Photo: Steve Zak Photography/FilmMagic
Shortly afterDonald Trumpmade headlines formocking Christine Blasey Fordat a rally in Mississippi, an outragedTatum O’Nealcriticized his actions while speaking out about her ownhistory of sexual assault and abuse.
“I am a woman and i have been sexually assaulted more than once,” the actress, 54,wroteon Instagram, alongside a still fromPaper Moon, which she won as Oscar for when she was 10.
“It was not my fault when i was 5, 6 12 , 13 , 15,” she continued, adding that “older men who I thought were safe“ were behind each assault.
The actress shared that she “was always blamed” for the assaults because of her “loudness” and “curiosity,” and that it’s taken her “almost 55 years to know how to advocate for myself.”
Later on in the post, she stated a “75-year-old man” assaulted her when she was 15 — and that she remembered “everything” about what happened.
Slamming Trump for his actions, she remarked, “we’ve sunk to a depth of depravity that I never thought the president of the United States could ever sink to.”
“There are people will say, I had it coming or it was probably my fault. Or I deserved it -that’s what America has come to,” she wrote, adding that it was time to unite and push for progress. “Together we fight on for the empathy, and kindness towards one another, whatever your preferences are , whether you’re black or white or conservative or liberal we are Americans and we should always fight for people who have had trauma or who have suffered, and never hurt others for whatever reason. I’ve never seen such a dark time in our country.”
She went on to add that while this is a “dark time in our country,” women who have experienced sexual assault or violence “must NOT put down our armor.”
“It’s time to fight for one another and each other in this dark time ! America We can do better – we will be better!!’” she concluded the post, adding a prayer hands emoji and an American flag emoji.
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O’Neal, who previously addressed her history of sexual abuse in her 2004 autobiography,A Paper Life, said during a recent interview withThe Mail on Sunday, that she “suffered years of abuse, both emotional and sexual.”
“When your parents are off getting drunk or high, they are not watching what happens to their children,” she added.
In the autobiography, she claimed her father’s drug dealer molested her when was 12, and that a family acquaintance also molested her when she was 6, according toDeadline.
source: people.com
