Fame may put someone under the brightest of spotlights, but it rarely tells the full story of a person’s life.
Over the years, many celebrities have chosen to reveal their rawest truths in memoirs, sharing experiences that shaped them over the years.
These revelations ranged from heartbreaking personal tragedies to shocking confessions that forever changed how fans saw them.
Here are 18 of the most unforgettable moments stars bravely shared in their own words.
#1 Brooke Shields
In her memoir Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old, the actress shared a deeply disturbing moment in her medical history. After undergoing surgery, she discovered that her male plastic surgeon “threw in a little bonus” by performing a “labia rejuvenation” without her knowledge or consent, according to NBC Connecticut.
Shields described the horror of waking up to a body that had been altered irreversibly without her approval, leaving her feeling violated and powerless.
“He informed me that he threw in a little bonus. It felt like such an invasion — such a bizarre, like, r**e of some kind. Nothing pointed toward this need to be tighter or smaller or firmer or younger, especially there,” she said during an interview.
Image source: Brooke Shields
#2 Britney Spears
In The Woman in Me, Britney Spears reflected on one of the most painful moments of her life. She became pregnant during her relationship with Justin Timberlake, but revealed that he insisted she end it. Spears confessed that, had the decision been hers alone, she would not have gone through with the procedure, according to People magazine.
“Justin definitely wasn’t happy about the pregnancy. He said we weren’t ready to have a baby in our lives, that we were way too young.
“If it had been left up to me alone, I never would have done it. And yet Justin was so sure that he didn’t want to be a father. To this day, it’s one of the most agonizing things I have ever experienced in my life,” Britney wrote.
Image source: Jeffrey Mayer/Getty
#3 Demi Moore
In Inside Out, Demi Moore opened up about the darkest parts of her past. She described being assaulted at 15, her mother’s alcoholism and repeated attempts to take her life, as well as the toxic cycles that played out in her marriages to Bruce Willis and Ashton Kutcher. She also shared stories about how her battle with substances caused notable strain in her relationships, according to USA Today.
One particular instance described by Moore was when she nearly drowned in a hot tub after a night of heavy drinking in Mexico, which made Kutcher “furious.”
After she detoxed from Vicodin after being hooked on the medication following a dental surgery, Moore stated that she left like she had “lived through a war.” Kutcher reportedly responded with no compassion. “I felt like he was angry with me for having this problem in the first place: You made your bed; now you have to lie in it,” she noted.
Image source: Demi Moore
#4 Jennette Mccurdy
In her bestselling memoir I’m Glad My Mom Died, Jennette McCurdy did not hold back. The iCarly star described being pressured into drinking alcohol as a teen by “The Creator,” a powerful Nickelodeon figure who was “mean-spirited, controlling, and terrifying” to the point where he was prone to make “grown men and women cry with his insults and degradation,” according to Deadline.
On top of that, she revealed years of control from her mother, struggles with eating disorders, and the crushing weight of losing her independence so young. “My whole childhood and adolescence were very exploited. It still gives my nervous system a reaction to say it,” she wrote in her memoir.
Image source: Michael Buckner/Getty
#5 Rebel Wilson
For many fans, 2011’s Bridesmaids was Rebel Wilson’s big Hollywood breakout. But in her memoir, Rebel Rising, she revealed that her paycheck for the movie was shockingly small at just $3,500, according to People magazine. While Bridesmaids went on to gross over $280 million worldwide, Wilson stated that her paltry pay “didn’t matter to me” because “the experience was everything.”
Her gambit paid off. Within two weeks of Bridesmaids’ premiere, Wilson booked six new projects, one of which was Pitch Perfect. By the time Pitch Perfect 3 was being produced, Wilson had managed to negotiate a much higher salary for her performance: a cool $10 million.
Image source: Michael Buckner/Getty
#6 Matthew Perry
In Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, the late Matthew Perry wrote candidly about his lifelong battle with addiction. He shared harrowing accounts of near-fatal overdoses, crippling depression, and the isolating impact of sudden sitcom stardom, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Despite the sobering content of his memoir, Perry stated that he wanted to encourage people with his memoir.
“The kind of message that I guess I give out with this book is don’t give up. There’s help out there. I’ve been helped on a daily basis. If I didn’t get help, I wouldn’t be sitting here. It’s all about finding somebody that knows more than you about this stuff and just listening to them,” he stated.
Image source: Matthew Perry
#7 Kerry Washington
Actor/producer Kerry Washington revealed in her memoir Thicker Than Water that she made a life-changing discovery through a genetic ancestry test. When she had the opportunity to appear on the PBS series Finding Your Roots, Washington learned that the man who had raised her was not her biological father, according to NPR.
During an interview, Washington stated that finding the truth about her father actually allows her to love him unconditionally.
“One of the things that occurred to me when I learned this truth is that every time I’ve ever told my dad that I love him, it has always been on the condition of a lie. And I have now gotten the opportunity to love my dad unconditionally, and he has had the opportunity to feel what it feels like to be loved in vulnerability. I can’t even begin to articulate the value of that in our relationship and in our family,” she said.
Image source: Kerry Washington
#8 Paris Hilton
In her book, Paris: The Memoir, Paris Hilton revealed a troubling and inappropriate relationship from her youth. At just 13 years old, she became involved with her eighth-grade teacher, who proceeded to groom her. According to Hilton, her teacher would tell her that Princess Diana was 13 years younger than Prince Charles, and that she was the same age as Priscilla Presley when Elvis fell in love with her.
Their relationship ended after her teacher came over to her home while her parents were away, and they kissed in his car, according to Business Insider. The incident became the catalyst for the extreme measures her parents took in the coming years as they attempted to put her on the straight and narrow path.
Image source: Paris Hilton
#9 Cher
In The First Time, Cher revisited the personal tragedies and struggles that shaped her. Among them was her relationship with Sonny Bono, her former husband and musical partner. Cher revealed that her “loveless” marriage to Sonny Bono actually led her to consider taking her own life at the height of their television fame in the 1970s, according to a Forbes report.
“I stepped barefoot onto the balcony of our suite and stared down. I was dizzy with loneliness. I saw how easy it would be to step over the edge and simply disappear. For a few crazy minutes, I couldn’t imagine any other option,” Cher recalled, adding that she reached this emotional breaking point “five or six times.”
Image source: Harry Langdon/Getty
#10 John Stamos
In his memoir, If You Would Have Told Me, Full House alum John Stamos recalled one of the most shocking personal betrayals of his life. He shared that he once walked in on then-girlfriend Teri Copley only to find her in bed with actor Tony Danza. In a comment to People magazine, Stamos stated that the incident was “physically painful” and “worse than anything.”
“I can’t explain it, but I would’ve rather been punched in the nose again or something because the pain is so overwhelming. Looking back, it’s like, probably, she wasn’t the right girl for me. So seeing him, realizing it was him and stuff, it was hard. I mean, it was awful,” he said.
Image source: Ron Galella/Getty
#11 Pamela Anderson
In Love, Pamela, the actress shared an eyebrow-raising Hollywood story. Anderson wrote that while visiting Jack Nicholson at the Playboy Mansion, she accidentally walked in on him mid-threesome. She described Nicholson making eye contact with her, smiling, and then giving a little grunt as he continued, according to People magazine.
“Mr. Nicholson had two beautiful women with him. They were all giggling and kissing up against the wall. I walked by to use the mirror, bending over the sink to fix my lip gloss. Trying not to look, but I couldn’t help myself and caught his eye in the reflection. I guess that got him to the finish line, because he made a funny noise, smiled and said, ‘Thanks, dear,’” she wrote.
Image source: Pamela Anderson/Frankies
#12 Lily Allen
In My Thoughts Exactly, Lily Allen revealed she was assaulted by a music industry executive. Since she had been drinking at the time, Allen opted not to report the assault. She was frustrated about this, but she still carried on working with the executive because he was more powerful than her, and she feared being labeled as a “hysterical” and “difficult” woman.
Beyond that, she opened up about postpartum depression, substance use, and even hiring female escorts as a way to numb the pain of her failing marriage. At one point, Allen revealed that things got so bad that Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow were forced to do an intervention for her, according to E! Online.
Image source: John Phillips/Gett
#13 Madonna’s Brother Christopher Ciccone
Christopher Ciccone’s book Life with My Sister Madonna offered one of the most controversial tell-alls of its time. According to a TIME report, the memoir depicted the story of Ciccone, who was condemned to live in his older sister’s shadow. Despite being just 27 months older, Madonna reportedly gave her brother his first joint and his first ecstasy pill, among others.
An artist and interior decorator, Ciccone stated that he served stints as his sister’s backup dancer, her “dresser,” and her “doormat” and “garbage can.” “I find no excuse for Madonna’s grossly unfair treatment of me,” Ciccone wrote.
Image source: KMazur/Getty
#14 E.a. Hanks
In The 10: A Memoir of Family and the Open Road, Tom Hanks’ daughter, Elizabeth Ann Hanks, described her early years living with her mother in Sacramento. From ages 5 to 14, she experienced what she called a life of “confusion, violence, deprivation, and love,” according to Page Six. Unfortunately for Elizabeth, her mother’s mental health continued to decline over the years.
“The backyard became so full of dog s**t that you couldn’t walk around it, the house stank of smoke. The fridge was bare or full of expired food more often than not, and my mother spent more and more time in her big four-poster bed, poring over the Bible,” she wrote.
Image source: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty
#15 Al Pacino
In his memoir Sonny Boy, Al Pacino reflected on the time he unknowingly embarrassed himself in front of Jackie Kennedy. After a performance of Richard III, Pacino slumped in his dressing room chair when Jackie entered with her daughter Caroline. In his exhaustion, he mistakenly extended his hand for her to kiss, according to People magazine.
“God only knows what I was thinking. Why would I ever do that? Please tell me, what’s wrong with me? I must have believed I was dreaming that Jackie Onassis was there. Perhaps I was hallucinating that she was doing the play with me, so she was my queen. And as the queen, after all, she must now kiss the hand of the king,” he noted.
Image source: Jack Mitchell/Getty
#16 Josh Brolin
In From Under the Truck, Josh Brolin admitted to some wild drug experiences in his younger years. He recounted one particularly intense acid trip that lasted 12 hours, according to Yahoo News. Later, he had a nightmarish experience where he saw terrifying hallucinations that included “epileptic faces, desperate children, rabid animals coming at me.”
The experience had a lasting impact on the actor. “I had not only weathered the cave that turned me from a boy into a man, but I had also thrived. I arrived at what I thought was a beginning of a happier life,” he said, adding that when he “came down after 12 hours, just as the sun began to set, I knew that life was good and was to be lived and experienced and tasted with a fully protruding, exposed tongue,” he noted.
Image source: Josh Brolin
#17 Caitlyn Jenner
In The Secrets of My Life, Caitlyn Jenner offered a close look at her struggles with identity. She revealed that she had begun hormone therapy in the 1980s and detailed the years she lived while hiding her true self. Her eventual transition to a transgender woman in 2015 was the culmination of decades of pain, secrecy, and determination to finally live authentically.
Despite this, Jenner shared that she still appreciates her pre-transition self. “I liked Bruce. He was a good person. He did a lot in his life. Oh, ‘he didn’t even exist’. Yes he did exist! He worked his butt off. He won the [Olympic] Games. He raised amazing kids. He did a lot of very, very good things and it’s not like I just want to throw that away,” Jenner said.
Image source: Caitlyn Jenner
#18 Jada Pinkett Smith
In her book, Worthy, Jada Pinkett Smith shared an honest look at her past. Long before her Hollywood fame, she revealed that she had sold illegal substances in her youth, according to People magazine. Pinkett Smith explained that it was a means of survival in a difficult environment, and while she has since built a career far removed from that world, her experience highlighted the dark realities she once faced.
“I knew that anything that I needed was something I needed to provide for. I decided to sell drugs. Growing up, the drug dealers were the ones that had affluence. That’s what we readily saw as success,” she noted.
Image source: Jada Pinkett Smith
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