Country singer Rory Feek's eldest daughter, Heidi, has accused her father of putting her youngest sister, Indiana, in "harms way" and has decided to take legal action. Heidi and her sister, Hopie, have expressed concern about Rory's parenting decisions regarding Indiana and claim that he has banned communication between the sisters. Rory has denied the allegations and penned a blog post defending his actions.
Country singer Rory Feek's eldest daughter, Heidi, has accused her father of putting her youngest sister, Indiana, in "harms way" and has decided to take legal action. Heidi and her sister, Hopie, have expressed concern about Rory's parenting decisions regarding Indiana and claim that he has banned communication between the sisters.
Family Feud: Rory Feek's Daughter Heidi Takes Legal Action Against Him Over Sister's Well-being
Rory Feeks daughter Heidi accused her father of putting her youngest sister in "harms way." (roryfeek.com)
Rory and his second wife, Joey Feek, found fame together as Rory + Joey and welcomed Indiana — Indy — in 2014. Joey passed away from cancer in 2016. Since Indiana's mother's death, Heidi and Hopie "developed a special maternal bond" with their sister who has special needs, according to their GoFundMe page.
Family Feud: Rory Feek's Daughter Heidi Takes Legal Action Against Him Over Sister's Well-being
Heidi has been close with Indiana over the past several years, and she even served as her flower girl during her wedding in 2018. Heidi told People that their bond began to change a few years ago.
She told the outlet that Rory would not allow Heidi or Hopie to FaceTime Indiana anymore, which served as their main source of communication since they lived in different states. Then, text messaging was not allowed.
Family Feud: Rory Feek's Daughter Heidi Takes Legal Action Against Him Over Sister's Well-being
"We supported his decision because we could still talk to her on the phone and she continued to visit us in Alabama," Heidi told the outlet. "But things got concerning when Rory began canceling her visits to Alabama without rescheduling. Eventually, he said she wasn’t allowed to do overnight visits anymore, with no explanation. After that, we were only allowed to see her three times: her 10th birthday, one dinner, and the Homestead festival in June — when we saw her last. Now, he doesn’t let us talk to her on the phone and won’t respond to my texts."
Rory Feek has denied Heidi's claims in a blog post, stating that Indiana is allowed to talk to her sisters, but that she is not allowed overnight visits with them. He explained that he has different "worldviews" than his oldest daughters and doesn't want to expose his youngest to certain things. He also noted that Heidi and Hopie "refused to respect my wishes when she [Indiana] was there."
"But Indiana is my daughter, and I know what Joey would want, and I am standing firmly on not compromising the values and principles that are important to me to raise Indy with," Rory wrote. "I tell her that hopefully soon, we’ll all be back together, and she’ll get to talk to and see them again. I do look forward to that day almost as much as Indy does."
After Rory released his blog post, Heidi took to Instagram to share a message of her own, announcing that she and Hopie were taking legal action against their father. Heidi included several slides, directing the conversation at her father, before concluding with, "This is Hopie and Heidi again, love is action. And we love our little sister Indiana more than anything in the world. So we are taking action. Love, your daughters."
During her interview with People, Heidi explained that she and Hopie were told that their mother did not want to be part of their lives, but only recently discovered that wasn't the truth.
"When we started getting cut off from Indy, I couldn’t shake the feeling that this had all happened before," Heidi told the outlet. "That’s when I found my mom and called her. She had always wanted to be part of our lives and had been waiting my whole life to share her story with me. Now, I realize it’s my duty to make sure history doesn’t repeat itself."
Rory denied Heidi's claim in his blog post, stating that he had always been open to his daughters having a relationship with their mother.
Heidi and Rory did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
