Oprah Winfrey’s childhood trauma isn’t something the longtime talk show host has shied away from. In 1986, she bravely revealed on The Oprah Winfrey Show that she was a sexual assault survivor and had been the victim of a relative. In a recent interview with Apple TV+’s The Me You Can’t See, the 67-year-old businesswoman claimed that an older cousin raped her throughout her childhood and detailed the experience of learning about sex through the abuse.
The Me You Can’t See’s premiere season will feature Prince Harry in addition to Winfrey. According to Deadline, the show “will attempt to destigmatize the highly misunderstood subject of mental health and empower viewers at home.”
Released May 21 on Apple TV+, the show will include Winfrey’s details surrounding her childhood rape, Page Six reported.
“At nine and 10 and 11 and 12 years old, I was raped by my 19-year-old cousin. I didn’t know what rape was,” she recounted, according to Page Six. “I certainly wasn’t aware of the word. I had no idea what sex was. I had no idea where babies came from. I didn’t even know what was happening to me.”
“It’s just something I accepted,” she continued, adding, “The telling of the story, the being able to say out loud, ‘This is what happened to me,’ is crucial.”
The Apple TV+ series is executive produced and hosted by Winfrey and Prince Harry, who hope to address the stigmas surrounding topics like abuse, trauma and mental health. “The majority of us carry some form of unresolved trauma, loss, or grief, which feels—and is—very personal,” Prince Harry told Deadline about the groundbreaking show.
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“Yet the last year has shown us that we are all in this together, and my hope is that this series will show there is power in vulnerability, connection in empathy, and strength in honesty.”
Trauma isn’t easy to discuss, especially publicly. We commend Winfrey for sharing her story, which will undoubtedly help countless other survivors recognize and overcome their own abuse.
You can catch the first four episodes of Winfrey’s new show, The Me You Can’t See, on Apple TV+.
