Wait, they're actually related? Honestly, that’s the reaction I get every single time I bring up the fact that Melissa McCarthy and Jenny McCarthy are first cousins. It’s one of those Hollywood facts that feels like a glitch in the matrix because their public personas are just... so different. You’ve got Melissa, the Oscar-nominated groundling who can make a simple walk across a room look like a masterclass in physical comedy. Then you’ve got Jenny, the 90s MTV icon turned Masked Singer judge.
People assume it’s a Hollywood myth. Or maybe they think "McCarthy" is just the "Smith" of the Midwest. But nope, it’s real. They share the same bloodline, the same Illinois roots, and even a bit of the same early-career struggle. Yet, if you look at their social media or red carpet history, you won't find many "happy family" selfies. This has led to a decade of rumors about a massive family feud.
So, let's actually look at the Melissa McCarthy cousin dynamic and figure out what’s real, what’s fake, and why they don’t spend Thanksgiving together.
The Illinois Roots and the Big Break
To understand these two, you have to go back to the Chicago suburbs. They grew up in a big, boisterous Irish-Catholic family. Their fathers, Michael and Daniel, are brothers. While Melissa was raised on a farm in Plainfield, Jenny was just a few miles away in Evergreen Park.
Here is the thing a lot of people forget: Jenny was famous first. Like, way first. In the mid-90s, Jenny McCarthy was everywhere. She was the face of MTV’s Singled Out and had her own sketch show. Melissa? She was still grinding it out in the LA comedy scene.
In 1997, Jenny actually gave Melissa her first-ever TV gig. It was a guest spot on the NBC sitcom Jenny. Melissa played a character named—wait for it—Melissa. It was a small role, but it was the start. Jenny has actually been pretty vocal about this, once tweeting a throwback photo of them and reminding everyone that she helped her cousin get her SAG card.
The "Weight" of the Rumors
If they started out helping each other, why do people think they hate each other now?
Most of the drama stems from a nasty rumor that surfaced years ago. The story goes that back in the day, Jenny told Melissa she’d never make it in Hollywood unless she lost weight.
That is a heavy accusation.
If someone told me that, I’d probably skip their wedding too. And Melissa did skip Jenny’s 2014 wedding to Donnie Wahlberg. That absence was like fuel on a fire for the tabloids. But Jenny has gone on the record multiple times to say that conversation never happened. She called the rumor "crazy" and "complete B.S."
Melissa, for her part, has stayed mostly quiet. When she does talk about it, she’s polite but distant. She once told Howard Stern that they live in "opposite worlds" now. It wasn't a "we hate each other" statement; it was more of a "we don't really have anything in common anymore" vibe.
Why They Aren't "Besties"
Let's be real: Do you talk to all your cousins?
I have cousins I haven't seen since the Bush administration. It doesn't mean we're in a blood feud; it just means our lives went in different directions. That seems to be the case here.
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- Geography: Melissa is a Hollywood staple, usually filming or living in Los Angeles or Atlanta. Jenny has spent a huge chunk of time in St. Charles, Illinois, and New York.
- Social Circles: Melissa’s world is the Groundlings crew—Maya Rudolph, Kristen Wiig, and her husband Ben Falcone. Jenny is deep in the reality TV and Wahlberg world.
- Professional Overlap: There is zero. Melissa does high-concept comedy and prestige drama. Jenny does hosting and judging.
They are basically the embodiment of two people who share a grandfather but nothing else.
The Other "Cousin" in the Picture
While everyone focuses on the Jenny/Melissa drama, there’s actually another Melissa McCarthy cousin who popped up recently. On an episode of Celebrity IOU (that show where the Property Brothers help celebs renovate homes), Melissa brought on her cousin Jenna.
Jenna is a police officer, and the two of them are clearly super close. They spent the episode laughing, reminiscing about their "hero" aunt and uncle, and generally being adorable. Seeing Melissa with Jenna makes the distance with Jenny look even more stark. It shows that Melissa is a family person; she’s just selective about which family members she brings into her inner circle.
What Most People Get Wrong
People love a "mean girl" narrative. They want to believe that Jenny is the "popular" cousin who was mean to the "funny" cousin. But if you look at the timeline, it doesn't fit. Jenny defended Melissa in 2013 when a critic made some truly disgusting comments about Melissa’s weight in a review for Identity Thief. Jenny jumped to her defense immediately, calling the critic out for being a bully.
If there was genuine hatred there, she probably would have just stayed silent.
The Reality Check
So, what have we actually learned about the Melissa McCarthy cousin connection?
- They are 100% first cousins. Their dads are brothers.
- Jenny gave Melissa her first job. That’s a fact.
- The "weight comment" is likely a myth. Jenny denies it, and Melissa has never confirmed it.
- They aren't close. They don't hang out, they don't do projects together, and they don't go to each other's weddings.
It’s less of a "feud" and more of a "fade." It happens in every family. It just happens that in this family, both people are famous enough to have their silence analyzed by millions of people.
If you’re looking for a lesson here, it’s probably that fame doesn't fix family dynamics. You can both be at the top of your game and still have nothing to say to each other at a funeral or a wedding.
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If you want to see more of Melissa's actual family life, you should check out her collaborations with her husband, Ben Falcone. They’ve co-written and produced almost a dozen projects together, proving that while she might be distant from some relatives, she’s built a very tight-knit "chosen family" in Hollywood.
Next time you see Jenny on The Masked Singer or Melissa in a new Netflix hit, you can tell your friends the truth: they aren't enemies, they're just two women who share a last name and a very busy schedule.
Actionable Insight: If you're curious about other surprising celebrity connections, look up the family trees of actors from the same geographic regions (like the Chicago suburbs). You'll often find that the "small world" of Hollywood is actually just a result of talented families supporting each other's early breaks, much like the McCarthys did in the late 90s.