Padma Lakshmi Writes Of Being 'Depressed, Nauseous' After Revealing Rape At 16

Padma Lakshmi, who recently opened up about being raped at 16, wrote a heart-wrenching thank you note for her followers, who responded to her piece in New York Times with empathy. Picking out two of the most powerful lines from her op-ed, first published on Tuesday, the 48-year-old celebrity wrote: "I want to thank each and every one of you that reached out, commented, tweeted, shared this piece with others, and more importantly shared your own stories." The post she shared bears these words: "Some say a man shouldn't pay a price for an act he committed as a teenager. But the woman pays the price for the rest of her life, and so do the people who love her."

In her new Instagram post, the mother of eight-year-old daughter said she has battle depression and anxiety in the recent past as she relived her harrowing experience while writing her piece: "In the past three days I have been anxious, depressed, nauseous, sobbing and holding on to #littlehands so much and so tightly she is highly annoyed! (She has no idea why and thinks it's mommy's hormones.)" In her post, she also added: "But the outpouring has been such a salve, a balm to my frayed nerves and feeling flayed."

In her opinion piece titled: "I Was Raped at 16 and I Kept Silent", she shared her harrowing tale of sexual abuse in the wake of Donald Trump's tweet questioning the authenticity of Christine Blasey Ford's allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. "On Friday, President Trump tweeted that if what Dr. Blasey said was true, she would have filed a police report years ago. But I understand why both women would keep this information to themselves for so many years, without involving the police," she had written.

Padma Lakshmi's big revelation was shared as a contributory account to social media's '#WhyIDidntReport' movement, which is an attempt to document the various reasons why women refrained from sharing their accounts of abuse earlier. On Wednesday, Padma Lakshmi ended her post with: "What happens to a woman's body should be HER choice at all times, and in all cases. We must exert dominion over our own bodies. That what's at stake here. And that's why I shared what I did. Thank you for your support." She signed off her post referencing the #TimesUp and the #MeToo campaigns.

 

 

 

 

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I want to thank each and every one of you that reached out, commented, tweeted, shared this piece with others, and more importantly shared YOUR OWN stories. Because of the time sensitive nature, given what's going on, I rushed to write this for the @nytimes without stopping to think of the toll it would take on my own emotional well-being. In the past three days I have been anxious, depressed, nauseous, sobbing and holding on to #littlehands so much and so tightly she is highly annoyed! (She has no idea why and thinks it's mommy's hormones.) But the outpouring has been such a salve, a balm to my frayed nerves and feeling flayed. When you sublimate something for over thirty years, you get pretty good at it. Even very close members of my family have been utterly shocked and saddened. My mom has had to deal with her guilt. But she and I have made peace with our history. She, like most parents, has done the best she could. Doing this very difficult thing has been for me a necessary step. I am no longer scared of ghosts. I hope that my story and those of literally millions of others can contribute to how we address this harrowing topic in our culture. So many of you have messaged me with your own experiences and I am truly sorry that we share this trauma. But the only antidote is taking our power back by being as open as possible, and sending young girls and women the message that there is no shame in speaking out. What happens to a woman's body should be HER choice at all times, and in all cases. We must exert dominion over our own bodies. That what's at stake here. And that's why I shared what I did. Thank you for your support. Love, Padma #WhyIDidntReport #BelieveSurvivors #TimesUp #MeToo

A post shared by Padma Lakshmi (@padmalakshmi) on Sep 26, 2018 at 9:07am PDT

Padma Lakshmi is also author of books like Easy Exotic and Tangy, Tart, Hot And Sweet and has hosted Food Network's cook show Padma's Passport. She's best known for hosting and judging Top Chef.