Mary J. Blige has opened up to VH1's Behind the Music about the sexual abuse she suffered as a child, New York's Daily News reports.
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"When I was 5 years old I was molested and just, you know. I remember feeling, literally right before it happened, I just could not believe that this person was going to do this to me," Blige, 40, said of the abuse by a family friend.
"That thing followed me all my life," she said. "The shame of thinking my molestation was my fault — it led me to believe I wasn't worth anything."
What changed? She says her relationship with her husband, Kendu, was the incentive she needed to finally sober up. "When I stopped drinking, it was willpower. It was prayer. It was really hard. But most of all, I cared so much about [Kendu], I didn't want to be just this alcoholic burden on him."
Good for her for speaking out. As hopeless as she once felt, Mary J.'s willingness to talk openly about this experience is sure to decrease the shame and trauma for other young women in her position.
Read more at the Daily News.
In other news: VIDEO: Everyone Wants to Touch Natural Hair.
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