Ellen DeGeneres is opening up about a dark part of her past. On David Letterman’s Netflix show, My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, the comedian shared new details about a time she was sexually assaulted by her stepfather as a teenager.
Ellen’s mom, Betty, married “a very bad man,” the 61-year-old talk show host explained. He used Betty’s breast cancer diagnosis to get close to Ellen and violate her.
“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,” she said to Dave, 72.
When she finally told her mother what her stepfather had done, she says Betty didn’t believe her daughter and stayed married to him for 18 more years. Ellen explained to the talk show host how the incident has affected their relationship forever.
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After Betty, 89, was diagnosed with breast cancer, her husband used the illness to trick Ellen. “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 told Dave. “...He convinced me that he needs to feel my breasts and then he tries to do it again another time, and then another time.”
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She said that he even tried to break down her bedroom door and she fled out of a window to get away.
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“I’m angry at myself because, you know, I didn’t — I was too weak to stand up to — I was 15 or 16,” she said.
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Betty left him finally 18 years later, after he kept changing his story.
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“I always have taken care of her my whole life. So I just kept taking care of her. I didn’t really let it get to me. Until recently, I kind of went, ‘I wish I would have been better taken care of. I wish she would have believed me.’ And she’s apologetic, but, you know…” Ellen said.
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She hopes telling her story helps other victims. “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 explained.
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“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,” Ellen said.
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“It is just time for us to have a voice. It’s time for us to have power,” she concluded.
After Betty, 89, was diagnosed with breast cancer, her husband used the illness to trick Ellen. “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 told Dave. “...He convinced me that he needs to feel my breasts and then he tries to do it again another time, and then another time.”
Photo credit: INSTARImages
She said that he even tried to break down her bedroom door and she fled out of a window to get away.
Photo credit: INSTARImages
“I’m angry at myself because, you know, I didn’t — I was too weak to stand up to — I was 15 or 16,” she said.
Photo credit: INSTARImages
Betty left him finally 18 years later, after he kept changing his story.
Photo credit: INSTARImages
“I always have taken care of her my whole life. So I just kept taking care of her. I didn’t really let it get to me. Until recently, I kind of went, ‘I wish I would have been better taken care of. I wish she would have believed me.’ And she’s apologetic, but, you know…” Ellen said.
She hopes telling her story helps other victims. “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 explained.
“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,” Ellen said.
“It is just time for us to have a voice. It’s time for us to have power,” she concluded.
Photo credit: INSTARImages
