Overview
- Speaking to People in a cover story published Wednesday, the 65-year-old says she can now say the abuse out loud and no longer feels it owns her.
- She first told a therapist about the assault roughly a decade ago and says confronting it initially led to more eating and drinking before sustained progress.
- She connects years of body shame and harsh self-criticism to the childhood trauma, noting a severe anxiety attack in late 2024 pushed her to deepen the work.
- Getting Naked: The Quiet Work of Becoming Perfectly Imperfect is out March 10 from Harper Wave and opens the chapter on the abuse with a photo of her at age 11.
- She has not identified an alleged abuser or pursued legal action in reports, and she cites support from her son, cooking, The Drew Barrymore Show, and outreach through Valerie’s Place with a podcast planned.