13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- New Straits Times
#SHOWBIZ: 'Humans can be devils': Diana Danielle shares her traumatic experiences
KUALA LUMPUR: Actress Diana Danielle recently revealed that she has been a frequent victim of sexual harassment since childhood.
According to Diana, 33, the worst incident occurred when she was 16.
A member of a production crew had offered to drive her home after filming.
"At that time, my mother was a single parent, so she was unable to accompany or pick me up from the set. A crew member offered to send me home," she said in a recent podcast.
"When we arrived at the gate, I wanted to get out, but he stopped me on the pretext of wanting to chat. Suddenly, he put his hand on my thigh.
"I kept saying, 'Don't touch me. If you want to talk, do it properly'," she recalled.
The 'Imaginur' actress added that despite her fear, she chose to fight back.
"It was scary because I was in a car; anything could happen. But I was angry, so he realised he couldn't go any further."
The mother of two also shared an earlier experience of being harassed by her stepfather's friend when she was just six years old.
"My stepfather's friend was very friendly. But there was one time he took advantage of me," she said.
"I froze, then ran out of the house. Since then, I've kept my distance from him."
The Best Actress winner at the 33rd Malaysian Film Festival (FFM33) explained that she kept these traumatic experiences a secret because she was too young to do anything about them.
"Until today, my mother doesn't know. I've kept this secret for too long," she revealed.
"Humans can be devils. Sometimes it's not outsiders; even family members can be sexual predators."
In the past, Diana has also received rape threats from an individual on social media while holding a question-and-answer session with fans on Instagram.
She exposed the threatening message by sharing it on her Instagram Story.
