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Fallen country star Mindy McCready’s interview with 20/20 aired on Friday. We’ve previously heard segments in which she defended the fact that she kidnapped her son from his grandmother, the boy’s legal guardian, by claiming that he was her property since she gave birth to him. (That’s pretty much what she said, but not in those exact words.) She also made some vague allegations of abuse against her mother. In the full interview, I didn’t get a better impression of Mindy at all. She seemed just as defensive and in the wrong as she has in the past. However I sort-of believed her story about her mother potentially abusing Zander. It was hard to tell if she was telling the truth or not.
On how the police response to her kidnapping her son was overkill
“It was a swat team. They had riot gear. Assault rifles. Zander saw all of it.”On if she was hiding in the closet with Zander when the cops came
“We were sitting on the couch. I think that [the closet version] just makes a better story.”On how Zander saved her life
“I couldn’t imagine loving something so much that instead of wanting to just lay down and die I wanted to stand up and fight… I lived for Zander, and I live for him still.”On why she kidnapped Zander from Florida
“I have tried to comply (air quotes). I have tried to follow the rules of the court. I have tried to be heard through the system. I did what the system told me to do in overabundance… for four years. After four years, do you know what I got, nothing. I didn’t even get unsupervised visitation.”On if she worried about the risk by taking Zander
“No. I’m his mother, I would risk anything, my life, my freedom. I would risk anything for my child.”On if she knowingly broke the law
“I do not, and will not ever think that me taking my child that I carried for nine months that I gave birth to in the hospital by myself would ever be breaking the law. What I did is to protect my child.”On her mother, Zander’s guardian
“That sweet grandmother is not sweet at all. He says that nana is so mean that her heart is black, and that she’s so mean she doesn’t know how to be nice anymore.”Mindy’s grandmother issued an affidavit that her daughter (Mindy’s mom) abused Zander.
They showed an affidavit from Mindy’s grandmother claiming that she witnessed harsh discipline from the grandmother to Zander involving him being “jerked by the arm” and “hit with a wooden spoon.” She wrote that “I feared Zander would be physically harmed permanently.”Mindy on her son’s scars from his grandmother
“There are scars on Zander’s back, there are scars on his bottom and his legs from the spoon.”On her mom’s cult religion, “treasures of the snow.”
“My mother believes that she is a prophet sent from God. They see dead people in their home all the time, spirits, ghosts.”On her own rough upbringing
“I grew up where I suffered every day, where I suffered every night. The mental and physical abuse never ended.”Mindy’s mom defends herself.
“I have been Zander’s guardian for four and a half years. There has been all kinds of scrutiny. He has never been abused in our care.”Mindy on why she’ll be a good mom now
“I have vigorously gone out and tried to learn from my mistakes… There’s nobody that wants to be better at being me than me.”
Just because I find this woman narcissistic and distasteful doesn’t mean she’s not telling the truth about her son. However, that’s doesn’t change the fact that she kidnapped him cross country and is now complaining that the police response was overkill. (20/20 claimed that the police in Florida said that it wasn’t a crime. However if that was the case why were the US Marshalls there? It doesn’t add up.) That doesn’t change the fact that the court never granted her unsupervised visitation. This whole story is just sad for Zander. I don’t give a crap about Mindy.
Mindy would not reveal the Arkansas court’s ruling on Zander’s fate last week since it was sealed, but she said that Zander remains in Arkansas and that’s where he’ll stay. He’s currently with a foster family. Mindy claims to be six months pregnant with twins.
Mindy’s full interview with 20/20:





































