Carol Burnett signed hundreds of books at the festival. (Kristin Yinger/NeonTommy)

“The Carol Burnett Show” star opened up about her loving relationship with daughter, Carrie Hamilton, who struggled with addiction as a teenager.

“I was very naïve. I was in denial,” Burnett shared inside USC’s Bovard Auditorium when first realizing her daughter was living an unhealthy lifestyle. “I thought [her addiction] was puberty. I was devastated but I was afraid of her…I wanted her to be my best friend.”

After seeing both of her parents die from alcoholism, Burnett knew she had to do something so her child wouldn’t end up with the same tragic fate. She described the day she forced her then 17-year-old daughter to rehab. “Carrie called me every name in the book.” Burnett said. “But I had to love her enough to let her hate me.”

After getting clean that same year, Hamilton went public with her story. “We didn’t want to get the tabloids to tell our story,” Burnett said when explaining the decision to talk to the trustworthy People Magazine. Even to this day, Burnett doesn’t regret the decision to come out and start an important conversation about addiction.

Ever since the issue was published, she has received thousands of supporting letters from fans including one from actor and Broadway star Tim Conway who also struggled with addiction. “Tim once told me, ‘She saved my life. I wanted to be Carrie. I wanted to be happy,’” Burnett said.

After getting clean and becoming a successful actress on the big screen, Hamilton began writing a story to be titled “Sunrise in Memphis.” As she developed the characters and story lines, Hamilton unfortunately started battling lung cancer and was ultimately unable to finish the book before her death at 38-years-old.

“She asked me if I could finish it,” Burnett remembered when describing her daughter’s final days. “I didn’t think I could because those were her characters.” But Burnett figured a way to get her words out in her own book titled “Carrie and Me: A Mother-Daughter Love Story."

"Once I figured how to do it…I felt Carrie on my shoulder,” Burnett said. “It just kind of poured out and I felt so relieved.”

The finished product is a poignant story of parenting, friendship and love. “We had one hell of a ride during her 38 years," Burnett said. “We really were best friends.”

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