Ellen DeGeneres recently disclosed a painful family secret, hoping that her candid revelation will provide support to others facing similar situations. The comedian expressed her desire for protection during her vulnerable childhood and voiced her anger towards those who doubt such experiences.
Ellen, who hails from Louisiana, rose to fame in the late 1970s, overcoming numerous obstacles along the way. Her big break came in 1986 when she performed a stand-up routine on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, which opened the door to more late-night appearances, club gigs, and television roles.
From 1989 to 1990, the now 66-year-old comedian secured her first regular television role on the short-lived sitcom Open House. In 1994, she became the star of the comedy series These Friends of Mine, later renamed Ellen. “I was laughing out loud when I read the script. I knew what I could do with it,” she shared with the New York Times in 1994. “I wanted a show that everyone would be talking about the next day.”
And indeed, the show sparked conversations, especially after Ellen came out as a lesbian both on the show and in real life. Although the series was canceled in 1998, Ellen was devastated but also revealed that she was in a relationship with actress Anne Heche that same year.
Heche described her first encounter with Ellen, saying, “I saw the most ravishing woman I had ever seen in my life standing across the room. Her name was Ellen DeGeneres. She was radiating.” The couple’s relationship ended in 2000, shortly before Heche shared her own traumatic past.
In a 2001 interview with Barbara Walters, Heche disclosed that she had been sexually abused by her father from a young age. “He raped me,” she stated, tragically passing away in a car accident in August 2022 at the age of 53.
Heche’s experience resonated with DeGeneres, who expressed her frustration towards those who doubt victims of sexual abuse. “As a victim of sexual abuse, I am furious at people who don’t believe it and who say, ‘How do you not remember exactly what day it was?’” DeGeneres told Savannah Guthrie on Today in 2018. “You don’t remember those things. What you remember is what happened to you, where you were, and how you feel.”
DeGeneres has previously shared her own experience on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, responding to Busy Phillips, who revealed her own sexual assault at 14. DeGeneres recounted her own trauma, saying, “I was 15 and I had something happen to me… anyone who has had something happen to them, you just get so angry when someone doesn’t believe you or says, ‘Why did you wait so long?’”
In a later conversation with David Letterman, DeGeneres opened up about the abuse she suffered starting at around 15 or 16, which began after her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. She recounted how her former stepfather manipulated her into allowing him to touch her, saying, “He convinced me that he needed to feel my breasts.”
Initially, DeGeneres kept the abuse a secret from her mother, who ultimately did not believe her when she finally spoke out. “I should never have protected her. I should have protected myself,” she reflected, noting that her mother remained married to her abuser for another 18 years.
As she continues to care for her mother, DeGeneres has expressed a desire for better support during her childhood, stating, “I wish she would have believed me.” Despite the pain, she hopes her story will inspire others who have remained silent.
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