Fact Check: Did Julia Roberts say women aren’t rehab centers for ‘badly raised men’?

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Renowned actress Julia Roberts, celebrated for her diverse roles and numerous accolades, is making headlines for a claim that has been circulating online for years.

The 'Pretty Woman' star has been allegedly quoted as saying, "Women aren't rehab centers for badly raised men."

This assertion first emerged in 2018, accompanied by viral memes and posts attributing the statement to Roberts. Six years later, social media users have reignited the discussion, throwing the spotlight back on this remark.

Quote allegedly attributed to Julia Roberts shared across social media 

The X (formerly Twitter) account @sylvia246800 shared a post on September 12 claiming, "Women, you are not a rehabilitation centers for badly raised men... It's not your job to fix him, change him, parent him or raise him. You want a partner, not a project!"  ➳ 𝑱𝒖𝒍𝒊𝒂 𝑹𝒐𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒔" 

The post attributed the quote to Julia Roberts while also wishing everyone a good evening. Since this quote first surfaced online, it has sparked numerous memes and discussions. 

Six years ago, a Reddit user on r/quotes tried to trace the origin of the quote, suggesting it didn't actually come from Roberts, but that post garnered no comments. 

Additionally, an Instagram post from October 2019 confidently attributed the quote to the actress, amassing nearly 60,000 likes and comments that seemed to accept the attribution.

Claim attributing viral quote to Julia Roberts debunked

Despite frequent attributions of a quote to Julia Roberts, no verified evidence has been found to support that she ever made such a statement.

In an effort to confirm its authenticity, Snopes made a thorough review of Roberts' public statements, interviews, and film scripts. But, the search reveals no record of her saying or writing this comment. 

Secondly, many social media posts have attributed the phrase to her without citing any credible sources. Furthermore, various databases of her quotes, including her IMDb profile, lack any mention of this quote.

To investigate further, Snopes examined media archives dating back to 1987, the year Roberts began her acting career, utilizing resources like the newspapers database and screenplay archives of her well-known films, including 'Steel Magnolias' and 'Erin Brockovich'.

None of the scripts contained the disputed quote, indicating that it likely gained traction on social media rather than originating from anything Roberts said or did.

Meanwhile, another site that attempted to fact-check the claim reported that an X user, @tinkizee2, either originated or popularized the quote, rather than Julia Roberts, as per Truth or Fiction.