Actor Terrence Howard says he was sexually active from age four in harrowing confession
The father-of-five said this aspect of his childhood 'really messed him up'
Warning: This article contains discussion of content which some readers may find distressing
Terrence Howard has told how he 'lost his innocence' at the tender age of four after he was molested by 'older girls'.
The Oscar-nominated actor, 57, recently reflected upon how these harrowing experiences left him with 'distorted' perspective on sex and relationships in a new interview.
Shockingly, he declared that when he was between the ages of four and 13, he 'had more sex then' than he has had in the entirety of his adult life - and admitted that this 'really messed him up'.
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The Empire star opened up about how 'having [sexual] intercourse' in his early childhood left him with a 'skewed' view of how he should interact with the opposite sex.
During a recent appearance on the PBD Podcast, Howard discussed how he was molested by older girls who lived in the same neighbourhood as him for nearly a decade.
He left podcast host Patrick Bet-David stunned when he announced that he had his first sexual encounter when he was just four years old.
"It was the older girls who were watching me; they were like six and seven," the father-of-five explained. "We did that everyday until I was like 13.
"I had more sex then than I've had in my adult life. My father wouldn't have known, but when you're not supervised...[we] we're just fooling around. We played hide and go get - pants up, pants down."
Howard said that his parents had no idea, as he was typically left to his own devices while his father was at work and his mother was getting an education - although he 'wishes' they did discover what was going on.
"I look at my sons - nine and 10 now - and I can't imagine them getting involved in that," he went on.
"But I lost my innocence. It's effectively being molested."
"The [girls] were about two years older than me...all the kids in the neighbourhood was doing that," Howard continued. "This was in Cleveland, Ohio. I didn't know...it felt like it was wrong.
"But I didn't know. I wish I had never done that. I would have been a completely different person. It gave me a skewed view of interaction. I kept thinking that everybody was promiscuous like that."
Howard said that he was 'not mentally prepared' for 'having to deal with those adult circumstances and situations', before he then detailed the lasting impact this had on him.
"I'm so super protective of my children, of other people's children," he said. "When we have a family or a friend come and visit, and they've got an infant, I'll secure the whole house and put pillows everywhere.
"I'm just overly protective because I wanted somebody...I'm trying to protect myself."
The Chicago-born actor explained that his children are 'never alone' and always have 'at least two people watching them', while adding: "Because I don't want what happened to me to ever happen to them."
He estimated that he was intimate with 'at least 100' girls between the ages of four and 13 in the bombshell interview.
The former Iron Man actor said that he 'didn't pull himself together' until he turned 15 and 'started seeing where he could head to'.
"It takes you a long time to get back to who and what you really are," Howard told Bet-David. "That really messed me up."
Howard shares daughters Aubrey and Heaven, as well as his son Hunter with his first wife Lori McCommas, as well as sons Qirin, 10, and Hero, 9, with his third wife Mira Pak.
If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone in confidence, contact The Survivors Trust for free on 08088 010 818, available 10am-12.30pm, 1.30pm-3pm and 6pm-8pm Monday to Thursday, 10am-12.30pm and 1.30pm-3pm on Fridays, 10am-12.30pm on Saturdays and 6pm-8pm on Sundays.
Topics: Celebrity, Sex and Relationships, US News, Podcast
Olivia Burke