According to Bustle, Newman faced a few trying times during her childhood. Her father’s business had hit a lull, and he attempted to right his junk mail ship by creating a fake charity. This drew him and the company into a series of legal battles. Tragically, around the same time, Neumann’s older brother died after a bout with cancer when he was just 23.

One of Neumann’s former brothers-in-law, Moni Lieberman, said of Rebi Neumann as a child, “She was never running around, trying to get attention.” He also mentioned spending a fair amount of time with both Neumann and Paltrow at tense family gatherings. ​​”The whole family was constantly under fear, constantly guarding and judging.”

Neumann attended a private high school in the Bronx, and in 1996 she headed upstate to attend Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. There she seemingly had a propensity to use her relation to her famous cousin as something of an icebreaker. According to Business Insider, Neumann once introduced herself at a sorority meeting by saying, “Yes, Gwyneth is my cousin. Yes, I know Brad [Pitt, whom Paltrow was dating at the time]. Yes, we are close. And I am going to the wedding. Next!”

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