Padma Lakshmi is saying "me too."
The "Top Chef" host, 48, opened up about why she didn't tell anyone about being raped at 16 in light of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford's sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, as well as more recent allegations from Deborah Ramirez.
"On Friday, President Trump tweeted that if what Dr. Blasey said was true, she would have filed a police report years ago," Lakshmi wrote in an op-ed in The New York Times published Tuesday. "But I understand why both women would keep this information to themselves. For years, I did the same thing."
Until now.
Lakshmi revealed on Twitter Friday that she was "date raped" by her boyfriend, using the hashtag #WhyIDidntReport, which has become an outlet for survivors to share why they never came forward with assault allegations following Trump's remarks.
Lakshmi went into detail about her "excruciating" experience. She said she was dating a "charming and handsome" 23-year-old college student whom she worked with at a Los Angeles mall. But a few months into their relationship, Lakshmi said he took advantage of her when she fell asleep on his bed.
"The next thing I remember is waking up to a very sharp stabbing pain like a knife blade between my legs," she wrote in the op-ed. "He was on top of me. I asked, 'What are you doing?' He said, 'It will only hurt for a while.' 'Please don’t do this,' I screamed."
She continued: "Afterward, he said, 'I thought it would hurt less if you were asleep.' Then he drove me home."
Although "it doesn't matter," the TV host declared she wasn't drunk or wearing anything promiscuous, but still blamed herself for what happened because there wasn't any "language in the 1980s for date rape." At the time of the assault, Lakshmi was a virgin.
"I’d always thought that when I lost my virginity, it would be a big deal – or at least a conscious decision," she wrote. "In my mind, when I one day had intercourse, it would be to express love, to share pleasure or to have a baby. This was clearly none of those things."
The mother of one said she had been conditioned to the "codes of silence" surrounding many sexual assault survivors as early as 7 when her parents sent her away after she told them "a relative touched me between my legs and put my hand on his erect penis."
"Now, 32 years after my rape, I am stating publicly what happened. I have nothing to gain by talking about this," Lakshmi wrote. "But we all have a lot to lose if we put a time limit on telling the truth about sexual assault and if we hold on to the codes of silence that for generations have allowed men to hurt women with impunity."
She continued: "Those messages should be very clear as we consider whom we appoint to make decisions on the highest court of our land."
