Gloria Estefan made public on a talk show that she was sexually abused as a child.
Los Angeles – Singer Gloria Estefan spoke about childhood abuse.
“93 percent of abused children know the perpetrators and trust them, and I know that because I was one of them,” said the 64-year-old on Thursday in her talk show “Red Table Talk: The Estefans”, which she shared with her Daughter Emily Estefan (26) and niece Lili Estefan (54) presented.
“He was a family, but not a close family,” the singer continued. The perpetrator was in a position of power because Gloria’s mother sent her to his music school when she was nine. He said to his mother, “How talented I am and that I need special attention, and she was lucky that he brought that kind of attention to me.”
The perpetrator threatened her that he would kill her mother if she told her about the abuse. That’s why she initially faked illnesses in order not to have to go to music school. One day she couldn’t take it any longer and told her mother about it. “Then the police came,” she continued. However, the officials advised against going to court. “And that’s the one thing that makes me feel bad because I know there must have been other victims.” The singer admitted that she had only spoken about the abuse within the family.
In the further course of the program, Estefan spoke to the US reality actress Clare Crawley (“The Bachelorette”), who reported on her own experiences of abuse as a child. The episode of the online show that airs on Facebook Watch is titled “Betrayed by Trusted Adults”. dpa
