Jennette McCurdy recounts 'creepy' age gap relationship with older man

Jennette McCurdy revealed that she had a toxic relationship with an older man when she around 18.

On a Jan. 7 episode of the "Call Her Daddy" podcast, the "iCarly" actor recounted her problematic experience dating a man in his 30s when she just became an adult.

"I was most likely 18," McCurdy told host Alex Cooper. "He would show me movies that he thought I would like. Like, 'Dazed and Confused,' which I did not like but I pretended to like. He would play me music that I did not like, but I pretended to like."

Not only did the age gap impact the power dynamic, but McCurdy also said the man was in another long-term relationship while living with a different woman. She said her boyfriend also pressured her to engage in sexual activity.

The 'I'm Glad My Mom Died' author said the relationship occurred around the time her mother, Debra McCurdy, was hospitalized ahead of her death in 2013. Looking back, she said it was "creepy" for him to be with a teenager while calling her "mature."

"It was just exhausting," she said. "I remember he came over drunk one night to my apartment. At this point I’ve moved out of my mom’s, I’m very new — also red flags all over."

She added, "I can’t have my dying mother and my boyfriend that she doesn’t know about and would never approve of staying at my apartment at the same time."

Debut novel 'Half His Age' portrays problematic romance

The toxic experience with her ex-boyfriend seemingly influenced the process of the "Sam & Cat" alum writing her debut novel, "Half His Age."

The provocative, fictionalized book follows a 17-year-old as she navigates an affair with her teacher and will be published by Ballantine at Penguin Random House on Jan. 20, 2026. The novel promises a “startlingly perceptive, mordantly funny, and keenly poignant” story, according to a press release from the publisher.

“Writing 'Half His Age' has been the most creatively fulfilling experience of my life,” McCurdy said in a press release. “Through a 17-year-old girl named Waldo I got to explore the complexities of desire, consumerism, class, loneliness, the internet, rage, addiction, and the (oftentimes misguided) lengths we’ll go to in order to get what we want. Waldo’s story is ultimately about finding yourself in a world designed to make you lose yourself, and that felt profoundly meaningful for me to write. I can’t wait for people to read this novel.” 

Contributing: Clare Mulroy, USA TODAY