Vanessa Williams Opens Up About Abuse, Teen Pregnancy and Abortion

The actress discusses troubled childhood on Nightline.

Posted: 04/18/2012 11:00 AM EDT
sexual abuse, Celebrity News, Vanessa Williams, Teen Pregnancy, abortion

(Photo: Scott Kirkland/PictureGroup)

Vanessa Williams's childhood wasn't picture perfect. The Desperate Housewives star, who recently revealed she had been molested by a female family friend, tells Nightline that she also became pregnant as a teenager and had an abortion.

 

"Being pregnant is the most frightening thing that happens in your life," says the 49-year-old. "I knew in high school that's something that I was not prepared to do, or fight, or struggle with."

 

Williams blames her ordeal partly on an overly-sexualized childhood resulting from the incident of abuse.

 

"I think I was highly sexualized because I was in fifth grade and I had this experience," she explained. "Because it feels good, you're like, OK, well this is supposed to be normal. That's not normal for a 10-year-old to be seduced."

 

The former Miss World, who lost her title after a nude photo scandal, discusses her painful past further in her upcoming memoir, You Have No Idea.

 

Despite a rough start, the mother of four enjoys tremendous success as a singer and actress. Hopefully her brave confessions will help others overcome like she did.

 

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