Mumbai, September 17, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Media personality Oprah Winfrey has spoken about experiencing sexual abuse from the age of nine and reflected on the lasting impact of the trauma during a conversation with podcast host Jay Shetty.
In a video shared on Instagram from her appearance on Shetty’s podcast, Winfrey discussed how she eventually came to understand that the abuse she experienced did not define her.
“I’ve been molested since I was nine,” Winfrey said, recalling how she had read extensively and spoken to people about the fact that such abuse is never the victim’s fault.
She said that despite understanding this intellectually, a part of her continued to feel that her nine-year-old self was somehow responsible for what had happened.
Shetty asked Winfrey what she had learned about the difference between experiences that can become a breakdown in someone’s life and those that can ultimately become a breakthrough.
Responding, Winfrey said she learned that a person is not defined by the worst experience they have endured.
“I was able to see that you are not the worst thing that has happened to you,” she said.
Winfrey also reflected on her experiences as a Black woman navigating spaces where she was often the only Black person and the only woman in the room. She said she did not initially view that as a barrier because she believed that being given the opportunity to be there meant she belonged there.
Winfrey is best known for ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’, which became one of the most influential television talk shows in the US.
She has received numerous honours during her career, including 19 Daytime Emmy Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards and a Tony Award. She was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 1994.
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