Sep 23
'08
Exclusive: Frances Bean Cobain cut off from most of her father’s family


Photo from Frances Bean Cobain’s 16th party found on her myspace, which has since been removed
Last week we ran a story about Frances Bean Cobain’s “suicide-themed” 16th birthday party. Frances is the daughter of Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain, the former lead singer of Nirvana who died in an apparent suicide in 1994. I was contacted by a woman who claims to be an online friend of Frances, but who hasn’t spoken to her in some time. She provided photos and enough background to make her story seem credible. She said she has another friend who knows Kurt Cobain’s family and that they’re very interested in the news about the “suicide” party, as this is the first they’ve heard about it. Family members were said to be looking for more evidence of the party, but the photo album has since been removed from the myspace where it was found. According to the source, Frances has been cut off from most of her father’s side of the family, including her 80 year-old great grandfather, Leland, for years.

Frances is barred from contacting most of Kurt’s family
Courtney Love lost custody of her then 11 year-old daughter Frances from late 2003 to February, 2005, when she was going through problems with drugs and the law. Frances was with Kurt’s mom, Wendy O’Connor, at that time. Courtney eventually regained custody of Frances after she went to rehab, but is said to have cut Frances off from her father’s side of the family except for Kurt’s mother and his sister. It’s unknown how long it’s been since Frances has seen them, though. The source said “After Courtney won custody back, she completely shut out the entire family from seeing Frances except for Kurt’s mother Wendy and his sister Kim. ”

The source explained how she met Frances online and how she came to know friends of the family. She said that Frances was just looking for people online to talk with and that “A lot of people thought it was someone pretending to be Frances, but when she started posting polaroids of herself and friends and then on Courtney’s page you see Courtney’s polaroids with her band members and you can see that it was really Frances.”

On Frances’ feelings about rumors that her father was murdered by her mother
The source went on to say that Frances is very troubled by suggestions that her mother may have had a hand in her late father’s death, and that she was particularly bothered by a photo Courtney shot with famed photo artist Dave LaChappelle that featured her holding a dying Kurt lookalike with a baby at her feet. The photo was published in September, 2006 on the cover of a coffee table book by LaChappelle, “Heaven to Hell.”

The source explained, “She used to get a lot of hateful IM’s and it really upset her when people would talk to her about her Mom possibly having to do with her Dad’s death. She never really said anything about how she felt about his death or about not seeing her family, but you could tell from the poems she wrote and some of the things she said that she definitely has an empty spot in her soul because of her Dad not being here.”

Frances’ online friend gave me a few of the old myspace and other community website addresses she used to use but said that she vanished around September, 2006, which coincidentally was right around the time that photo of Courtney with the dying Kurt lookalike was published. (This is a conclusion I jumped to, and was not suggested by the source.) There are still accounts on the websites she provided, but they’re private and apparently Frances hasn’t used them. Her friend says that Courtney routinely used to take away Frances’ online accounts, which doesn’t seem that odd considering that she was just 14 at the time.

Hopefully Frances is getting back on her feet now that a couple years have passed. Maybe the suicide-themed party was a way for her to close the book on the pain she was carrying over the loss of her father. She did put “RIP Childhood,” on the cake and perhaps she was trying to gain some ownership and control of her father’s death and its effect on her future. Her mother is not doing her any favors by continuing to cut her off from most of Kurt’s family and reminding her of his death like this.

Written by Celebitchy

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Posted in Courtney Love, Frances Bean Cobain


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24 Responses to “Exclusive: Frances Bean Cobain cut off from most of her father’s family”

  1. sandy says:

    That Lachapelle picture is so cheesy.
    Can’t believe it was published. 8O

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  2. Jag says:

    Courtney Love is disgusting. I hope that Frances has/finds good therapists to help her in the long run.

    Oh, and who in their right mind would talk to a child about her mother supposedly killing her father? Even if one thought that (and I do) there’s no way I’d ever mention it to someone so young and fragile! Just insanity…

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  3. MSat says:

    That is one effed-up photo. What the hell was courtney thinking???

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  4. Jessie says:

    Frances will find her way just as many children of f’ed up parent(s) have. The sooner she can extracate Courtney the better.

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  5. bros says:

    wait, what is the rumor about Love killing cobain?

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  6. vdantev says:

    Lol, it’s still that picture from her suicide themed birthday party.

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  7. Kaiser says:

    There’s a lot of Kurt in that face…

    I’d like to believe that a young, talented young father wouldn’t kill himself. But I tend to think Kurt was just a f*cked-up man with a lot of issues.

    I am, however, interested in hearing about the money. Will Frances Bean have some sort of trust when she turns 18?

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  8. Wif says:

    bros, I think the gist of the rumour (and I could be wrong here, I’ve never read the books on the subject) are that 1. someone claims that Love tried to hire him to kill Kurt, but he refused, 2. that he was so high at the time that it would be impossible for him to handle a shotgun, and that the wound comes from the back of his skull to the front, which is a difficult way to shoot oneself, 3. Holes debut album (aptly titled) “Live Through This” hit the market 1 week after his death, and the curiousity about the ironic title drove sales through the roof.

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  9. Syko says:

    Good clues, Wif – but then remember with Kennedy they still claim he was shot from behind, when the autopsy photos (yes, I looked, I’m morbid) clearly show the back of his head blown out. Apparently all the usual scientific rules don’t apply in some high profile deaths. Hmmm.

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  10. JaundiceMachine says:

    Hmmm. I have a lot of love for Frances, and I wish she and Courtney well. It’s not easy living your life with that eerie feeling of abandonment hanging over your head, brought on by the suicide of a parent/loved one. That shit shakes you to your core, and the unique feeling of guilt is difficult to reconcile, regardless of time. No doubt Kurt’s violent death have affected both of their lives immeasurably, so I understand if they are both a little off-kilter.

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  11. Trillion says:

    I’ve always suspected, and still do, that Courtney purposefully got pregnant to a) hang on to Kurt and b) have a perpetual inroad to media attention/relevance. When young, Frances was always with her nanny du jour (it was quite the revolving door) who was often a sketchy individual. (personally witnessed this many times) Courtney just didn’t seem interested in raising her own daughter. Little Frances was more like a cool accessory who could forever link Courtney to her talented father. Tragically, her fate is to be alternately used and discarded according to Courtney’s needs at the time.

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  12. Gracie says:

    I hope that everyone realizes that this image is a take-off of the Pieta in Rome (St. Peter’s in the Vatican). The original is of Mary holding a dead Jesus in her arms.

    As you can see in this image, Love is lit up to look angelic. She’s wearing blue, the color traditionally associated with Mary, and her daughter looks downright cherubic. Taken with the caption, it’s filled with a lot of positive meaning.

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  13. mojo says:

    This story is untrue. The old Myspace pages from that time were fakes. The only MySpace page Franny had was fran_a_la, which she deleted a few days ago.

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  14. Ames says:

    Is it just me or does her friend look like Miley Cyrus a little bit? I know it’s not her – but I find she LOOKS like her.

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  15. becky reed says:

    hi i know the cobain’s and yes frances is not allowed to see them i know this for a fact i asked kurt’s aunt mari along with kurt’s grandfather leland the same question when i meet them and they both said they have not seen frances since kurt died if u don’t believe me just go to myspace profile at http://www.myspace.com/cobainreed and i can prove that i know them and btw my profile is private so u will have to request me i do not want my photos broadcasted all over the web that is why it is private thanks becky reed

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  16. JackieJ says:

    thank you Becky.

    I’m not crazy, the story is true – and I feel for that poor girl.

    As a Mom and as a fan of Cobain, it’s just so unfair and stupid. A child needs as much family around them as possible, and Courtney has no right to take that from Frances.

    Thanks Celebitchy for posting this story.

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  17. JackieJ says:

    I HOPE COURTNEY SEES THIS.

    What, do you think you’re a good mother because you buy Frances anything she wants? Because you spent more than $300,000 on her 16th birthday party?

    NO. You are completely unfit to be a mother. If you have any right maternal bone in your body you will give her back her family.

    Just because you had a fucked up family life doesn’t mean you have to put your daughter through such a lonely life.

    You are selfish and worthless. Give Frances her family back.

    :evil:

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  18. Charlie says:

    I am just looking for mexican seafood.
    well..I don’t know.

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  19. krisi says:

    I remember when kurt died I really wanted to adopt francis bean (I was maybe 13 years old?) but it didnt feel right leaving her with courtney. francis you turned into a beautiful girl. stay strong.

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  20. Amber says:

    The Becky reed person is NOT a liar. I happen to know exactly what she has done. People go on twitter and follow @kurtdave1krist start there and educate yourself. Also follow people @kurtdave1krist is following. Kurt was indeed killed

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