Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Julia Roberts Floored After DNA Test Reveals She's Not Technically A 'Roberts': 'My Mind Is Blown'

Julia Roberts
Finding Your Roots/PBS

The Oscar winner found out about a generations-old affair on PBS' 'Finding Your Roots' docuseries.

Julia Roberts just found out she is not a Roberts at all and her "mind is blown."

The Oscar winner sat down with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. on PBS' Finding Your Roots on Wednesday and got wayyyy more than she bargained for when she found out all kinds of family secrets.


Breaking down the star's family tree, Gates Jr. pointed out her great-great-grandfather Willis Roberts actually died before her great-grandfather was born...like more than a decade before.

Roberts then thought aloud:

"Oh, wait—but am I not a Roberts?!"

After scouring databases and coming up empty-handed, Gates Jr. revealed they relied on DNA to find an answer.

Using DNA from Roberts and a male cousin, Gates Jr. was able to narrow the results to one man: Henry McDonald Mitchell, Jr.

Roberts then asked:

"So we're Mitchell's?"

Gates Jr. answered:

"You're Julia Mitchell."
"You are not a Roberts, biologically."

You can watch the clip below.

Julia Roberts Isn’t ACTUALLY Julia “Roberts”?? | Finding Your Roots | Ancestry¼youtu.be

Research revealed Mitchell himself was married when Roberts' great-grandfather was born. Coincidently, Mitchell's mother only lived a few houses away from Roberts' great-great-grandmother Rhoda.

Roberts' response?

"Wow."

Many viewers commented on how surprised Roberts' must have felt in that moment.

Ancestry/YouTube

Ancestry/YouTube

Ancestry/YouTube

Several had very similar stories—thanks to the availability of DNA collection, analysis and databases—and empathized with her.

Ancestry/YouTube

Ancestry/YouTube

Ancestry/YouTube

Ancestry/YouTube

Ancestry/YouTube

Roberts was torn:

"On the one hand, I—truly—my mind is blown. And it is fascinating."
"And on the other hand, there's part of me that, when I'm calmer, can still wrap my arms around the idea that my family is my family."
"And I do prefer the name Roberts!"

She finished:

"This was a very unexpected turn."

More from Trending

Alex Cooper singing 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame'
@MBDChicago/Twitter (X)

'Call Her Daddy' Host Alex Cooper Gets Brutally Booed At Wrigley Field After Painfully Off-Key Singing

If there's one thing that all baseball fans can come together about, it's the importance of their traditions—and songs.

In the seventh inning at Wrigley Field during a match between the Cubs and the Cardinals, popular Call Her Daddy podcast host Alex Cooper was invited to sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" and brought two backup dancers with her.

Keep ReadingShow less
Linda Yaccarino
Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images

X CEO Resigns Day After AI Chatbot Grok Praised Hitler In Alarming Series Of Antisemitic Tweets

Linda Yaccarino—the former NBC Universal executive who later took the reins at X—stepped down as CEO of billionaire Elon Musk's platform after two years on the job just a day after Grok, the platform's AI chatbot, went on antisemitic rants and openly praised Adolf Hitler.

Grok issued deeply antisemitic responses on Tuesday following a reported software update that encouraged the bot to embrace what developers described as the “politically incorrect.” Taking that directive to heart, Grok responded with a series of disturbing posts that included praise for Hitler and even a statement expressing its aspiration to become a “digital version” of the Nazi leader.

Keep ReadingShow less
Black and white photo of a falling spider.
Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash

People Divulge Their 'Rare' Phobias That People Refuse To Believe

I am a SEVERE claustrophobic.

I have struggled with this issue for decades.

Keep ReadingShow less
Ted Cruz
Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images

'The Onion' Rips Ted Cruz With Brutal Headline After Yet Another Vacation During Texas Disaster

The satirical news site The Onion had social media users cackling with its brutal headline mocking Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz for once again being out of the country when Texas was hit by another deadly natural disaster.

Cruz faced considerable national backlash after he flew to CancĂșn while millions of people went without food and water as a result of the February 2021 Texas power disaster. At least 246 people were killed directly or indirectly; some estimates suggested as many as 702 people were killed as a result of the crisis.

Keep ReadingShow less
Elon Musk and Grimes
Kevin Tachman/Getty Images for Vogue

Elon Musk's Ex Grimes Calls X Platform A 'Poison' And 'Theatre' After Social Media Hiatus

Claire Boucher—who performs and creates under her stage name Grimes, but prefers her birth name or just "C" offstage—recently returned to her musical persona's social media accounts after taking a hiatus for her own well-being.

Once extremely active, she noted on X in April:

Keep ReadingShow less