Queen Latifah Addresses Rumors, Opens Up About Her Past

Queen Latifah sat down with Essence magazine recently and addressed a number of issues, including rumors about her sexual orientation and a traumatic past. But that doesn't mean she's going to tell you everything.

'My personal life is personal and it’s really
not for everyone else,' she told the mag. 'With what I do for a living,
I have to share a lot of myself with a lot of people, but I’m not going
to share everything.' "

Regarding her sexual orientation, Queen Latifah says:

'They want to make up stories and make me gay
all the time and it’s like, 'Keep running with it,' she said. 'I’ve
definitely been annoyed by it, but I learned a long time ago that it
was pointless to say anything. Everybody else can do the reading; I’ll
do the living.' "

But there is one thing she is willing to open up about: she was sexually abused as a child.

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Photos by Wenn.com

'He violated me,' she said of her alleged
abuser. 'I never told anybody; I just buried it as deeply as I could
and kept people at an arm’s distance. I never really let a person get
too close to me. I could have been married years ago, but I had a
commitment issue.' "

After her brother's death, Queen Latifah finally dealt with it by telling her parents and working with a therapist.

'I was a kid, and I had no power or control
over the situation. I really wish I’d had the strength and the
knowledge to say something sooner,' she told the mag, 'Because I always
wondered. Did he do that to someone else? But I accept that the time
for action has come and gone.' "

Good for her for having the courage to share something painful that others can learn from!

You can read the entire interview in the July 2009 issue of Essence.