Kelsey Grammer’s daughter Greer Grammer is opening up about the first time she saw her dad since she was 4.
During a recent interview on the “Pretty Basic Podcast,” Greer, 33, recalled the day her father walked into the Christmas tree lot where she was volunteering as part of her duties as Miss Teen Malibu. The Cheers actor was with ex-wife Camille Meyer and her daughter Mason at the time.
As Greer shared, she and the director of the Kiwanis Club had discussed the possibility that her father and his family could visit the establishment.
“It was so interesting that we had talked about it. And I was like, ‘Yeah, he’s probably not.’ And then towards the end of my day, I was getting ready to kind of leave, [and] I looked to see someone come in, and it was like him, Camille, his wife at the time, and my little sister Ma1son, who was like 6, 7, something like that,” Greer shared. “And they walked in, and you could collectively feel like, maybe it was, like, it was just me, but I felt like I felt everybody’s breath just go [mimes breath being sucked in].”
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Kelsey lived with Greer and her mother, stylist Barrie Buckner, until Greer was 4 years old, when her parents separated. She didn’t see him again until the moment at the Christmas tree lot, but did recall a few memories from the time when they all lived together.
“I remember going to Frasier at one point and being 3, probably, and wondering why the girls in the back kept redoing the scene, but I didn’t know what that meant,” she shared. “Then I think my mom took me out because I was loud. I think I went backstage.”
While Greer had not seen her father since she was 4, she and the Grammer family all lived in Malibu, which podcast host Alisha Marie noted is a “very, very small town.”
“It’s a very famous name, but if you live there, it’s, like, a very small town, close in a community. So everybody knows everybody,” Greer explained. “And so everyone knows all the drama. So yeah, everyone was just like, ‘Oh my God.’ And this guy, why can’t I remember his name? It wasn’t Jeff, and I loved him so much. He like ran the Kiwanis Club, [and] he came over, and he was like, ‘Hey, if you want to leave, if you want to go take lunch, like if you want to like, go for a moment, you can come back or if you want to leave, you can leave. We won’t cut your hours. I will fully sign and say that you were here. Like if you don’t want to be here, you can go.’”
Greer opted to stay, because as she put it, “If anyone’s going to feel uncomfortable in this situation or feel like they need to leave, it’s not going to be me because I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Like, I was a kid,” she continued. “Like, if anyone’s going to feel shame in this situation or, like, guilt or weird, like, it’s not going to be me.”
Even though she stayed, she didn’t feel comfortable approaching Kelsey or his family.
“And I was like, ‘No, I’m fine. He’s Christmas tree shopping with his family. I’m not going to go ruin that for them. Like, that little girl doesn’t deserve it,’” she said. “You know, like, that’s just not my place, even though, like, I would look back, and I’m like, ‘Well, it kind of was.’”
In the end, her father approached her and the pair hugged. They also exchanged phone numbers and made plans to get lunch.
The duo have come a long way since then. In May, Kelsey admitted to People he has “neglected” a few of his children, “especially the first two.” In addition to Greer, Kelsey is also a father to daughter Spencer, 42, who he shares with his first wife Doreen Alderman, Mason and her brother Jude, and his children with his wife Kayte Walsh, daughter Faith and sons Kelsey, Auden and Christopher.
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“I’m trying to make up for a little of it now. I’m still their dad, so you can always have [a] chance to show up,” the actor told the outlet. “I probably should have been a little more clear and maybe less tolerant with the older ones.”
He continued, ”I’m pretty tolerant with the young ones, but I’m clear about how there’s certain expectations and certain ways to navigate through a social situation: keep it close to the vest and play it straight, and you’re going to be well-served in your life. I’m a little more specific with them about doing their studies and being prepared. [I tell them], ‘What’s your job in life? Showing up.’”
