Dax Shepard made a startling admission on yesterday's episode of Sirius XM's The Jason Ellis Show. The Parenthood and Baby Mama actor revealed that he was molested as a child by an 18-year-old neighbor. Shepard was just 7 at the time.
Though he described the molestation as "minimal," Shepard admitted that the painful experience had a major impact on his behavior and self-identity.
"It took me 12 years to tell anyone," he told Ellis. "And then all that time, I was like, A. 'It's my fault,' as generic as that is, I'm like, 'It's my fault, and I'm gay, I must have manifested this because I'm secretly gay.' I had all these insane thoughts for 11 years or 12 years."
He believes the incident also made him more likely to abuse drugs, citing a statistic linking sexual abuse to addiction.
Shepard has been sober since 2004. He and wife Kristen Bell have two daughters, Lincoln and Delta. Bell has not yet commented on the matter.