PHOTOSEllen DeGeneres Emotionally Recalls Being Sexually Assaulted As A Teenager
May 28 2019, Updated 4:05 p.m. ET
Ellen DeGeneres spoke about her painful past on David Letterman’s Netflix series. She opened up about being sexually assaulted as a teenager and how she’s hoping her story will help others. Read on for all the details.
Ellen, 61, revealed harrowing details on season two of My Next Guest Needs No Introduction With David Letterman.
The daytime icon recalled how her mother, Betty DeGeneres, married a “very bad man” when she was just a teenager.
Ellen explained that her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and had one of her breast removed after she married him. She said that the man used this information to sexually assault her.
"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," she said.
"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 continued. "It’s a really horrible, horrible story and the only reason I’m actually going to go into detail about it is because I want other girls to not ever let someone do that."
The Emmy winner is hoping her story will resonate with others who have been through something similar. "We women just don’t feel like we’re worthy, or we’re scared to have a voice, and we’re scared to say no," she said.
"That’s the only reason I think it’s important to talk about it because there’s so many young girls and it doesn’t matter how old you are. When I see people speaking out, especially now, it angers me when victims aren’t believed, because we just don’t make stuff up. And I like men, but there are so many men that get away with so much."
