- Sex & Drugs
- 24 Sep 19
With her memoir on stands today, Demi Moore reveals that she was raped at age 15 and her mother put her in harm's way.
Demi Moore, the Golden Globe-nominated actress from the likes of General Hospital, Ghost, and G.I. Jane, revealed yesterday that she was raped at age 15.
The allegations come ahead of the release of her memoir, Inside Out, out today. In an interview yesterday with ABC's Diane Sawyer, Moore revealed the trials of her formative years and opened up about being raped as a child.
One night, when she was 15, Moore recalls coming home to the familiar face of an older man in the apartment. He had let himself in with a set of house keys. She alleges that he proceeded to rape her, at one point looking to her and saying, "How does it feel to be whored by your mother for $500?".
When Sawyer asks if she believes her mother sold her, Moore replies, "I think in my deep heart no. I don't think it was a straightforward transaction. But she still did give him the access," she says pausing for a long moment, "and put me in harm's way."
Soon thereafter, Moore moved to California and became the highest paid actress in film history with her performance in Striptease. However, she struggled with alcohol and substance abuse as an adult.
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"I guess the fundamental question that came forward for me was: How did I get here?'", says Moore, recollecting the highs and lows of her life.
Moore admits in retroscpect that between the alcoholism, infidelity, and debt that plagued her parents, her childhood was "colourful".
In her memoir, she writes, "I remember using my fingers – the small fingers of a child – to dig the pills my mother had tried to swallow out of her mouth". And that was one of many, many times, she recalls.
Sawyer responds, "You said your childhood-"
"-was done," Moore responds, finishing the sentence for her. After muttering for a moment, she concludes, "Yeah... life-changing moment."
Moore also reveals that a few years after the initial suicide attempt, she learned that the man she loved as her father was not in fact her biological father. And soon thereafter, her mother began bringing her along to bars with her for attention. It was those experiences that led to the alleged rape.
In recollecting the interview to introduce it to viewers, Diane Sawyer commends the vulnerability and rawness of Demi Moore.
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"She's really telling a lot of us that the things that almost break you can give you courage."
Inside Out by Demi Moore is available today. The second half of her interview will premiere today on Good Morning America.
Watch the first half of the interview here: