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Ordinarily, when we hear the words "emancipation" and "minor," we think: oh, no. Another privileged teen star is going to be able to do whatever she wants now. But in the case of Modern Family's Ariel Winter, who just won emancipation from her mother, the 17-year-old has been through so much heartbreak and drama in her young life that we're thrilled this is happening for her.
Winter, who plays middle child Alex in the hit TV series, and her parents have been involved in a long, drawn-out custody battle for years after the Department of Children and Familiy Services discovered evidence in 2010 that her mom Chrisoula Workman had been emotionally abusing her.
Ariel was placed in the custody of her older sister Shanelle, who we learned was also removed from her home 20 years ago because police suspected she was being abused by her mom. She even spent two years of her young life in foster care.
We're not sure how Workman managed to regain custody of Shanelle, whether she has a bigger problem than we all know about it and proved she was able to get it under control, but sadly, she hasn't made enough progress to prove she can be a good guardian for Ariel.
More from The Stir: Ariel Winter's Sister Granted Permanent Custody After Rape & Abuse Allegations
Since Ariel has been living with Shanelle, other outlandish, hurtful accusations have been made that provide further proof this young girl is probably better off taking care of herself. Her mother reportedly claimed Ariel was only accusing her of abuse because she was trying to stop the statutory rape going on between her daughter and her 18-year-old boyfriend. And even Ariel's father got in on the crazy, filing for custody because he said Ariel's older sister was trying to "poison" his youngest daughter against her mother.
Someone please tell them this is not the definition of "support."
The good news is that Ariel seems very happy about the court's decision. It has to be comforting to know there is finally a way out for her from these toxic relationships and that she can now begin repairing all of the damage done by taking control of her own life.
And she's 17 — it's not like she's 14 or 15. She'll get through this with the help of family members who are showing her proper support. Here's her Twitter announcement about the emancipation:
[code]
I am now officially emancipated!!! I'm really lucky I have an amazing support system and lovely people in my life… http://t.co/lJtlpGoEYc
— Ariel Winter (@arielwinter1) May 15, 2015Wishing her luck.
What do you think about emancipation?
Image via arielwinter/Instagram
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