Dax Shepard recalls abuse as a child in new memoir

Dax Shepard has opened up about his struggles in his memoir, saying it was difficult to write about his experiences but he is glad he overcame the hurdle.

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US actor Dax Shepard first revealed that he was molested as a child in 2020. (AP PHOTO)
US actor Dax Shepard first revealed that he was molested as a child in 2020. (AP PHOTO) Credit: AAP

Dax Shepard opens up about his experiences of abuse in his new memoir.

The 51-year-old US star first revealed that he was “molested” as a child in 2020, and Shepard has now confirmed he’ll be candid about his painful experiences in his upcoming memoir.

“I have for years on here been acknowledging that I had been molested, and that was its own hurdle to just say that,” the movie star said on his Armchair Expert podcast:.

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“And I got quite comfortable being able to say that. That was fine.

“Now I’m writing a memoir, and last year really the whole year was about, do I have the balls to write down the details of this?

“Because the details were always gonna be mine. I didn’t want anyone to be envisioning me. It’s weird that that was still some wall between my shame.”

Shepard - who has daughters Lincoln, 12, and Delta, 11, with wife Kristen Bell - admits that it was tough to revisit his experiences for the book.

“I bet it took me four months to tell that story. And when I’m writing it, I cannot help but thinking of people knowing this about me and how still exposed that feels,” he said.

“And I was pretty emotional during the few months. I was having really weird, kind of, spikes of emotions and moodiness, and I would forget that’s why I was having that.

“But I finished it, and something about it existing there feels like a lot of weight is off my shoulders.”

Shepard previously linked his childhood troubles to his addiction problems.

The actor - who battled drug and alcohol addictions - told The Jason Ellis Show: “If you’ve been molested, you only have a 20 per cent chance of not being an addict. And I was like, ‘Hm, interesting,’ because in my mind I just like to have a f***ing great time. But when you hear a statistic like that, I’m like, ‘Oh no, I was going to be an addict, period.’”

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