Actress Ariel Winter Gives Interview On Emancipation From Mother, Calling It 'Very Sad' [VIDEO]

It was a mother-daughter battle that was out in the open tube.

 Ariel Winter, who starred in ABC's hit sitcom "Modern Family," talked about her battles with her mother when she had been 17. It was "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" that became the talk of the town.

Being 18 years now, Winter, had declared her "emancipation" from her mother Chrisoula Workman last spring. She charged her mother with having inflicted years of "emotional and physical abuse."

The legal battle had begun when she had been just 14 years old and her older sister, 37-year-old actress Shanelle Gray, had filed the courts to take custody. The case dragged till she became 17 years old, and Gray was given "temporary and then permanent custody" of Winter. After that, Gray completed the process of legally "emancipating" her sister.

Her sister, Gray, had been her main source of support through all her rough teenage years, said Winter.

"She's been the best part of my life," the actress told DeGeneres. "She really is my best friend. She is the most important thing to me. She's been there for me through absolutely everything and I just love her so much. I count on her more than anything."

After the legalities were over, the two sisters had nothing else to do with their mother. Winter said that though it has been difficult for both of them to grow up in the show without a mother's support, they have managed to move on.

"It has been very sad for me, but at the same time it's been much better for me emotionally and physically to be on my own and have a better, safer household and support system," the teen said. "I don't really talk about the reason I don't speak to my mother. It's kind of been publicized, but the reason I don't really share that is I want to give her the same respect that she didn't give to me publicly."

In 2013, Workman had appeared on a "Dr. Phil" show, denying the charges of abuse and accusing her elder daughter Gray of trying to take over Winter just for the sake of money.

"Well, you know it just really didn't try and fix anything with me," Winter said of her mother's TV interview. "It just tried to make herself look better and I 'm not interested in doing that. People can make their own judgments. I did what I had to do for myself."

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