Source: Cindy Ord/VF23 / Getty
Sheryl Lee Ralph isn’t afraid to tell the truth. Even when it comes to sharing sensitive details about her personal life.
On March 13, the Dream Girls star released a new book called DIVA 2.0: 12 Life Lessons From Me For You, where she opened up about her scary assault incident involving a “famous TV Judge,” according to Vibe.
During her recent book tour, Ralph, 66, stopped by Angela Yee’s Way Up radio show to share more details about the jarring experience.
“I’m at a very public place. I was suited. I was handling my business for the television show I was on at that time,” the Abbott Elementary star recalled.
“We were on the same network. This man walked in, grabbed me by the back of my neck, turned me around and rammed his nasty ass tongue down my throat. And everybody at the network saw it.”
Hoping to bring her assailant to justice, the “You’re So Romantic” singer called up former New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial for legal guidance.
“He said ‘you want me to send the police there right now? ‘Cause we will fix his—you know what—right now.’ Somebody at the network tapped me on the shoulder and said ‘please don’t,” the Broadway actress continued, but someone at the network cautioned her against speaking out.
“Do you know that they did not want any bad press around their show and did not care what had just happened to me?”
The mother of two added, “That’s the kind of stuff that happens. That’s what happens. That’s what makes it hard for women to speak up about these things.”
Throughout the interview, Ralph did not identify her assailant, but she clarified that it wasn’t Judge Mathis, who she considers to be “a great man.”
Sheryl Lee Ralph was gaslit for confronting her assaulter
Further along in her candid sit-down with Yee, the Moesha star reflected on the embarrassment and sadness she felt following the incident. Sheryl Lee Ralph was repeatedly blamed for the assault. She was also judged for confronting her aggressor.
“It’s horrible. It’s like I can think about these things and I’ll tell you, it was like the third time something like this had happened to me. And I thought to myself, ‘what did I do to deserve that?’ What made this man think that he could just come over and put his hands on my body, in front of—he didn’t know me,” the Sister Act 2 alum said.
Ralph finally gained the courage to confront her assaulter at a work dinner event. When she revealed the startling ordeal, the man in question claimed he “did not remember” the incident.
“But I had to let him know what he did that night […] Do you want to know what was the shocking part? Everybody around the table was appalled that I would stand up for myself. They were appalled. They told me I should be ashamed of myself, and why would I even bring that up and at the dinner table,” Ralph said in disbelief.
The star, who won her first Emmy last year, said she wants victims of assault to “speak up” and tell the “truth” so that they “do not carry the burden of that pain.”
“Especially if it’s something you feel you cannot work through,” she added.
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