Jessica Simpson talked to her children about the sexual abuse she suffered as a child: “We are very open.”
Jessica Simpson says she is “very open” about the sexual abuse she suffered as a child with her children.
Appearing on Good Morning America on Thursday, 40-year-old Simpson said he decided to tell his daughter Maxwell about the abuse after she was approached by a fan at a book signing event, who said that she was inspired to seek therapy after reading about her experience in her memoir, Open Book.
At that moment, Maxwell was with her, and the singer decided to stop the event to tell her what had happened.
“It’s something we’re very open about”: Jessica Simpson discussed sexual abuse at the hands of a family friend with her children
“A woman came to me and she cried and had her daughter with her and said, ‘What you went through as a child, you know, really encouraged me to talk to my therapist and be open with my family. “Maxwell said, ‘Mom, what are you talking about?’
“So I kept the autograph line and said, ‘I think it’s time to talk about my daughter here in Times Square.’
“But it was a perfect moment because she saw how to be open and honest with your feelings and how you can inspire people that way … how sincerely she moves and how she can make a difference in people’s lives, and she saw that. he was doing that, ‘she said. “She went home and started writing a diary … she’s been writing in her diary ever since.”
Simspon also said that her children read some of her memoirs.
Moved: Simpson, 40, decided to tell his daughter Maxwell about abuse after she was approached by a fan at a book signing event, who said she was inspired to seek therapy after read about her experience in her memoirs, Open Book
“I’ll talk to my daughter about this here in Times Square”: Simpson remembered what came to her mind when she decided to share her abuse story with Maxwell
“They read part of it,” she said. “Nothing is forbidden. We are very open as a family. For me, when I talk about sexual abuse and stuff, those things happened to me when I was younger than them and at their age. So it’s something we’re very open about.
Simpson revealed in his Open Book memoirs that the daughter of a family friend sexually abused her when she was six years old.
The singer kept the abuse a secret for years, and she didn’t tell her parents about it until six years after it started.
The family matters: Simpson shares daughters Maxwell, eight, Birdie, two and son Ace Knute, seven, with her husband Eric Johnson
After presenting her story in her memoirs, Simpson says she heard from other women who have had similar experiences.
“The feeling is overwhelming, beautiful and suddenly humiliating,” she told People. “I decided to write the book in the hope that I would be able to help someone who feels overwhelmed by life, needing to read a path through all the hidden places and not feel alone with their pain.
“It was written to someone who knows there is more to them in this life, but he just needs encouragement to move with compassion for hard things.”
“The personal offers of courage, resilience and hope that people have given me over the last year have meant more to me than they will ever know,” she said.
“The stories reintroduced me to my ambition as a leader. The hearts and faces behind these stories will stay with me for the rest of my life.
Before: After presenting her story in her memoirs, Simpson says she heard from other women who had similar experiences.