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 | Ancestry®youtu.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

Kash Patel; Screenshot of Kash Patel partying with hockey team
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images; @WilliamTurton/X

Kash Patel Responds After Video Of Him Partying In The Locker Room With Gold Medal Winning US Hockey Team Sparks Backlash

FBI Director Kash Patel was criticized after responding to outrage toward a video that surfaced showing him chugging a beer and wearing a gold medal in the locker room of the USA Men's Olympics Hockey team.

On Thursday, Patel traveled to the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics aboard an FBI Gulfstream aircraft, according to sources cited by reporters Ken Dilanian and Carol Leonnig. The report estimated the journey to Milan may have cost taxpayers up to $75,000.

Keep ReadingShow less
Ninaj Minaj and President Donald Trump
Win McNamee/Getty Images

Nicki Minaj Just Posted A Pic Of Her 'Trump Bible' Signed By Donald Trump—And The Mockery Was Brutal

"Anacoda" and "Super Bass" rapper and singer Nicki Minaj has been loud and proud about her enthusiastic support of President Donald Trump, including speaking on his behalf, as well as in support of MAGA and current political movements, losing her some followers and earning her some serious side-eye.

But X users criticized her with renewed vigor when Minaj shared an image of the new, leather-bound Holy Bible she'd received that was signed by the President.

Keep ReadingShow less
Mike Lee
Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

MAGA Senator Compared ICE Agents To Mexican Cartel Hitmen In Accidentally Accurate X Post—And He Just Deleted It

Utah MAGA Republican Senator Mike Lee deleted a post he made on X about Mexican drug cartel hitmen being like Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. But it wasn't because of the racist xenophobia and Democrat bashing his post was trying to promote.

Lee deleted his latest social media blunder because too many people pointed out his comparison of cartel hitmen to MAGA Republican President Donald Trump's ICE wasn't the gotcha to "leftists" that he intended.

Keep ReadingShow less
TikToker @sh4ysgrwm (left) shared a video explaining coprolalia after Michael B. Jordan (center) and Delroy Lindo (right) were interrupted while presenting at the BAFTA Awards.
@sh4ysgrwm/TikTok; Stuart Wilson/BAFTA/Getty Images for BAFTA

Creator With Tourette's Schools The Internet On Tics After Man With Tourette's Shouts N-Word At BAFTAs

During a night meant to celebrate historic wins for the cast and crew of Sinners, the BAFTA Awards took a jarring turn when an audience member shouted a racial slur.

John Davidson—the real-life inspiration for the British film I Swear—shouted the N-word at Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo while they presented the award for best visual effects to Avatar: Fire and Ash.

Keep ReadingShow less
Ikea Spotlights Viral 'Lonely Monkey' Punch's Stuffed Animal Given As 'Surrogate Mother'—And We're Sobbing
STR / Contributor/Getty Images

Ikea Spotlights Viral 'Lonely Monkey' Punch's Stuffed Animal Given As 'Surrogate Mother'—And We're Sobbing

No one is immune from loneliness, and all of us have our own ways of coping with it.

And, as it turns out, this includes monkeys.

Keep ReadingShow less