Betty DeGeneres has broken her silence on claims that her late ex-husband sexually abused her daughter as a teen.
As we reported, Ellen DeGeneres revealed she was sexually abused by her stepfather in a startling interview on David Letterman‘s Netflix series My Next Guest Needs No Introduction. In the sit-down, the daytime darling emotionally detailed her abuse and said her mother didn’t believe her when she mustered up enough courage to share the disgusting incidents. Betty actually stayed with the “very bad man” for 18 additional years before ending things.
Ellen elaborated on the assaults, saying he took advantage of her when DeGeneres’ mom, now 89, was diagnosed with breast cancer and had to get one breast removed:
“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. He convinced me that he needs to feel my breasts and then he tries to do it again another time, and then another time… He tries to break my door down, and I kicked the window out and ran ’cause I knew it was going to go more to something. And I didn’t want to tell my mother because I was protecting her and I knew that would ruin her happiness.”
“I’m angry at myself because, you know, I didn’t — I was too weak to stand up to — I was 15 or 16. 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.”
Wrapping up, Ellen noted:
“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. 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. It is just time for us to have a voice. It’s time for us to have power.”
In a new exclusive statement to NBC News, supplied through Ellen on Friday, Betty shared her deep regrets about how she handled the situation following the Finding Dory star’s confession:
“I know now that one of the hardest things to do is speak up after being sexually abused. 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. If someone in your life has the courage to speak out, please believe them.”
