Gloria Estefan says she was molested at music school at 9: ‘He was family’
Global News
Gloria Estefan spoke for the first time publicly about the abuse and its effects on her during an episode of the Facebook Watch show ``Red Table Talk: The Estefans.''
Gloria Estefan has revealed that when she was 9 years old she was sexually abused by someone her mother trusted.
The Cuban-American superstar spoke for the first time publicly about the abuse and its effects on her during an episode of the Facebook Watch show “Red Table Talk: The Estefans” that aired Thursday.
“He was family, but not close family. He was in a position of power because my mother had put me in his music school and he immediately started telling her how talented I was and how I needed special attention, and she felt lucky that he was focusing this kind of attention on me,” the singer said.
Estefan, who was born in Cuba and moved to Miami with her family when she was a toddler, revealed the abuse at the top of the show, which featured Claire Crowley, the first Latina “Bachelorette.” On the episode, called “Betrayed by Trusted Adults,” Crowley talked about child abuse she experienced at the hands of a priest.
The Associated Press does not typically identify victims of sexual abuse unless they agree to be named or share their stories publicly.
Sitting at the round red table with her co-hosts _ daughter Emily Estefan and niece Lili Estefan _ Estefan opened by saying that “93% of abused children know and trust their abusers, and I know this, because I was one of them.”
“You’ve waited for this moment a long time,” her niece told her.
“I have,” Estefan replied.
