Betty DeGeneres Speaks About Ellen’s Sexual Abuse Claims Against Her Stepfather
Betty DeGeneres is speaking out after her daughter, Ellen, revealed in an interview with David Letterman that she was sexually assaulted by her stepfather when she was a teenager.
“I know now that one of the hardest things to do is speak up after being sexually abused,” she said in a statement given to NBC News. “I love my daughter, and I wish I had the capacity to listen to her when she told me what happened.”
“I live with that regret, and I wouldn’t want that for any other parent,” her statement continued. “If someone in your life has the courage to speak out, please believe them.”
Ellen had spoken about the abuse in the past with Today co-anchor Savannah Guthrie in 2016, but she didn’t go into as much details as she did with her upcoming episode on Netflix’s My Next Guest Needs No Introduction With David Letterman.
In it, the comedian claimed her mother’s husband used her mom’s breast cancer diagnosis as a window into abusing 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,” Ellen told David.
“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.”
Watch the interview on Netflix, streaming now.