Legal clerk and environmental activist Erin Brockovich came to prominence in the 1990s when she took on Pacific Gas & Electric over contaminated groundwater in the southern California town of Hinkley. The case resulted in a $333 million settlement in 1996—the biggest direct-action lawsuit the U.S. had seen. Four years later, her story was made into the movie Erin Brockovich, starring Julia Roberts.
While Brockovich has remained in the news as she's continued to fight for environmental justice, her personal life hasn't been in the spotlight since the 2000 film. But, in a new 20/20 special, she shares updates on her current life and is also interviewed alongside her daughter Elizabeth Brockovich, who is her only child with ex husband Steven Brockovich. In the movie, Erin is a single mom of three children—which was true to life—and Elizabeth was portrayed as a baby nicknamed "Beth" who Roberts was frequently holding. Now, Elizabeth is a 30-year-old mom with kids of her own, and she looks a lot like her famous mother. Read on to see them now.
Elizabeth said she had a hard time after Erin Brockovich hit theaters.
ABCElizabeth and Erin both appear in the special The Real Rebel: The Erin Brockovich Story, which will air on ABC on Thursday, June 10. In a preview shared by People, Elizabeth and Erin reflect on the time when the movie came out.
"I was just a little girl that had never dealt with anything like this," Elizabeth says in the clip. "So, when my mom’s movie came out, she was gone a lot—more than normal." Erin added of her children, "I think it had a big toll. I mean, I had to work. I wasn’t making a fortune. I didn’t see them as often. It was tough on them."
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Elizabeth struggled with drug use as a teen.
ABCElizabeth was only nine when Erin Brockovich came out, and a lot has happened in her life since. Notably, Elizabeth struggled with drug use as a teen, which she has spoken about publicly.
"When the movie came out, she was gone all the time—either on appearances or interviews or lecturing," Elizabeth told ABC News of her mom in 2009 when she was 17. "That was my time to go crazy, 'cause she wasn't there. I would ditch school; I was driving around with kids that were under the influence."
Elizabeth also admitted that she stole money from her mother. "You hate to think you were duped, but at some level I was duped," Erin said.
Elizabeth was then sent to a treatment program for teenagers. "I'm definitely not cured forever, but today I can tell you I'm going to be sober because I'm happy and content with myself and who I am," she said. "If I do take it one day at a time, then I could be sober for the rest of my life."
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Now, Elizabeth has three kids of her own.
ABC"How did I turn out?" Elizabeth says in the clip from the new 20/20 special. "I think I'm OK. I'm still a little all over the place. Having three kids and my oldest with special needs at 30 is a lot. But I think I turned out OK."
Erin, who has been divorced three times, jokingly adds, "I guess I taught her how to get divorced." Elizabeth responds, "Yeah, pretty good at that now. She’s really just taught me how to… you fall down, you get back up."
Erin has two other children.
In addition to Elizabeth, Erin has two children from her first marriage to Shawn Brown, 38-year-old Matt and 36-year-old Katie. They lead private lives and Erin does not post photos of her children on her Instagram page, but she does sometimes share photos of her grandchildren. In the past, Erin posted a photo of herself with all three of her kids on Facebook. It shows them at Elizabeth's wedding nine years ago.
Erin is still fighting for environmental justice.
ABCErin went on to found Brockovich Research & Consulting and the Erin Brockovich Foundation, which is focused on clean water. She is also an author and podcast host. Her latest book, released in 2020, is titled Superman's Not Coming: Our National Water Crisis and What We the People Can Do About It.
Erin spoke to Today in 2020 about how the work she was shown doing in Erin Brockovich was just the beginning. "I can tell you, since that film came out, I haven't stopped doing what I've been doing," she said. "I think the past 20 years in many ways have been baffling to me because if we go back to the town of Hinkley, California, in the movie, that was just the tip of the iceberg. And I don't think I realized what was to come, and to have this conversation with you 20 years into the future to say that it's not just as bad, it's far worse. And so little has been done. I couldn't really see then that it would be everywhere."
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