Matthew McConaughey on surviving sex abuse as a teen: ‘I’m not gonna let it beat me’

Matthew McConaughey has affirmed he won’t let the trauma of being molested or blackmailed into sex as a teenager “beat” him, in a new interview.

The actor, who first opened up about the experiences in his 2020 memoir Greenlights, reflected on the “ugly” experiences on Amanda de Cadenet’s podcast The Conversation: About The Men.

In Greenlights, the Oscar-winner revealed he was molested by a man at the age of 18 “while knocked unconscious in the back of a van”.

He also said he was blackmailed into having sex for the first time “when I was 15”.

During his conversation with de Cadenet, which was released on Sunday (18 September), the Interstellar actor said: “I’m not gonna be afraid of relationships because my first experience was blackmail.

“That’s an aberration. No, that’s not the way it is. And if I go on – and I’m not gonna let it beat me,” he continued, adding, “‘Am I denying that it happened? No. I’m not denying that it happened. It happened.”

He said he “chose” not to “bring that baggage” into his life or “how I treat people and how I trust people, and how I look at circumstances, the risk I may take”.

McConaughey also said: “After that, I got to have some healthy sexual relations and have girls that I liked and liked me, and we slowly got intimate and it was beautiful and clumsy, and all those things, but it wasn’t ugly like that was.”

McConaughey shares three children with his wife, Camilla Alves.

While speaking to de Cadenet, the actor recalled how his late father, James McConaughey, taught him about “the birds and the bees” as well as the importance of content.

“...He’s talking to me, he says, ‘Son, as a male in the situation,’ speaking to me about a heterosexual relationship, ‘If you ever feel the girl, the female, hesitate, stop,” McConaughey shared.

“He even said this, he goes, ‘You may even feel them hesitate, and then after you stop, they may go, “Oh, no, no, come on.” Don’t. Wait till next time,’” McConaughey added.

If you have been raped or sexually assaulted, you can contact your nearest Rape Crisis organisation for specialist, independent and confidential support. For more information, visit their website here.