--- title: Padma Lakshmi: I Was Sexually Abused as a Child description: Padma Lakshmi opens up about her sexual abuse and why she decided to speak about it in her new memoir, Love, Loss And What We Ate. canonical: https://time.com/4250915/padma-lakshmi-sexual-abuse/ author: Robin Hilmantel article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-08T15:50:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:01:59.064Z og:title: Padma Lakshmi Says She Was Sexually Abused as a Child og:description: 'If women like me don't talk about it, who's going to?' og:url: https://time.com/4250915/padma-lakshmi-sexual-abuse/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt50ef4c8eb3ac0713/69888a1b524fc06e80df714a/padma-lakshmi-memoir.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Chef Day Of Action og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Padma Lakshmi Says She Was Sexually Abused as a Child twitter:description: 'If women like me don't talk about it, who's going to?' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt50ef4c8eb3ac0713/69888a1b524fc06e80df714a/padma-lakshmi-memoir.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Padma Lakshmi Says She Was Sexually Abused as a Child > Sponsored content. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture recommendation newsletter, edited by culture editor Eliza Berman. Twice a week it surfaces the books, shows, films and ideas TIME's editors think are worth your attention, and explains why. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Does TIME have a culture newsletter? Yes. Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published Tuesdays and Saturdays. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. by [Robin Hilmantel](https://time.com/author/robin-hilmantel/) ## Robin Hilmantel Mar 8, 2016 3:50 PM UTC  Actress Padma Lakshmi speaks with Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-NY) to speak about school lunches Actress Padma Lakshmi speaks with Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-NY) to speak about school lunches Getty Image by [Robin Hilmantel](https://time.com/author/robin-hilmantel/) ## Robin Hilmantel Mar 8, 2016 3:50 PM UTC **Correction appended, March 8** In advance of the release of her new memoir, Padma Lakshmi [spoke with _PEOPLE_](http://www.people.com/article/padma-lakshmi-sexual-abuse-new-book) about being sexually abused as a child. “Something happened to me that happens to a lot of girls everywhere,” the _Top Chef_ host told _PEOPLE_ and _Entertainment Weekly_ editorial director Jess Cagle in [an exclusive interview](http://www.people.com/article/padma-lakshmi-sexual-abuse-new-book) about [_Love, Loss And What We Ate_](http://www.amazon.com/Love-Loss-What-We-Ate/dp/0062202618?tag=timecom-20)_._ In the book, Lakshmi shares that, when she was 7 years old and living in Queens, New York, she would sometimes share a bed with a family member. “One night,” she writes in the book, “I woke up to his hand in my underpants. He took my hand and placed it inside his briefs. I don’t know how many times it happened before, since I suspect I slept through some incidents.” Lakshmi goes on to explain that she came forward to her mother about what happened—and that the incident led to Lakshmi being sent to India and, eventually, her mother undergoing a divorce. “If women like me don’t talk about it, who’s going to?” Lakshmi tells [_PEOPLE_](http://www.people.com/article/padma-lakshmi-sexual-abuse-new-book). “You know, I think about all those girls I pass on the street who are in elementary school. I think about my daughter’s classmates or my daughter. And it happens. It happens a lot. It happens more than we think.” Lakshmi’s memoir, [_Love, Loss And What We Ate_](http://www.amazon.com/Love-Loss-What-We-Ate/dp/0062202618?tag=timecom-20), will be excerpted in this week’s issue of _PEOPLE_ magazine, on newsstands Friday. The book is also on sale today. **Correction**: The original version of this article misidentified Lakshmi’s relationship to her abuser. 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