Margaret Cho has had a tough life, and for the first time ever, she has opened up in an interview about her past experiences that influenced her career now.
Perhaps most horrifying of all is Margaret Cho's childhood sexual abuse that took place when she was a child.
The performer has a new album coming out, with one of its singles named "I Want to Kill My Rapist." Apparently, the song comes from a real, dark experience.
Margaret Cho's childhood sexual abuse, including all other struggles in life, was revealed in an interview with Billboard.
"I endured it so many times, especially because I was alone a lot. I was raped continuously through my teenage years, and I didn't know how to stop it," she said.
While Cho didn't name her abuser, she said that it was a family friend who sexually molested her throughout the ages of 5 to 12. At 14, she added that another person had raped her.
As if that wasn't enough, making it hard for her "to let go of anger, forgive or understand what happened," her classmates in high school bullied her after they found out of Margaret Cho's childhood sexual abuse.
"I told someone that I was raped, and the kids at school found out and said, 'You are so ugly and fat that the only way anybody would have sex with you is if they were crazy and raped you. So don't act like you are hot and somebody wanted to f- you," Cho explained.
She added that bullies kept telling her, "It's because you are disgusting, and you deserve to be raped.'"
In spite of Margaret Cho's childhood sexual abuse, Cho said she was able to heal herself through writing in a journal, which was encouraged by her former English teacher. Cho, now 46, was given a voice. However, her teacher was tragically killed and the bullying continued, with her classmates telling her the English teacher was killed because he was gay.
Following the tragic death of probably one of the few people who understood and helped her, Cho left school early. Looking back, Cho said it had been a time that was most unsafe for women, reported People.
"People sexualized young girls like Brooke Shields. Men had so much control and entitlement over women," Cho said. "I think Bill Cosby and Woody Allen and all these men are so disgusting."
The struggles didn't stop there for Margaret Cho.
Cho had a show called "All-American Girl," which had been short-lived. At the time, the celebrity said she became obsessed with her weight, and eventually developed an addiction to pills. Slowly, it turned into a struggle with depression, alcoholism, drug addiction and even anorexia.
Cho has been honest about these struggles in the past, specifically in her Off-Broadway show "I'm the One That I Want."
According to The Inquisitr, Margaret Cho experienced another stumble in life when news spread that she was divorcing her husband in December, ending their 11-year marriage,
In spite of all of Margaret Cho's sexual abuse, depression, alcohol, and other struggles, the performer was able to utilize comedy and music to heal herself from her past traumas.
She is set to release her second album, coinciding with a music tour beginning October 2 and September 25, which is a Showtime special, according to The New York Daily News.
According to Cho, she hopes the song "I Want to Kill My Rapist" will be able to help others.
"I'm a victim and now a survivor of sexual abuse and rape, and I think it's really hard to talk about it. I think having a song to perform live will allow others to talk about it. It's a huge issue, and this was cathartic for me," she told Billboard.
