Betty DeGeneres expresses herself for the first time after her daughter, Ellen DeGeneres, recently explained in detail how she had been sexually assaulted in adolescence.
In an interview with David Letterman for his show on Netflix, My next guest does not need an introduction with David Letterman, Ellen stated that her mother did not initially believe her when she told him that her father-in-law had sexually assaulted her on several occasions.
On Friday, Betty issued a statement that was read on the Today & # 39; hui show, expressing regret at not initially believing his daughter. "I now know that one of the most difficult things to do is to speak up after a sexual assault.I love my daughter and I would like to have the ability to listen to her when I She told me what happened, "she said. "I live with this regret and I would not want it for any other parent."
Betty, 89, concluded, "If anyone in your life has the guts to speak, please, believe it."
In her interview with Letterman, Ellen recalled that shortly after her father's divorce and remarriage of her father, breast cancer had been diagnosed and one of her breasts had been removed. Ellen said that her mother's husband had used this information to sexually assault him multiple times.
"When she was in town, he told me that he had felt a lump in his chest and that he needed to feel my breasts because he did not want to upset her, but he needed to feel mine, "she told Letterman. "… He convinced me that he needs to feel my breasts, then he tries to do it again, then another time."
The 61-year-old television personality told her mother what her father-in-law had done only a few years later, but her mother did not believe it. Ellen said that Betty had been married to this man for another 18 years, but had finally left him because he was constantly changing his story.
As for how his relationship with his mother – who appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres show Time and time again, she confessed, "I've always taken care of myself all my life, so I never stopped caring for her, I did not have her." really let it go until recently I went "I would have liked to be able to take better care of myself." I hope she would have believed me. "And she apologizes, but, you know …"
Ellen hopes her story will help other victims of sexual assault to make themselves known. "We [women] do not feel like we're worth it, or we're afraid to talk and we're afraid to say no, "she says. That's the only reason I think it's important to talk about it because there are so many girls and no matter how old you are. When I see people speaking, especially now, it makes me angry when the victims do not believe, because we do not make anything. And I like men, but there are so many men who come out so much. "
Ellen added, "It's time for us to have a voice, it's time for us to have power."
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HOLLYWOOD, Calif., June 8: Betty DeGeneres (left) and actress Ellen DeGeneres attend the Disney-Pixars FINDING DORY World Premiere on Wednesday, June 8, 2016 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images for Disney)
BEVERLY HILLS, CA – MARCH 21: Television personality Ellen DeGeneres and her mother, Betty DeGeneres, attend the 26th annual GLAAD Media Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on March 21, 2015 in Beverly Hills, California . (Photo by Jason Merritt / Getty Images for GLAAD)
The actress Ellen DeGeneres and her mother Betty De Generes pose at the ceremony in the honor of a star on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood. (Photo of Frank Trapper / Corbis via Getty Images)
The actress Ellen DeGeneres and her mother Betty De Generes pose at the ceremony in the honor of a star on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood. (Photo of Frank Trapper / Corbis via Getty Images)
HOLLYWOOD, CA – SEPTEMBER 04: Talk show host Ellen Degeneres; Mother Betty Degeneres and Los Angels Councilor Tom Labonge attend the Hollywood Walk of Fame Celebration in honor of Ellen Degeneres on September 4, 2012 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Albert L. Ortega / Getty Images)
HOLLYWOOD, CA – SEPTEMBER 04: Portia de Rossi and Betty DeGeneres attend the Ellen DeGeneres Induction on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on September 4, 2012 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Jason LaVeris / FilmMagic)
HOLLYWOOD, CA – SEPTEMBER 04: (Left to right), Portia de Rossi, Ellen DeGeneres and Betty DeGeneres attend DeGeneres' inducement on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on September 4, 2012 in Hollywood, California . (Photo by Jason LaVeris / FilmMagic)
HOLLYWOOD, CA – SEPTEMBER 04: Ellen DeGeneres and her mother Betty DeGeneres attend the DeGeneres Induction on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on September 4, 2012 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Jason LaVeris / FilmMagic)
LOS ANGELES, CA – SEPTEMBER 04: Ellen DeGeneres (left), host of the actress / talk show, with her mother Betty DeGeneres, is honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on September 4, 2012 in Los Angeles. Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter / Getty Images)
Ellen DeGeneres, Portia de Rossi and Betty DeGeneres (Photo by Jon Kopaloff / FilmMagic)
Ellen DeGeneres, Portia de Rossi and Betty DeGeneres (Photo by Jon Kopaloff / FilmMagic)
Ellen DeGeneres, Portia Rossi and Betty DeGeneres (Photo by Ron Galella, Ltd. / Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)
Jamie Foxx, Portia de Rossi, Ellen DeGeneres and Betty DeGeneres (Photo by E. Charbonneau / WireImage for Vanity Fair)
Portia de Rossi, Betty DeGeneres and Ellen DeGeneres (Photo by Eric Charbonneau / WireImage for Vanity Fair)
Ellen DeGeneres and her mother Betty DeGeneres at the 33rd Daytime Emmy Awards – Arrivals at Kodak Theater in Hollywood, California, USA. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff / FilmMagic)
Ellen DeGeneres and her mother Betty DeGeneres at the 33rd Daytime Emmy Awards – Arrivals at Kodak Theater in Hollywood, California, USA. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff / FilmMagic)
Ellen DeGeneres (right) and her mother, Betty, at the 33rd annual Red Carpet Daytime Emmy Awards at Kodak Theater in Hollywood, California, USA. (Photo by Mathew Imaging / FilmMagic)
Ellen DeGeneres and her mother Betty DeGeneres at the 33rd Daytime Emmy Awards – Arrivals at Kodak Theater in Hollywood, California, USA. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff / FilmMagic)
Ellen DeGeneres and Mom Betty DeGeneres at the 32nd Daytime Emmy Awards – Press Room at Radio City Music Hall in New York, New York, USA. (Photo by Michael Loccisano / FilmMagic)
Ellen DeGeneres and Mom Betty DeGeneres at the 32nd Daytime Emmy Awards – Press Room at Radio City Music Hall in New York, New York, USA. (Photo by Michael Loccisano / FilmMagic)
Ellen DeGeneres and her mother Betty DeGeneres at the 32nd Daytime Emmy Awards – Press Room at Radio City Music Hall in New York, New York, USA. (Photo by Mathew Imaging / FilmMagic)
23/11/98 Los Angeles, California Ellen Degeneres and her mother Betty at the "27th Anniversary of LA Gay and Lesbian Center".
CENTURY CITY, CA – NOVEMBER 21: Actress Ellen DeGeneres and her mother Betty attend the 27th Anniversary Gala at the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center on November 21, 1998 at the Century Plaza Hotel in Century City, California. (Photo by Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)
CENTURY CITY, CA – NOVEMBER 21: Actress Ellen DeGeneres and her mother Betty attend the 27th Anniversary Gala at the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center on November 21, 1998 at the Century Plaza Hotel in Century City, California. (Photo by Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES – SEPTEMBER 13: Actress Ellen DeGeneres and actress Anne Heche and her mother, Betty, attend the 50th Primetime Emmy Awards on September 13, 1998 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)
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