes to family.