By Marisa Laudadio
1:08pm PST, Nov 28, 2023
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Relationships with mother-in-laws are notoriously tough. But Camila Alves's experience with hers was especially brutal, the model revealed in August 2023. A month later, her husband, actor Matthew McConaughey, defended the way his mother treated his wife, calling it a "rite of passage" in his family.
The Brazilian beauty started dating Matthew in 2006. Six years later, the couple — who share three kids — got married.
But for years, the Oscar winner's mother, Mary Kathlene "Kay" McCabe, put Camila through the wringer before finally accepting her, Camila shared on an August 2023 episode of "Southern Living's Biscuits & Jam" podcast.
"She did all these things when I first came in the picture, right? She was really testing me," Camila admitted. "I mean, really testing me."
According to the model, Kay "would call me by all of Matthew's ex-girlfriends' names, she would start speaking Spanish with me in a very broken way, kind of putting [me] down a bit. I mean, all kinds of stuff."
Keep reading for more on how Kay tortured Camila — and what Matthew is saying about their rift now…
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Camila Alves shared what she went through before she was finally able to get husband Matthew McConaughey's mother, Mary Kathlene "Kay" McCabe, to accept her.
Eager to forge a bond with Kay, Camila invited her along when she booked an international modeling job.
"I got a job to go to Istanbul to go do a fashion show there, and that job comes with the perks of you get another first-class ticket, you get another night's hotel room, you get this, you get the driver. And I was like, 'Ma Mac, you're gonna come with me,'" Camila recalled.
"The whole way there, the whole plane ride to Istanbul, she was telling me all these stories and putting all these things in my head," Camila said. "When we landed, I was like, 'OK, all right. Let me buckle up. Let me get ready for this situation."'
Then, on their third day away together, "I was taking her to her room, and she got into this whole other thing that… it's not my place to share, and she starts crying, and I'm like, 'Oh my gosh!' You know, 'Ma Mac!" and feeling so sorry. And as I put her to bed, I look at her and I'm like, 'Oh my gosh. She's full of s—.'"
So Camila decided to stand up for herself and fight back…
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After being messed with by Matthew McConaughey's mother, Mary Kathlene "Kay" McCabe, while they were in Istanbul together, "I just [flipped] it on her and brought my spicy Brazilian, Latin side, and I let her have it. So I went back at her, and we had it back and forth, back and forth,'" Camila recalled on the "Southern Living's Biscuits & Jam" podcast in August 2023.
"And then at the end, she just looked at me and she was like, 'OK. Now you're in,'" Camila shared. "All she wanted was for me to fight back."
But it hasn't been all roses since then…
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Though Camila Alves eventually earned mother-in-law Mary Kathlene "Kay" McCabe's respect when she fought back, they still sometimes have to work through friction.
"From that day on, that night on [in Istanbul], we have the most amazing relationship, and I have so much respect for her, she has so much respect for me," Camila said on "Southern Living's Biscuits & Jam" podcast in August 2023, though she admitted, "It can get tricky sometimes.'"
Still, Camila explained, "We always end with a good laugh and a joke."
Kay has also admitted she didn't make it easy…
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During an appearance with daughter-in-law Camila Alves on "The Drew Barrymore Show" in 2020, Matthew McConaughey's mother admitted that even though she and her son's wife now "get along really well together," she wasn't exactly welcoming early on.
"We were testing each other," Mary Kathlene "Kay" McCabe said, leading Camila to interject, "I would say more you were testing me."
Kay admitted that was true, explaining, "I mean anybody who was going to hang out with my son, I wanted to know a little bit about. So yes."
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Matthew McConaughey seemingly sided with his mother, not his wife, amid all the turmoil.
The Oscar winner explained to "ET Canada" in September 2023, "My family is big on rites of passage and initiation, and you don't get into the McConaughey family easily. We test you. And even in our own family with my brothers, and mother is one of us."
Matthew also admitted they can get "on their high horses," but at the end of the day, he insisted, they're there for each other and deeply loyal.
"Oh, my family, we humbly wait, we make you cry, and then we pick you up and make your favorite drink," he added. "So there are initiations, rites of passage that my family's always enjoyed."
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On Thanksgiving 2023, Camila Alves and mother-in-law Kay McConaughey posted an Instagram video together in which they reflected on their blessings.
The pair wished followers a happy Thanksgiving "from our family to yours" before sharing their thoughts side by side.
Camila captioned the clip, "She's 91 and I am blessed and grateful to have her in my life."
