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Laura Dern says she was sexually assaulted as a teen

Photo credit: Warner Bros.
Photo credit: Warner Bros.

From Digital Spy

The following article contains accusations of sexual misconduct that some readers may find distressing.

Laura Dern has come forward with allegations of experiencing sexual harassment and assault as a young actress, following a series of high-profile revelations from other stars.

The on-going Hollywood scandal came up during Laura's appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, as she reflected on being honoured at the ELLE Women in Hollywood event on Monday (October 16).

"It was an extraordinary experience, perhaps more than ever, to have this shared space and a tribe of women and artists talking about this industry, and ultimately therefore talking about sexual harassment in the workplace. And a very interesting thing happened this morning," Laura explained.

"I woke up and I realised that in that space I talked about how I was one of the lucky ones because I was raised by actors [Diane Ladd and Bruce Dern] who told me their stories and told me what to look out for, and I realised that I was I still justifying behavior.

"And it was my mom who said, 'No, no, no, Laura – that was sexual assault. That was harassment. That was assault. You were 14 then'."

Dern is therefore backing plans from Star Wars boss Kathleen Kennedy to form a commission aiming to stop "predators" from victimising actors and actresses of all ages.

"More women need to speak up," Ellen DeGeneres concurred.

Photo credit: Jason LaVeris / FilmMagic / Getty Images
Photo credit: Jason LaVeris / FilmMagic / Getty Images

Dern's Big Little Lies co-star Reese Witherspoon came forward earlier this week with accusations that a director had sexually assaulted her when she was just 16.

"I wish that I could tell you that was an isolated incident in my career, but sadly it wasn't," she said at the Elle event. "I've had multiple experiences of harassment and sexual assault and I don't speak about them very often.

"I have my own experiences that have come back to me very vividly and I find it really hard to sleep, hard to think, hard to communicate a lot of the feelings that I've been having about anxiety about being honest, the guilt for not speaking up earlier."


Rape Crisis England and Wales works towards the elimination of sexual violence. If you've been affected by the issues raised in this story, you can access more information on their website or by calling the National Rape Crisis Helpline on 0808 802 9999. Rape Crisis Scotland's helpline number is 08088 01 03 02.

Readers in the US are encouraged to contact RAINN, or the National Sexual Assault Hotline on 800-656-4673.


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