Ellen DeGeneres, the host of the Ellen show and the voice behind Dory in Finding Nemo, opened up about being sexually assaulted by her stepfather when she was still a teen.
The TV host added that she was “angry” at herself for not standing up to her stepfather when he sexually assaulted her.
DeGeneres shared about her experience of being sexually assaulted in a new episode in David Letterman’s “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction” which will be released on Friday in Netflix, a movie streaming application.
Ellen recalls how her mum married her stepfather when she was still a teenager, she then shares that her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer after getting married and added that her mum underwent a mastectomy.
DeGeneres then said that her stepfather took advantage of the situation in order to feel her breasts.
Ellen explained what really happened, she said, “He told me when she was out of town that he’d felt a lump in her breast and needed to feel my breasts because he didn’t want to upset her, but he needed to feel mine.”
Ellen added, “I’m angry at myself because – you know, I didn’t – I was too weak to stand up to – I was 15 or 16.”
Ellen calls her experience as a “really horrible one” and says that it is a “horrible story”.
She then explains why she is sharing her experience with the world, she said, “it is because I want other girls to not ever let someone do that”.
Ellen is hoping that her courage about speaking about her experience will encourage other sexual assault survivors to speak out about their experiences and help other people who have been through it.
She added, “We just don’t feel like we’re worthy, or we’re scared to have a voice, and we’re scared to say no. That’s the only reason I think it’s important to talk about it because there are so many young girls and it doesn’t matter how old you are.”
She then talks about the people who share their sexual assault experience, she said, “When I see people speaking out, especially now, it angers me when victims aren’t believed because we just don’t make stuff up.”
This is not the first time that Ellen shared about her experiences in being sexually assaulted during her childhood days.
During an interview with Busy Philipps on the Ellen DeGeneres Show in October 2018, Ellen shared about her thoughts on being sexually assaulted at 15-years-old.
She said, “You just get so angry when someone doesn’t believe you or say, ‘Why did you wait so long?’”
Ellen added, “It’s because we’re girls and we’re taught not to say anything and go along with it.”