Elle King's Heartfelt Update After Breaking Free from Toxic Relationship

Ah, the joys of pregnancy announcements in the age of social media—where every little moment is not just shared, but celebrated with enough confetti and balloons to make a child’s birthday party blush. This week, Elle King, the country artist whose voice can melt even the iciest of hearts, traded in her usual boots for a pair of sparkling blue overalls (yes, blue) and a cowboy hat to announce that her family of three is about to become four. In an Instagram reel that might as well have come with its own fireworks, she joyfully tagged her partner, Dan Tooker, and their son, Lucky Levi, in the #tableforfour hashtag. Because let’s face it: when you’re expecting, seating arrangements seem all too crucial.

But let’s dig deeper—because if Elle King has taught us anything, it’s that every joyful moment often comes packaged with a little bit of trauma. Just a month prior, she shared some of her childhood experiences in what can only be described as a heartfelt confession about her tumultuous relationship with father Rob Schneider. You see, while she was celebrating baby gender reveals like a pro, she was simultaneously peeling back the layers of nostalgia—layered with healthy doses of irony and just a pinch of bitterness.

“Doubling down,” she wrote as blue confetti spiraled through the air, which felt like a fitting metaphor for her life—joy and chaos, sometimes twirling together in an extravagant dance. As she donned her colorful get-up and hugged her expanding belly, the memories of her “toxic” upbringing hovered like a storm cloud over the festivities. Who knew that along with cake pops and party hats, messy family ties were also part of the package?

In a candid moment over on her podcast, Dumb Blonde, King admitted to going “four or five years without talking to” her father. That’s not just a family feud; that’s a saga that could fill an entire season of a reality show. “I never in a million years thought that sharing my truth would go viral,” she lamented—ironically reminding us that what you think is private family drama could very well become fodder for the masses.

Elle’s relationship with Schneider was marred with what she colorfully described as a unique ebb and flow—like a weird ocean wave that crashes when you least expect it. Every reunion felt like being on set of one of his films, only to fade into the background, “lost in the shuffle,” as she remarked. Imagine the irony: here’s a little girl watching her father become a star, while she was left waiting in the wings, hoping for a hug or maybe a little fatherly advice, but getting crickets instead.

And in a world where every child’s birthday should be celebrated like a national holiday, King recalled the crushing disappointment of her father forgetting her 18th birthday entirely while she spent it in summer school—cupcakes in hand but love nowhere in sight. “My dad forgot every single birthday,” she whispered—each word weighed down by unmistakable hurt, laced with the wisdom of someone who has weathered quite a bit.

Yet, if there’s anything Elle King brings to the table, it’s a brimful of humor. When asked if her father ever tried to help, she replied with a wry smile, “No, he never helped me. I never wanted his help.” Oh, the ironic twist—wanting to be accepted but shunning help because the effort seemed simply futile.

As King celebrates the arrival of another child, let’s remember that with every blue balloon, there’s a bit of shadow lurking beneath it. Here’s to her joy, her music, and the journey of growing her family against the backdrop of all that is wonderfully messy about family dynamics. After all, in the grand play that is life, we can all use a little love, a dash of chaos, and perhaps a splash of confetti.