Ryan O'Neal's Violent Altercation With His Son Griffin Was Just The Tip Of The Iceberg In Their Comp

Highlights

• Ryan O'Neal's relationship with his children was filled with pain, addiction, and violence, leaving lasting scars on their lives.
• Griffin O'Neal's toxic relationship with his father included multiple allegedly violent altercations.
• Despite rumors of a reconciliation, Griffin remained estranged from Ryan until his 2023 death.

Ryan O'Neal died at the age of 82 on December 8th, 2023. After an extremely complicated life yet fairly successful acting and boxing career, O'Neal's time on this earth was cut short by a lengthy battle with cancer. News of his passing was broken on Instagram by his son, Patrick O'Neal. In the post, Patrick praised his father, calling him his hero. This sentiment was not shared by Patrick's siblings and half-siblings, least of all Griffin.

Griffin O'Neal, like his sister Tatum, was the product of Ryan's marriage to actor Joanna Moore. While Tatum's relationship with her scandal-embattled father was nowhere near perfect, Griffin's was positively toxic. This included at least two extremely violent altercations that represented the tip of the iceberg in terms of just how bad things were between the two.

Ryan O'Neal And His Son Griffin's Terrible Relationship Involved Violent Altercations

Pain, addiction, and heartache have plagued all four of Ryan O'Neal's children. This includes his youngest, Redmond O'Neal who suffers from addiction issues. The same is true for his older half-brother Griffin. According to People, Griffin had been surrounded by drugs and alcohol from a young age. He even claimed he was the family's "joint roller". Not only was his father an addict, but his mother, Joanna Moore, was also dependent on substances. This followed an extremely turbulent childhood of her own and a complicated relationship with both her then-husband and her career in Hollywood.

"My life has been a reign of drug and alcohol degradation," Griffin O'Neal said in 2015 during an interview with People.

"I had to self-medicate my entire life because there was pain everywhere. There were drugs everywhere in my family all day, every day. It was the ’60s and ’70s and Tatum and I had a tough time."

According to People, Griffin became ensnared by substance addiction at the extremely young age of 9. By the time he graduated from high school, Griffin had already done two stints in rehab. Griffin's access to drugs and alcohol at a young age is one of the reasons why many believe Ryan was a bad father. In multiple interviews, Ryan himself claimed he wasn't "great" at being a dad aside from the fact that he was "hands-on".

What Happened To Farrah Fawcett's Son Redmond O'Neal, And What's His Net Worth?

There are conflicting reports as to when the first of at least two violent incidents occurred between Ryan O'Neal and his son, Griffin. People claimed it was in 1983 when Griffin was 16 years old. While other sources state that it was 1982, and Griffin was 18. But given that Griffin was born in 1964, he would have been closer to the age of 18 when his father allegedly punched his teeth out.

According to UPI, Griffin decided not to pursue formal assault charges after his father allegedly knocked out two of his teeth during a fight. Griffin claimed that he and his father got into an argument about playing racquetball, of all things. While little else has been revealed about this alleged event, a lot more was revealed about their extremely violent fight in 2007. This event fractured their relationship forever.

Was Ryan O'Neal Arrested For Assaulting His Son, Griffin?

Ryan O'Neal was arrested in 2007 after he allegedly shot a gun at his son, Griffin. According to TMZ, Ryan claimed that his son instigated the fight, accusing him of "wildly swinging a fireplace poker" in the living room of his Malibu home. Ryan's reps said that this resulted in Griffin's pregnant girlfriend sustaining injuries to her face.

In an interview with The Los Angeles Times, Ryan O'Neal stated that the poker grazed him multiple times before he retreated from the room to grab his firearm.

• Griffin O'Neal is an actor
• Griffin O'Neal was found guilty of reckless endangerment during a boating accident.
• Griffin O'Neal pleaded 'no contest' in a drunk driving case in 1989
• Griffin O'Neal pleaded 'no contest' when accused of firing shots into his girlfriend's empty vehicle

When Ryan O'Neal returned to the living room with a gun, he allegedly fired at him, hitting a banister. Instead of escalating the conflict even further, the gunfire reportedly caused Griffin to flee the scene. But it did result in Ryan O'Neal's arrest.

According to Reuters, Ryan was slapped with two different charges; assault with a deadly weapon and negligent discharge of a firearm. However, the charges were eventually dropped due to conflicting evidence. No legal battle followed this mysterious and violent argument.

In any case, this is the event that completely destroyed their relationship.

Who Are Redmond O'Neal's Siblings (And Are They As Troubled As Him)?

In 2015, Griffin O'Neal told People that the event happened when he tried to help his youngest half-brother, Redmond get sober.

After Ryan returned to the set of Fox's Bones in 2015, his representation reaffirmed that the whole ugly ordeal was caused by Griffin and that Ryan was purely acting in self-defense. This, of course, is not Griffin's view on the matter.

Were Ryan O'Neal And His Son Griffin Estranged At The Time Of His Death?

While there have been rumors regarding a reconciliation between Ryan O'Neil and Griffin O'Neil, this does not seem to be true. No reputable information about this supposed reconciliation exists. According to People, Griffin refused to have anything to do with his father after the incident with the gun.

"I can honestly say my dad has not called me once," Griffin O'Neal said to Larry King in 2009 when his father was still alive.

"He has shown zero remorse for the 22 stitches he put in my wife's face," he said, seemingly claiming that it was gunfire that hurt his then-pregnant girlfriend's face and not the fireplace poker. "And he showed very little remorse for trying to shoot me in the face."

"The last time I saw my dad, he shot at me because I was trying to help his son [Redmond] get sober."

Despite supposedly having a relationship with her son Redmond, Griffin was banned from Farrah Fawcett's funeral. In his interview with Larry King, Griffin stated that he was always very close to Fawcett, who he saw as a step-mom. This was just an ounce of the drama that surrounded the Charlie's Angels star's passing. Ryan O'Neal even blamed his daughter Tatum for Fawcett getting sick in the first place. This was during the same interview with Piers Morgan where he stated that Griffin was not to be trusted because he "sells stories".

Tatum O'Neal Won On Oscar At The Age Of 10, But Is She Still Acting?

While Ryan and Tatum managed to come to terms before his passing, it's clear that the turbulent relationship between him and his eldest son, Griffin, was too extreme to find a positive resolution.

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