Some memories are too painful to share. But recently, Common opened up about one of his in his new memoir, “Let Love Have the Last Word.” The Oscar-winning rapper reveals that he was molested as a child. He was reminded of the traumatic event when he was preparing for his role in, “The Tale,” two years ago.
In an interview with PEOPLE, Common shared: “One day, while talking through the script with Laura, old memories surprisingly flashed in my mind. I caught my breath and just kept looping the memories over and over, like rewinding an old VHS tape.”
When he was just 9, or 10 years old, Common recalls a road trip he took to his aunt’s house. There, his god brother, Skeet, had one of his relatives over, who Common calls “Brandon,” in his book.
“At some point I felt Brandon’s hand on me. I pushed him away. I don’t remember saying a whole lot besides No No No.” Brandon, however, continued, while trying to re-assure a young Common that it was “okay, it’s okay” – while proceeding to pull his shorts down and molested him.
On trying to erase the memory from his head, Common said, “I just pushed the whole thing out of my head. Maybe its a matter of survival. As I’m writing, I’m still working through all of this in myself and with my therapist.”
And while the incident happened over a quarter of a century ago, Common hasn’t seen Brandon since, and has forgiven him.
“I want to be a person who helps break cycles of violence. This is love in action and I intend to practice it.”
© 2019, MariaMyraine. All rights reserved.
