Matthew McConaughey Reveals How He Didn’t Let Being Blackmailed Into Sex As A Teen Destroy Him

Oscar-winning Hollywood star Matthew McConaughey is opening up about how he didn’t let the traumatic experiences of being blackmailed into sex when he was 15, as well as being drugged and molested by a man three years later, break him down. 

‘I’m Not Gonna Let It Beat Me’

Daily Mail reported that McConaughey, 52, had previously revealed these experience to the world in his 2020 memoir “Greenlights.” While appearing on Amanda de Cadenet’s “Conversation: About the Men” podcast, McConaughey said that he was determined from an early age to not let the fact that his initial sexual experiences were traumatic impact his future relationships. 

“I’m not gonna be afraid of relationships because my first experience was blackmail. Uh uh. That’s an aberration,” the Dallas Buyers Club star revealed. “And I’m not gonna let it beat me … I’m not gonna let that beat my sense of trust in people and say, ’No, I can have a healthy relationship.’ Non-negotiable. No.”

He continued, “Happened. Am I denying that it happened? No. I’m not denying that it happened. Ugly. Ugh.”

Related: Matthew McConaughey Reminds Us That A Hollywood Celebrity Can Be A Family Man Too

McConaughey Reveals Traumatic Experiences

In his memoir, McConaughey wrote about both of these disturbing sexual experiences for the first time.

“I was blackmailed into having sex for the first time when I was 15,” he wrote, according to Page Six. “[I was] molested by a man when I was eighteen while knocked unconscious in the back of a van.”

In his latest interview, McConaughey admitted that he never connected these two experiences until much later in life.

“I didn’t connect ’em,” he said. “Am I gonna carry that? I chose, non-negotiably, I’m not going to carry that, bring that baggage into the life I’m going to lead, and how I treat people and how I trust people, and how I look at circumstances and the risk I may take.”

As for how he’s healed and moved on from these negative experiences, McConaughey credited the people close to him for helping him along the way. 

“I’ve had very good friends. I’ve had good mentors,” he disclosed. “I’ve had elder men, elder women, married couples, that pulled it off — from celebrating 50-year anniversaries, that have taken the time to sit with me.”

McConaughey has definitely moved on with his life, as he’s been married to the model Camila Alves for ten years, and they have three young children together. 

Related: Matthew McConaughey’s Wife Camila Shares Why She Loves Raising Their Family In Texas

‘I’ve Never Felt Like A Victim’

After his memoir was released, the actor explained in an interview why he didn’t feel it was “constructive” to go into graphic detail about his sexual assaults.

McConaughey elaborated, “Ultimately, there’s nothing that I feel is constructive about the details,” adding, “I feel like those details, unless I had a really good constructive way that I saw it that could be relatable to other people, I felt like those details could have just been grabbed and reported for voyeurism.”

“I write also in the book I’ve never felt like a victim,” the award-winning actor added. ” Yes was I victimized in those two situations? Sure. But that doesn’t mean that I’ve carried on through my life the feeling of ‘Oh I was victimized,’ or ‘Oh I was a victim,’ or that those two unfortunate events have turned me into the man that I am or are even an excuse.”

Watch McConaughey talk more about this in the video below.

This all serves as a reminder that men can be victims of sexual trauma and abuse just as easily as women can. We applaud McConaughey for being so open about these difficult experiences while also letting the public know how he did not let them ruin his life.