THE DAD of Cash Me Ousside girl Danielle Bregoli has revealed how he felt “forced” to make the heartbreaking decision to give up parental rights for his daughter because of years of alleged animosity from her mum and mounting legal fees.
But in an emotional video message to Danielle – also known by her rap name Bhad Bhabie – Ira Peskowitz told the 15-year-old “Daddy will always love you”.
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Ira has been locked in legal battles with his ex - Danielle’s mother Barbara Bregoli - since the youngster was born in 2003.
Danielle later shot to fame in a Dr Phil episode about unruly teens after she turned to the snigg*ring audience and said"Catch me outside, how about that?" but, because of her accent, it sounded a lot more like: "Cash me ousside, how bow dah?" - a catchphrase that soon went viral.
Ira said he was stunned when he saw the episode and had no idea his daughter had so many behavioral problems.
“When I first saw the Dr Phil episode I had no idea," he said,
“I just thought ‘Wow that’s my daughter’ I could see that even though I helped create her those weren’t my qualities, they weren’t my traits - that's not the way you raise a child.
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“I would never allow her to speak that way, act that way, but I had no part in that.
“I had absolutely no part in it, in her upbringing and if I did we wouldn't be where we are now.
“I know other people are drooling at the mouth because they're making whatever type of money off of herbut this child gave up a father and a family to become this celebrity or whatever you want to call it.”
Ira said that after watching the show he resolved to get his daughter the help she needed - even putting her on his health insurance and finding a placement for her in a rehabilitation programme.
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“My goal was always to get Danielle the help that she truly needed not on some television show with Dr Phil, not prancing around town half dressed, with paparazzi chasing her and malicious lies to media outlets to try to gain popularity,” he said.
“I wanted to get Danielle the proper health care and help that she needed in regards to her hardships in life, from her problems at school, her behaviour with others, her drug abuse, all that stuff.
“I wanted to be able to help Danielle in a nurturing and normal atmosphere that a child would go through, not through this nonsense.”
However after months of legal battles, where he kept getting blocked from seeing her, Ira said he felt he had no choice but to give up his fight and have his name taken off Danielle’s birth certificate.
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“The emotions were overwhelming bothersome, but I needed to protect my family, my two boys, my wife, my career, myself from the emotional hardships and the trauma that was caused to me and my extended family as well. There was no end.
“There was no positive outcome of what occurred in the courtroom -it was a circus.
“It was like a third world country.
“There was no end for Danielle to ever be part of my life and her brother's lives and her extended families’ lives because of what went on in that courtroom.”
But despite signing away his parental rights, Ira says he remains her father and will always love his daughter.
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Ira has been accused of cashing in on his daughter or only wanting to be part of her life since she became famous - two claims he venomously denies.
He says he has never made any money from anything related to his daughter - and he showed evidence to Sun Online proving he has always tried to be a part of her life since she was born - but was blocked by Danielle’s mother Barbara.
He has claimed in court papers that Barbara has waged a campaign against him, calling Ira’s place of work and attacking him online.
In one voicemail left by Barbara on Ira’s phone - and heard by Sun Online - she talks about Danielle and tells him: “You’re not in her life, you’ll never be in her life… you want her now because she’s making money ain’t gonna happen Ira… she’s mine.”
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Ira even applied for a restraining order against Barbara last year but the application was dismissed after Ira signed away his parental rights.
Ira, a law enforcement officer from south Florida, says his high profile legal battles has caused untold stress to him and his family - including his wife and two sons, aged 10 and 12.
“I had no say in court,” Ira said.“The judge shut me down when I wanted to talk.
“I had a speech prepared and he told me ‘this is not the appropriate time’.
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“It was unbelievable. Me as the father had zero rights, I'd have to beg and raise my hand like I was in Second Grade just to say something in court.
“The judge appeared to be so caught up in the media hype and all the cameras and these fancy hot shot attorneys.
“I started off really wanting to do something for Danielle and get her the help she needed.
“And then going through court and everything I’ve just been left with a big hole inside of me.
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“I’ve had almost 25 years in law enforcement where my job is to help others and then I couldn't even help my own child. "I was blocked at every turn. Then I had to deal with the frustration, the anxiety, getting shingles, the chest pains and discomfort – all related to stress.
“My other kids going through hardships, getting stressed because they saw mommy and daddy upset and wanting to be able to see their sisters.
“And the only thing stopping it was the judge and the money behind this whole case.”
Ira says since his custody battle hit the headlines – he’s been contacted by hundreds of other parents in the same position – and now hopes to use his experience to help others.
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“Hundreds of people reached out to me and said, ‘we feel your pain, we go through the same thing, we’ve lost our ability to be a parent because of the untruthfulness of the courtrooms, the attorneys making up things, judges making decisions not on the best interest of the children.
“I didn't realize how, how prevalent parental alienation is around the world. And my messages aren't just from people here in Florida that from, from everywhere around the world.
“The system is completely failing our children.”
And in an emotional message to Danielle he said:“Daddy always loved you. Daddy will always love you
“I'm sorry that I haven't been part of your life because of many barriers that were put forth for me not to be part of your life, but you always have a father here.
“You always have someone here who will be your father.”
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And he holds out hope that maybe one day the pair will be reconciled.
“Maybe when she’s an adult or she has children of her own she might come looking for me.
“I will be very joyful, but I'll be very hurt at the same time because I'm sure at that time she will probably expose a lot of things that had been done to her in these last couple of years that I try to prevent.”
Sun Online has reached out to Danielle and her mother for comment.
