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Common Opens Up About How His Mom Reacted To His Childhood Molestation

WBLS Staff
05/17/2019 12:00 AM EDT

photo credit: Earl Gibson III / Getty Images

Rapper/Actor, Common, recently released new a memoir titled Let Love Have the Last Word. In this memoir, the musician opened up about many untold things in his life, including being molested as a young boy. Before he revealed this to the world, he considered his family first. He sat down for an interview with People magazine, where he spoke about how his family reacted to his childhood trauma.

When Common shared the news with his mom, Dr. Mahalia Hines, he told the magazine, “It wasn’t as heavy as I thought it would be. She’s worked in Chicago public schools as a principal and teacher, so the stories she’s heard,” he continued. “Obviously it’s different when it’s your child.”

Common share with readers that age 9 or 10, he was molested during a sleepover at a childhood friend’s house.

He recalls his mom checking on him, “But she said, ‘I hate that these things happened and I know people that it’s happened to before. Are you OK?’ She checked on me.”

She also told Common that he “seemed like a happy person.” Leading to one of the reasons he decided to open up about this trauma, “But that’s another reason why I talked about it. Some people that seem happy are not always happy.”


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