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Jennette McCurdy’s memoir I’m Glad My Mom Died was an instant hit when it was released in 2022, topping multiple best-seller charts for weeks. Now, the bestselling memoir is being adapted into a series at Apple TV+ with Jennifer Aniston starring as McCurdy’s mom.
McCurdy and Ari Katcher (Ramy, Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show) are adapting the book for the small screen and will serve as co-showrunners. The 10-episode series “will center on the codependent relationship between an 18-year-old actress in a hit kids’ show, and her narcissistic mother who relishes in her identity as ‘a starlet’s mother,’” per the logline.
Ahead of the series’ announcement, I’m Glad My Mom Died (hardcover) has been steeply discounted on Amazon. Normally $27.99, the best-seller is currently on sale for $13.73 — a 51% discount. Grab the memoir now while it’s on sale ahead of the series’ release.
I’m Glad My Mom Died centers around the abuse McCurdy suffered from her mother, but it also recounts the manipulative, inappropriate treatment of child stars at Nickelodeon. Although some have been critical of McCurdy’s title, the overall response has been positive. Just one day after its release, McCurdy’s memoir sold out at major booksellers, including Amazon and Barnes & Noble. I’m Glad My Mom Died spent nine weeks on Amazon’s best-sellers chart.
In the book, the iCarly star remembers anorexia-inducing body shaming, manipulation through her mother’s religion (Mormonism), and falsified paternity — all at the hands of her mom.
“I’m in the ICU with my dying mother,” writes the 30-year-old, “and the thing that I’m sure will get her to wake up is the fact that in the days since mom’s been hospitalized, my fear and sadness have morphed into the perfect anorexia-motivation cocktail and, finally, I have achieved mom’s current goal weight for me. Eighty-nine pounds.”
The memoir also delves into the underbelly of Nickelodeon. McCurdy was one of the network’s stars in the late oughts and 2010s, playing Sam in iCarly and the show’s spin-off, Sam & Cat, with Ariana Grande.
At Nickelodeon, “The Creator” (who is likely iCarly’s creator and producer, Dan Schneider) pressured McCurdy to wear bikinis, drink alcohol before she was of legal drinking age, and massaged her without consent. “I want to say something, to tell him to stop,” she writes, “but I’m so scared of offending him.” At one point, McCurdy declined $300,000 in hush money from the network.
McCurdy also details frustrations with Ariana Grande, her co-star on Sam & Cat, who was allowed to ditch filming sessions for other opportunities, while McCurdy was not. “So I have to turn down movies while Ariana’s off whistle-toning at the Billboard Music Awards? Fuck. This,” writes McCurdy.
Pick up I’m Glad My Mom Died now at Amazon for just $18.59 — 34% less than retail — while it’s on sale.