Ellen DeGeneres has spoken out again about being sexually assaulted by her stepfather when she was a teenager.
In a new interview with David Letterman's My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, the talk show host discussed how her mother married a "very bad man," who would go on to molest DeGeneres not long after her mother received treatment for breast cancer.
"[My stepfather] 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," DeGeneres explained on Letterman's Netflix series, per Entertainment Tonight.
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DeGeneres says the molestation started when was "15 or 16." She told Letterman that she was "angry" that she could not "stand up" to her abuser.
"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 added.
It isn't the first time that DeGeneres has spoken out about her history with sexual abuse. In 2005, she detailed the abuse in an interview with Allure. DeGeneres did not reveal her stepfather's name, but stated that he was her mother's third husband and that he is now deceased.
DeGeneres told Letterman the reason she is once again coming out with her story, saying, "When I see people speaking out, especially now, it angers me when victims aren’t believed because we just don’t make stuff up," DeGeneres said. "And I like men, but there are so many men that get away with so much."
If you have experienced sexual violence of any kind, please visit Rape Crisis or call 0808 802 9999.
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