Pamela Anderson revealed on Friday that she was the victim of sexual abuse throughout her childhood, starting at the age of 6 at the hands of a babysitter.
The 46-year-old Baywatch veteran was addressing an audience during the launch of The Pamela Anderson Foundation, an advocacy group for animal rights, when she stunned a crowd of 200 or so by opening up about these very personal and painful recollections.
Here is a portion of what she shared to the audience gathered during the Cannes Film Festival event as posted to the diary section of her foundation:
I did not have an easy childhood–
Despite loving parents-
I was molested from age 6-10 by my female babysitter-
I went to a friends boyfriends house – while she was busy. The boyfriends older brother decided he would teach me backgammon which led into a back massage which led into rape- my first heterosexual experience. He was 25 yrs old- I was 12-
My first boyfriend
in grade 9 decided it would be funny to gang rape me
(with 6 of his friends)
Needless to say I had a hard time trusting humans-
I just wanted off this earth.
My parents tried to keep me safe- but to me – the world was not a safe place – my dad – an alcoholic- my mom worked 2 jobs waitressing —
my mom was always crying–
Dad didn’t always come home leaving us in tremendous pain
and worry.
I couldn’t bare to give her any more disruptive information.
I couldn’t break her heart any more than it was breaking.
I kept these events to myself –
Sometimes when you smile,
it’s not because your happy. It’s because your strong. (Her words)
My affinity with animals
Saved me- they came to me naturally.
People reached out to Anderson’s camp and a rep said that she would have no further comments at the moment about the speech.
http://t.co/k7XcCfS4wK My speech at launch of my Namesake foundation. I want people to know – they can overcome and prosper with love…
— Pamela Anderson (@PamelaDAnderson) May 18, 2014
