Joe Manganiello has never had the simplest family history, and the distance between him and his father was not entirely unknown to fans. Manganiello had previously revealed that his father, Charles, maintained a strained relationship with his own father, Emilio Manganiello, who raised him. However, the details of Joe Manganiello and Charles Manganiello’s relationship remained largely private.

After years of disagreements and a growing awareness of the family’s complicated dynamics, Joe Manganiello has finally opened up about what caused the rift between him and his father.

Joe Manganiello’s estrangement from his father began with a comment that exposed a painful truth about his childhood. In his memoir, Bloodlines, the actor revealed that he and Charles Manganiello have not spoken for 13 years. The rift began after Joe discussed the volatility he witnessed growing up while explaining why he understood the anger of his stage character, Stanley Kowalski.

“I never intended to hurt him. I called his new number and left a message, but he wouldn’t respond,” Joe Manganiello wrote.

The remark, made during an interview about his third time playing Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire at Yale Repertory Theatre, reportedly upset Charles Manganiello. Joe Manganiello explained that he had deliberately avoided identifying anyone in his family, hoping to speak honestly without revealing private details. However, Charles Manganiello considered the comments inappropriate and changed his phone number without telling his son.

The silence deepened after Joe Manganiello emailed his father to apologize for any hurt he had caused. According to the memoir, Charles responded with a message that Joe described as one of the most disgusting things he had ever read, calling his son “a disappointment and a teenage girl.” And since then their relationship was fractured.

Joe Manganiello Finally Opens Up About His Secret 10-Year Health Battle That Left Him Unable to Walk at Times

The letters were not the whole story. Joe Manganiello has opened up about another heartbreaking moment with his father, beyond their chances to write back and The Batman falling apart.

Joe Manganiello was fighting for his life, but the actor was also confronting a painful absence that no surgery could fix. In 2016, shortly after marrying Sofía Vergara, Manganiello suffered a medical emergency that required surgeons to remove his entire large intestine. He spent months recovering with an ostomy bag, lost nearly 60 pounds, and had to rebuild his strength.

Yet even as Joe Manganiello struggled through the terrifying ordeal, his father, Charles Manganiello, did not reach out. Despite knowing the severity of his son’s condition, Charles Manganiello reportedly never visited the hospital, called, or sent a letter. The silence became especially painful as Manganiello fought to recover and pursued the career-defining opportunity to play Deathstroke in Ben Affleck’s planned Batman film, leaving the family rift even harder to ignore.

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What do you think of Joe Manganiello's explanation for the rift between him and his father? Let us know in the comments!