90210 star speaks out in a brave essay about her sexual assault
90210 star, AnnaLynne McCord has revealed in an open essay that she was once sexually assaulted by someone she knew, when she was 18-year-old.
AnnaLynne said in her open essay that she “was done with being quiet”.
The 26-year-old actress revealed that none of her 90210 cast mates knew about her sexual assault, even when they filmed a similar story on the show.
“Then when the cameras were rolling on an intense scene — a fight with an unsupportive friend after the assault — I broke down, sobbing uncontrollably. My cast mates thought I had done a great job playing the part. They had no idea that I had actually been sexually assaulted by someone I knew in real life.”
McCord then wrote in her essay that she was sexually assaulted by a male friend, who asked if he could crash on her couch because he needed a good night’s sleep for a meeting the next day.
“We sat on the bed and talked for a while, then I fell asleep. When I woke up, he was inside me. At first, I felt so disoriented and numb, I closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep. I wondered if I had done something to give him the wrong idea. I felt afraid of making him angry. Believe it or not, I didn’t want to offend him. I just wanted it to be over. My childhood had come back to haunt me again: Because of the physical abuse, I didn’t believe there were borders between other people’s bodies and my own. I didn’t believe I had a voice.
I said, ‘Please, don’t!’ He stopped and went in the bathroom and finished. I lay there and stared at the ceiling for the rest of the night, frozen. At dawn, I wrote a note to him and left. I sat outside in a car and waited for him to leave. When he did, I went back inside, took a shower, and pretended it hadn’t happened.”
AnnaLynne said when she later confronted him about what occurred, he said it was consensual and even told their mutual friends that she was in love with him.
The actress said she eventually sought professional help, which enabled her to confront her past.
McCrod said she is in a good place now and has “profound intimacy” with her boyfriend, Dominic Purcell.
AnnaLynne said she wrote about her experiences in the hope that would help other sexual assault victims.
“You have a voice. Don’t put yourself in a box. Don’t let the polite lies of society silence you. Honestly, I would endure everything all over again — it has led me to my own revolution.”
