John Stamos, 60, revealed that it was during the process of writing his upcoming memoir, If You Would Have Told Me, that he realized he had been sexually abused in his childhood. The Full House alum opened up about the revelations one week ahead of the release of the book during an interview with PEOPLE on October 18. “It took me writing a book,” he explained to the outlet of realizing that his babysitter’s alleged actions were “inappropriate.”
“I mean, I knew, it was always in the back, and I do so much advocacy for the [survivors],” he told the outlet of the alleged abuse. “I felt like, I remembered it slightly. It has always been there, but I packed it away as people do, right?” The now 60-year-old explained that at the time of the alleged incident, he opted to keep it private. “I think I told myself, like, ‘Ah, it’s girls, man,'” John said. “It was like you’re playing dead so they’ll stop. But it wasn’t totally aggressive. I don’t know, it was not good.”
If you or anyone you know has been sexually abused, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). A trained staff member will provide confidential, judgment-free support as well as local resources to assist in healing, recovering and more.
The longtime Hollywood heartthrob first reflected on the alleged abuse when he was writing a speech when he was honored for his advocacy for abused children. “I started to write it, and that’s when it really came out,” he told the mag. “And then I thought, ‘No, tonight is not about me. It’s about the kids. I’m going to pack it away again until the right moment, otherwise, I’m a phony f***. It’s like, ‘Come on.'”
John explained that in the memoir, out on October 24, the reflection of the alleged misconduct is only covered briefly. “I didn’t want the headlines to be that, and I didn’t want the book to be over that,” he said. “It was a page or something, but I felt I had to talk about it. It was weird. It was something that, I think, I was probably like 10 or 11 [when it happened]. I shouldn’t have had to deal with those feelings.”
Later, the father-of-one noted how “hard” it was to write the book about his life. “I did set out to write a hero story, but then as I was doing it I was like, ‘No, I’m going to tell a human story,'” John admitted. “Because with the hero story, that’s bulls***. And unless I was a hundred percent forthcoming, what am I doing this for, right? But it was hard.” John is a proud dad to his son, Billy, 5, who he welcomed with his wife, Caitlin McHugh Stamos.