LL Cool J Discusses Childhood Abuse With Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey is keepin’ it comin’ with her big gets this week.
Following her huge Lance Armstrong interview that aired last week, Winfrey also aired a widely praised interview with Drew Barrymore for “Oprah’s Next Chapter” on OWN, which aired last Sunday.
The latest to sit down on Oprah’s couch? None other than “NCIS: Los Angeles” star LL Cool J (James Todd Smith), who opens up to the talk queen about many topics, including the abuse he endured as a child at the hand of a friend of his mother’s.
It’s not the first time the actor-musician has talked about his childhood abuse. He first opened up about it in his 1998 national bestseller book, “I Make My Own Rules.”
“You also write about being a little boy, and one of your mother’s friends – you call it abuse, but it was torture,” Winfrey begins in the new interview.
“Yeah, it wasn’t sexual,” Cool J explains. “It was just… take all your clothes off….”
“You’d get beat for opening a refrigerator,” says Winfrey, “beat for watching TV…”
“Yeah, kicked out in the snow,” he continues.
“You’d get beat for being yourself?... What’s the worst thing that happened to you, that you can speak of?” Winfrey asked.
“Oh man, just, you know – beat with vacuum cleaner pipes – you know, strip naked put your hands on the bunk bed… get back down… stand back up.”
In another clip, Cool J’s wife joins the interview and the two discuss how their faith bonds them together. Winfrey also speaks with his four children.
“Oprah’s Next Chapter” with LL Cool J airs Sunday, January 27, at 9 p.m. / 8 Central, on OWN.
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