Jennifer Love Hewitt Reflects on the Pain of Learning About Her Mom's Death From the Press

While many know Jennifer Love Hewitt as an actress and singer, she's now adding a new title to her impressive career: Author.

On Dec. 10, 2024, the I Know What You Did Last Summer star will release Inheriting Magic, a deeply personal book created in honor of her late mother, Patricia Mae.

But before diving into details about Jennifer's upcoming book, let's take a moment to reflect on the story behind it. So, what happened to her mom?

Here's everything you need to know.

Jennifer Love Hewitt's mom, Patricia Mae (née Shipp), was a speech-language pathologist in Central Texas. After Patricia and Jennifer's father, Herbert, divorced, she raised Jennifer and her older brother, Todd, on her own.

On June 12, 2012, Patricia died from complications from cancer. She was 67 years old. In a heartbreaking twist, the press reported on Patrica Mae's death before Jennifer had been officially notified.

During a recent event at Zibby's Bookshop in Los Angeles, where Jennifer Love Hewitt discussed her upcoming book with her co-star 9-1-1 Bryan Safi, she opened up about the deeply traumatic experience of losing her mother.

"The part that I didn't put in the book is that actually, the press knew that my mom had passed before I did," Jennifer shared, per The Hollywood Reporter. As it turns out, she was on a flight home from the 52nd Monte Carlo TV Festival when her mother passed away.

"The flight time with me getting back was so long. It was like a 10-and-a-half-hour flight, so by the time I arrived, everybody knew, and it was such a weird thing for me," Jennifer recalled. "But then later on, I was like, but everybody's always known everything about my life kind of before. Even break ups, people have been like, 'He was cheating on you already.' Really, people? Like, why didn't you tell me?"

Though it's been over 12 years since her mother's passing, Jennifer shared that she now feels ready to open up about her most treasured memories of her mom.

Jennifer told The Hollywood Reporter, "I honestly hadn't ever said that much about my mother after she passed because I didn’t have the words. I just didn't know what to say, and this felt like the right time to talk about her and sort of say, 'This is what she left behind.'"

One memory Jennifer shared was the tradition her mom had every time she left for a shoot, no matter the time of day or night. Patricia would always ask to hold her hand.

"I didn't ask her until probably I was in like my very late 20s, I was like, 'Why do we hold the hands? What is this about?' Because I didn't really get it," Jennifer recounted. "And she said, 'I want you to take my love and support with you to work during the day. I want you to feel it and know that I'm with you.' And I miss it. It's the thing I miss the most. I wish I had her hand."

Jennifer is also dedicating her upcoming film, The Holiday Junkie, to her mom and to the loved ones lost by everyone on set. Jennifer not only stars in the movie but also directed and executive produced it.

The film tells the story of a woman (Hewitt) facing her first Christmas without her mother, who finds solace and love with a man (played by her real-life husband, Brian Hallisay) who is carrying his own grief.

"I wanted a movie for people who were happy and for people who felt sad. I wanted both parties to be seen in the holidays because it is that way," Jennifer said, per Entertainment Weekly. "As much as I am a holiday junkie, I find Christmas really hard without my mom.

She added, "I always have a moment, sometimes I have more than that. And I think that's okay. It doesn't mean that you’re not in the festive AF spirit, you just have this hole in your heart, and it happens."

The Holiday Junkie premieres on December 14, at 8 p.m. EST on Lifetime.