Dax Shepard Reveals He Was Molested as Child
And its connection to his addiction
Dax Shepard revealed that he was molested as a child during an interview on Sirius XM's The Jason Ellis Show.
The Parenthood alum said that he was inappropriately touched by an 18-year old neighbor when he was 7 years old. Shepard described the abuse as "minimal," but nonetheless had a large impact on his life, including how he felt about himself for over a decade after the incident.
"It took me 12 years to tell anyone," he said. "And then all that time, I was like, a) 'It's my fault,' as generic as that is ... 'and I'm gay, I must have manifested this because I'm secretly gay.' I had all these insane thoughts for 11 years or 12 years."
Shepard, now 41, also admits that the incident may have lead to his struggles with addiction. He had a breakthrough when his mother - who is a court-appointed advocate for foster children - informed him that only 20 percent of sexual abuse victims avoid becoming an addict.
"And I was like, 'Hm, interesting,' because in my mind I just like to have a f--ing great time," he said. "But when you hear a statistic like that, I'm like, 'Oh no, I was going to be an addict, period.'"
Listen to the interview below