Ellen DeGeneres’ mother ‘lives with regret’ for not listening to daughter’s sexual abuse claims

'I know now that one of the hardest things to do is speak up after being sexually abused'

Betty and Ellen DeGeneres (Getty Images)

Ellen DeGeneres' mother has released a statement regarding her daughter's claims of sexual assault, saying she "lives with regret".

On Friday 31 May, an interview conducted between David Letterman and DeGeneres was released on Netflix in a new episode of television programme My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman.

During the interview, the talk show host told Letterman how her late stepfather, whom her mother married when DeGeneres was a teenager, sexually abused her.

Following the release of the interview, DeGeneres' mother, Betty DeGeneres, has spoken of her regret for not taking her daughter's claims of sexual abuse seriously at the time.

"I know now that one of the hardest things to do is speak up after being sexually abused," the 89-year-old told NBC's Today show.

"I love my daughter, and I wish I had the capacity to listen to her when she told me what happened.

"I live with that regret, and I wouldn't want that for any other parent," she continued.

"If someone in your life has the courage to speak out, please believe them."

DeGeneres told Letterman how her mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a mastectomy shortly after marrying her stepfather.

The 61-year-old said that her stepfather took advantage of this information to touch her breasts.

“He told me when she was out of town that he’d felt a lump in her breast and needed to feel my breasts because he didn’t want to upset her, but he needed to feel mine,” DeGeneres told Letterman.

“I’m angry at myself because – you know, I didn’t – I was too weak to stand up to – I was 15 or 16.”

The Finding Dory star added that she didn't tell her mother about the sexual abuse for a few years.

When she did, her mother didn't believe her initially and stayed with her stepfather for 18 more years.

In October last year, the talk show host spoke with actor Busy Philipps on The Ellen DeGeneres Show about being sexually assaulted at 15.

“You just get so angry when someone doesn’t believe you or say, ‘Why did you wait so long?’” she said. “It’s because we’re girls and we’re taught not to say anything and go along with it.”

To find a Sexual Abuse Referral Centre, click here.

You can contact the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre helpline by calling 0808 802 9999. The helpline is open every day from 12pm to 2.30pm and from 7pm to 9.30pm.