The singer first opened up about being a victim of sexual abuse as a child in her recent memoir, “Open Book,” released earlier this year.
It was earlier this year that Jessica Simpson it was opened for the first time about the sexual abuse she suffered as a child at the hands of another girl considered at that time a friend of the family.
Now, she is talking about why she decided to look for that woman and confront her years later. Simpson told him Katherine Schwarzenegger about his “The Gift of Forgiveness” podcast that came at this time shortly after his break from Nick Lachey.
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“I was celibate at the time and I was on this trip to explore myself and I knew I couldn’t move forward without letting him know I wasn’t going to leave him unsaid,” Simpson said of his conversation with the woman.
“I left it without saying for too long.”
According to the book, Simpson was abused from the age of 5 or 6 until she was 12 years old. Her alleged abuser was a year older than her. Simpsons suffered terrible bullying after she opened up to a classmate about it.
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Instead of lashing out or attacking the woman when he finally confronted her years later, Simpson said he chose forgiveness and some kind of understanding. It was only later that Simpson learned that his abuser was being abused at the same time.
“I went to her and said, ‘I know you know what was happening and I know you were being mistreated’ because an older man was mistreating him,” she said. “He was always there in the house too, so he never touched me, but he would abuse her and she would come to me and do things for me.”
Simpson said “in many ways” she “felt bad for her.” He advised the woman to speak to someone about her own experiences, to seek understanding, forgiveness, and healing.
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“I just want you to know that I forgive you,” Simpson said and said to the woman. “And I really don’t mind being around you anymore, but I want you to know that I know what happened between us and that I’m not going to live in denial about it.”
It was an important moment for Simpson herself, who said, “I knew that if I was honest with her, it would clear my conscience.”
He even said he sent the unidentified woman a copy of her book after it was published, and wrote that she hopes it “brings healing.” Just as it seems that confronting the woman with forgiveness and compassion served Simpson with the same purpose.
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