John Stamos reveals he was sexually abused

John Stamos reveals he was sexually abused

John Stamos has recently disclosed that he experienced childhood sexual abuse. The 60-year-old former Full House star shared this revelation in a recent interview with PEOPLE, explaining that it was while working on his upcoming memoir, “If You Would Have Told Me,” that he came to acknowledge the truth about a traumatic incident involving a babysitter. Stamos, who has long served as a celebrity ambassador for ChildHelp, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the prevention and treatment of child abuse, revealed that this painful memory had always lingered in the recesses of his mind.

“I do a great deal of advocacy for survivors,” he expressed. “I had a vague recollection of it. It has always been there, but, like many people, I buried it away, right?”

Stamos’ representatives did not respond immediately to EW’s request for a comment on the matter.

He shared that, at the time of the abuse, he didn’t confide in anyone. Instead, it was while drafting an acceptance speech for an award he received for his advocacy work that the memory resurfaced.

“I began writing it, and that’s when it resurfaced,” he recollected. “But I decided, ‘No, tonight isn’t about me. It’s about the children. I’ll tuck it away again until the right moment.’ Otherwise, I’d be a hypocrite. It’s like, ‘Come on.'”

As for his decision to include this painful episode in his memoir, Stamos initially had reservations, not wishing for it to overshadow the central narrative.

“I didn’t want the primary focus to be on that, and I didn’t want the book to be defined by it,” he elaborated. “It was a part of the story, but I felt compelled to address it. It was an unsettling experience. I believe I was around 10 or 11 when it occurred. I shouldn’t have had to grapple with such feelings.”

Stamos, who is now a father to a 5-year-old son with his wife, Caitlin McHugh Stamos, underscored the contrasting emotions he experiences as a parent: “But I’ll tell you, if I found out someone was doing that to my son? That’s a totally different story.”

In his memoir, Stamos delves into both the triumphs and tribulations of his career and personal life, including his divorce from Rebecca Romijn and his arduous journey toward sobriety, which commenced with a DUI arrest in 2015.

“I initially set out to write a heroic tale,” Stamos shared with PEOPLE. “However, as I delved into it, I realized I needed to tell a human story. Creating a hero’s narrative is bogus. Unless I was completely candid, what would be the point, right?”