Christina Applegate reveals childhood abuse in new memoir

Christina Applegate has opened up about the abuse she endured as a child in her new memoir, offering a raw and personal look at how those experiences shaped her life. 

The 54-year-old actress revealed that she was molested by a female babysitter when she was just five years old, an experience that left lasting emotional scars.

Raised primarily by her mother, Nancy Priddy, after her father left when she was an infant, Applegate described an unstable early home life marked by her mother’s heroin addiction and a physically abusive boyfriend. 

In an excerpt from You With the Sad Eyes obtained by People, she wrote, “I never fully felt comfortable being touched, and that’s true still… all because of that girl forcing me to do something I barely understood but that I knew was shameful.”

Applegate emphasized that her memoir is not about portraying herself as a victim, but rather about empowering others who have faced abuse. 

“I hope that some girl or boy or anyone who’s gone through being molested or beaten or anything I’ve gone through can go, ‘Oh my God, okay. I’m going to be okay,’” she told People.

Now a mother to 15-year-old Sadie with husband Martyn LeNoble, Applegate is fiercely supportive and unapologetically herself in her parenting. 

She also injects humor into her life, candidly sharing moments of levity while managing multiple sclerosis, including playful antics with her daughter that showcase her resilience and enduring spirit.