Brooke Shield revealed that she was a victim of abuse during her youth, but she had to remain silent to avoid being singled out.
During the documentary Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, Brooke Shields, 57, broke her silence to testify that during her youth she was a victim of abuse by a subject belonging to the film industry who promised to help her produce a movie.
The painful incident of abuse that the star suffered occurred in a meeting held with a man, until today unknown, and occurred again months after the model and writer also graduated from university.
Brooke pointed out that it was a meeting whose objective was to finalize her participation in a new film. However, the man in question attacked her in a hotel room.
“It was like a fight. She was afraid of suffocating or something. I didn't even fight, I didn't, I just told myself: 'Stay alive and then run away,' she was completely petrified," the visibly affected actress recalled.
Likewise, Ella Shields described that after suffering this abuse she spoke with one of her friends on her phone and after telling him what happened, he confirmed that she had been a victim of rape.
Throughout the documentary, the actress—who has been active since 1974—also addressed other types of unpleasant experiences, such as harassment and misogynistic comments that she had to live through while she was growing up in the intricate world of the Hollywood scene.
The first part of the documentary examines the s- that the artist experienced as a child, including a provocative photo shoot at age 10 and her appearance as a child prostitute in the film Pretty Baby at age 11.
During the plot, a young Brooke Shields can be seen subjected to questions from men much older than her about her roles in films such as The Blue Lagoon and Eternal Love, and the series of controversial Calvin Klein jeans commercials.
After experiencing worldwide fame as a teenager, Brooke attended Princeton University and initially had serious difficulty finding acting roles after graduating, which led to her encounter with her alleged rapist.
The documentary, which earned Broke Shields a standing ovation, also chronicles the media's subsequent obsession with her virginity, her mother's alcoholism, and her first marriage to tennis star Andre Agassi.
“My personal message is perseverance, and not allowing yourself to be a victim in the eyes of any society or industry. We have to observe how we are taught to see people and how we are taught to let them see us. It is a new topic of conversation on the table,” the actress mentions in said documentary.
