Matthew McConaughey barely spoke to his mother for eight years after...

In a candid new interview with Howard Stern, 50-year-old McConaughey was asked by the host about a “great betrayal” that occurred when he rose to fame in the early 1990s and his mother Mary spoke to the press about her newfound son without his consent.

“You turn on the television and there she gives a tour of your house (US tabloid show) Hardcopy, and point out the bed in which you lost your virginity. Did you stop talking to your mother for a few years? “Asked Stern.

“Eight years,” stated McConaughey, who is on the public relations path for his insightful new memoir Green lights.

“I called my mom back then, after I became famous, and had to speak to my mom. I’ve been trying to figure things out – I’m a little unbalanced, these things go on, what do they mean? ” he said.

But McConaughey said his mother was too impressed with his new fame to offer maternal support.

“My mother wasn’t the only one on the phone. Most of the time the woman who called was a fan. Of my fame. ”

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He said the problems worsened when his mother started speaking to the press.

“I would have conversations and then all of a sudden – whoop – what we would talk about would appear in the paper three days later,” he said. “I said, ‘Mom, that was between us, don’t share that.'”

McConaughey said the infamous Hardcopy The house tour that Mary took viewers through his childhood home was a breaking point in their relationship.

“I get a call from a buddy who says, ‘Are you looking at this? ‘I switched on Hardcopy and there is a mother who gives a tour of the house: ‘Here I caught him in bed with so and so, here I saw him in the shower, you know what he was doing there, ha ha ha!’ ”

He immediately called Mary and confronted her with it – her answer? “Oh that. I didn’t think you’d find out. ”

After that, “we went through a time when I didn’t really share much with her,” he said.

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“She became a different person. Nobody is perfect, and that was something that is outside of the realm of any relationship my mom has ever had. I forgave her, it wasn’t her fault. I just had to set some boundaries and it was a grueling relationship for eight years, ”he said.

McConaughey called the eight-year estrangement a “sad time” and recalled short five-minute phone calls with his mother during which he had given up little information about himself for fear she might pass it on to the press: “It was difficult for eight years … but we’ve been through it and are on the other side. ”

McConaughey relaxed about his demeanor as he felt more established in his Hollywood career.

“When I felt my career was stable and on my feet, I let go of the reins and said, ‘Get it, mom. Whatever you want there is the camera. ‘And she was great! She has amazing things to say and do. ”

Watch McConaughey tell the following story:

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