The story most people imagine when they Google “Elle King Dad” is simple: a famous comedian, a talented musician, a straightforward father–daughter relationship shaped by Hollywood and early fame. But the real story between Elle King and her biological father, actor and comedian Rob Schneider, is far more layered, emotional and endlessly misunderstood.
Elle King, born Tanner Elle Schneider in 1989, has spent most of her life walking the fine line between who she is privately and who she is publicly expected to be as the daughter of a globally recognized comedy star. She has been the child who waited for a dad who didn’t always show up, the rebellious teen who fled Ohio dreaming of rock stages, the chart-topping artist determined not to be dismissed as a “nepo baby,” and the adult daughter reckoning—sometimes painfully, sometimes generously—with the wounds and love that come with a complicated parent.
Their story includes estrangement, reconnection, public apologies, political disagreements, and a love that exists in its own imperfect form. It’s a story of a boundary-setting daughter, a remorseful father, and a family whose history reads less like Hollywood sparkle and more like a human, messy, relatable journey.
Here’s everything to know about Elle King Dad—and what really unfolded between Elle King and Rob Schneider.
Quick Bio Table
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Tanner Elle Schneider (professionally: Elle King) |
| Date of Birth / Age | July 3, 1989 — reportedly 36 years old in 2025 |
| Birthplace | Los Angeles County, California |
| Occupation | Singer, songwriter, musician, actress |
| Biological Father | Rob Schneider — comedian, actor, former SNL cast member |
| Mother | London King — former model turned doula |
| Father Figure | Justin Tesa — stepfather who influenced her musical path |
| Parents’ Marriage | Married 1988 in Las Vegas; divorced 1990 |
| Siblings | Noah King (maternal half-brother), Miranda Scarlett & Madeline Robbie (paternal half-sisters) |
| Partner | Dan Tooker, tattoo artist — shares two sons with Elle |
| Known For | Hit singles “Ex’s & Oh’s,” “Try Jesus,” and genre-blending country-rock style |
| Current Base | Reportedly lives between Nashville and Los Angeles |
| Record Label | RCA Records / independent collaborations according to public sources |
Who Is Elle King’s Dad — And Why Does Their Relationship Fascinate the Public?
When people search “Elle King Dad,” the answer seems obvious: her father is Rob Schneider, the energetic comedic presence behind movies like Deuce Bigalow, The Hot Chick, Big Daddy, and dozens of Adam Sandler projects. He’s the former SNL cast member whose characters—The Richmeister included—became part of 1990s pop culture.
But behind that simple fact lives a far more complicated pairing: an artist who built her voice in Ohio basements and New York clubs, and a father who was often thousands of miles away on sets, tours and studio lots.
For Elle, being Rob Schneider’s daughter was never the headline of her life. It was a footnote—sometimes painful, sometimes warm, sometimes barely present. It was something she needed to distance herself from to discover who she was when no one was looking to see whose last name she carried.
And that distance is where their story truly begins.
How Elle King’s Parents Met — And Why Everything Fell Apart So Quickly
Elle King’s origin story reads almost like something out of a fast-paced Hollywood script. Her parents, Rob Schneider and model London King, met in Las Vegas and reportedly married just days later in 1988. It was impulsive, romantic, chaotic and ultimately unsustainable.
Elle was born less than a year later.
By 1990—barely two years into their marriage—Rob and London divorced. London left Los Angeles and relocated to Ohio, raising her baby girl far from the comedy boom her ex-husband was riding in New York.
As Schneider joined Saturday Night Live, cementing his name in the cast that included Chris Farley, David Spade and Adam Sandler, London King was navigating life as a young single mother in the Midwest. For Elle, this created a strange split between two universes: one quiet, grounded and rural, and the other glittering, loud and unreachable.
Her parents’ breakup wasn’t a dramatic Hollywood scandal—it was a quiet disconnection that left a lifelong impact.
What Was Childhood Really Like for Elle King?
The biggest misconception about Elle King is that she grew up in a celebrity household. She didn’t.
She grew up in Ohio, surrounded by working-class normalcy. Her mother remarried in 2000 to Justin Tesa, a man Elle now credits as a central father figure—the person who introduced her to rock music, encouraged her creativity, and helped build the identity she would later project onto stages around the world.
Elle’s relationship with her biological father existed, but inconsistently. She has openly mentioned summers spent with Rob on movie sets, including time in Amsterdam during the filming of Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo. For a child, these were surreal experiences—fun, strange, glamorous, but ultimately not enough to offset the gaps between visits.
In later interviews, Elle described childhood moments that still carry emotional weight:
She remembers:
– being “the chubby girl with a dad who didn’t visit often”
– being sent to a “fat camp” as a preteen
– watching a parent forget birthdays
– feeling the absence more sharply because of who he was to the world
These memories shaped her fiercely independent spirit.
They also shaped her identity as someone who refused to rely on a famous last name.
Why Elle King Walked Away From the Last Name Schneider
Elle King was not born “Elle King.”
She was born Tanner Elle Schneider—a name she shed with purpose.
She has explained the decision simply and honestly: she wanted to build a career based on her voice, not her genes. She didn’t want to be introduced as “Rob Schneider’s daughter.” She didn’t want doors to open out of nepotism or curiosity.
“I didn’t want to be known as someone’s kid,” she said in past interviews. “I wanted to do this on my own.”
The choice to take her mother’s last name, “King,” was a declaration of ownership over her life and her artistic identity. It was a way to create distance during years when her father wasn’t present and when she needed to know she could stand on her own.
This decision also became one of the earliest public clues that the “Elle King Dad” story was more complicated than people assumed.
How Elle and Rob Schneider Drifted Into Estrangement
By Elle’s late teens and early twenties, she and her father were barely speaking. When her first EP released in 2012, she said Rob “wasn’t even in my life.” He had remarried, welcomed a new child, and continued focusing on his career.
Meanwhile, Elle—living in New York, busking, playing clubs, experimenting with rock, blues and country—was building the version of herself that the world would eventually come to know.
During this chapter of estrangement, she struggled deeply with depression, heartbreak, rebellion and self-destructive choices. She has never blamed her father outright for those struggles, but she has acknowledged that unresolved childhood wounds threaded into her adult life in complicated ways.
This era marked the emotional low point in their relationship—one that would take years to climb out of.
What Brought Elle King and Her Dad Back Together
Surprisingly, it wasn’t fame or success that brought them back together.
It was children.
Specifically, her younger half-sisters—Rob Schneider’s daughters with his third wife, Patricia Azarcoya. When Miranda was born in 2012 and Madeline in 2016, Elle saw a reason to reach out. She wanted those little girls to know their older sister. She didn’t want history to repeat itself.
That intention opened a door.
Through those connections, Elle and Rob began repairing their own bond. They began talking again. They appeared together in interviews. Elle guest-appeared in Rob’s Netflix series Real Rob. They even performed a duet in his Netflix special, Asian Momma, Mexican Kids, sharing a moment that fans saw as healing and hopeful.
For a few years, the “Elle King Dad” narrative seemed finally stable—two people who had done the hard work, set healthy boundaries, and chosen to show up for each other.
But as with many families, peace is not always permanent.
The 2024 Break — What Really Caused the Rift
In 2024, Elle King appeared on the Dumb Blonde podcast and spoke candidly about her father:
She said:
– they sometimes go years without speaking
– he could be “toxic”
– she cannot align herself with his anti-vaccine and anti-LGBTQ public comments
– speaking out was her way of being honest, not hurtful
“I’m not hiding anything,” she implied. “I’m telling the truth of my own life.”
Her words went viral.
The media turned her vulnerability into soundbites. Social networks framed it as a feud. Elle, however, insisted she was speaking as a grown woman reflecting on childhood experiences that shaped her.
Rob Schneider responded publicly on Tucker Carlson’s show. His apology was emotional, regretful and unusually raw. He admitted he wasn’t the father she needed when she was young. He wished he could take back the absences. He hoped she would forgive him someday.
It was, in many ways, the apology children wait their whole lives to hear.
But Elle later said the gesture meant little because of the platform he chose to deliver it from. To her, a personal wound requires a personal apology—not a televised one.
And with that, the fragile peace between them fractured again.
The Other Father in Elle King’s Life — Justin Tesa
Any honest story about Elle King’s dad must include her stepfather, Justin Tesa—the man who raised her through the most formative years of her life.
When Elle speaks about Tesa, her tone changes. There is no bitterness, no unresolved grief, no guardedness. Instead, she describes a man who:
– introduced her to The Donnas
– put rock music in her hands
– encouraged her to pursue instruments
– showed up consistently
– believed in her talent without conditions
She credits him for igniting her musical identity—the spark that eventually turned into Grammy nominations, festival headlining slots, and crossover success across country, rock and blues.
In interviews, Elle often says:
“I am only a musician because of him.”
In a story as complicated as hers, Justin Tesa stands as the stable pillar—the father figure who shaped her future not through DNA, but through devotion.
How Motherhood Reshaped Elle King’s View of Her Father
Elle King is now a mother of two sons with tattoo artist Dan Tooker. Entering motherhood changed her perspective on childhood memories she had tried to bury.
She has spoken about wanting to break cycles, not repeat them.
She wants her children to feel:
– seen
– supported
– celebrated
– protected
She wants to be emotionally present in ways she sometimes lacked growing up. Motherhood has brought her clarity about what she needed as a child—and what she refuses to replicate.
Yet it has also softened her in certain ways. She acknowledges the difficulty of balancing career and parenting. She understands pressure and exhaustion. She still wishes her father had made different choices, but she also recognizes his humanity.
It is a nuanced compassion—one that exists alongside boundaries, not instead of them.
Where the Elle King Dad Relationship Stands Today
As of 2025, the relationship between Elle King and Rob Schneider is best described as distant but loving. They are not estranged in the hostile sense, nor are they close in the daily-life sense.
They love each other.
They care.
But they disagree on politics, on life philosophies, on the meaning of honesty, and on how publicly they should discuss the past.
Elle is committed to authenticity—even when it hurts. Rob is committed to trying to make peace—even if imperfectly. Their story is ongoing, evolving, changing with each year.
The “Elle King Dad” search will always lead to Rob Schneider.
But the truth behind that search is a story of:
– forgiveness attempted
– forgiveness withheld
– love that exists despite conflict
– and two people who continue, in their own ways, to reach for understanding
It is messy. Human. Real. And still unfolding.
Conclusion
The story of Elle King Dad isn’t a Hollywood fairy tale. It’s a nuanced portrait of two people—one a comedian who made the world laugh, the other a musician who turned pain into art—trying to navigate the unspoken weight of their past.
Elle King and Rob Schneider share a bond shaped by love, distance, misunderstanding, reconciliation and rupture. Their history is imperfect, sometimes raw, often emotional, but undeniably human.
What makes their story compelling isn’t the celebrity behind it—it’s the truth within it: families are complicated, healing isn’t linear, and sometimes love looks like showing up in small ways, even after years of getting it wrong.
Their relationship continues to evolve. And as Elle grows as an artist, mother and woman, the story between father and daughter remains open—unfinished, real and still being written.
FAQ — Elle King Dad: What People Are Asking
Is Elle King close to her dad today?
According to recent interviews, their relationship is currently strained. They love each other but are not in regular contact.
Why did Elle King drop the last name Schneider?
She wanted to build her career independently, without being labeled a “nepo baby,” and chose her mother’s surname for her artistic identity.
Did Rob Schneider apologize to Elle?
Yes. He publicly apologized in 2024, expressing regret for being absent during her childhood. Elle, however, felt the apology wasn’t delivered in a meaningful way.
Who raised Elle King?
Primarily her mother, London King, and her stepfather, Justin Tesa—whom she credits with inspiring her music career.
Do Elle King and her father share political views?
No. She has publicly disagreed with his anti-LGBTQ and anti-vaccine statements, which contributed to recent tension.