Actress Christina Applegate has shared a deeply personal part of her past, revealing how childhood abuse left a lasting emotional mark on her life.
The 54-year-old star, known for films like Hall Pass, Vacation and Bad Moms, spoke about the experience in her new memoir You With the Sad Eyes.
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A painful memory from childhood
In an excerpt from the book, Applegate recalled being molested by a female babysitter when she was very young. She wrote that even at that age, she instinctively knew something was wrong.
“I knew every part of it was wrong. I felt sick and scared and sad…” she shared. The actress added that the incident affected her comfort with physical touch for years afterward.
“I never fully felt comfortable being touched… and all because of that girl forcing me to do something I barely understood but that I knew was shameful,” she wrote.
Growing up in an unstable home
Applegate also reflected on the instability she experienced during her early years. She was largely raised by her mother, Nancy Priddy, after her father Robert Applegate left when she was still an infant.
According to the actress, her childhood environment was often difficult, shaped by her mother’s struggle with heroin addiction and the presence of an abusive partner in the home.
“I think I had kind of the worst situation from 3 to 7,” she wrote, adding that similar struggles were common in many households around her at the time.
‘I’m not trying to be a victim’
Despite the heavy subject matter, Applegate said her intention in sharing the story is not to seek sympathy but to support others who may have gone through similar experiences.
She explained that she hopes readers facing their own trauma will feel less alone. “I’m empowering other people out there… I hope that some girl or boy or anyone who’s gone through what I’ve gone through can go, ‘Oh my God, okay. I’m going to be okay,” she said.
Finding humour and strength in motherhood
Best known for The Married…with Children star is now a mother to 15-year-old Sadie, whom she shares with husband Martyn LeNoble.
Speaking about parenting, Applegate said she doesn’t believe in maintaining too much distance from her child.
“I’m her biggest supporter. I fight for her at every turn,” she said, describing their close bond.
Even while dealing with multiple sclerosis (MS), the actress said she tries to keep humour alive at home, often joking around to make her daughter laugh, and sometimes cringe.
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