Keke Palmer: 'I was sexually abused'

Keke Palmer has revealed the sexually abuse she suffered as a kid helped shape her as a person.

The Scream Queens star made the revelation during a Facebook Live chat with fans this week (beg26Dec16), after one asked what motivated her to open up about her life story in her new book, I Don't Belong to You: Quiet the Noise and Find Your Voice.

"I decided to write a book because I felt like so much of my life was similar to others," she said. "So many people watch my career and sit back and think they can't do the things I can do because they think I came from a privileged lifestyle. I'm trying to let y'all know immediately, I've been through some s**t. Some real sh**t, y'all. I didn't come from glitter and glow."

The 23-year-old went on to explain her rise to stardom was not as easy as many of her fans believe it may have been, but she persevered and credits her family for helping her through some tough times.

"It really was Godsent how everything happened for (me and my family)," she added. "When we got (to California), the first couple of weeks, I got a Kmart commercial. People really thought I was born into this industry. They felt like it was handed to me. But that was the gag, and that's the gag that my family, we all have.

"At the end of the day, it wasn't handed to me. At the end of the day, the cards were against me. At the end of the day, I did grow up on Section 8 (government housing assistance). At the end of the day, I have experienced abuse, sexual abuse. I have experienced turmoil in my family. We have a strong bond but we've been through some s**t."

And she wants her fans to know they can make it through difficult experiences, just like she did.

"The point is not to hide those things, because when we hide those things we stop other people from being able to envision that life for themselves," she continued. "Somebody may have gotten abused, somebody may have been put down, somebody mama wasn't in their life (sic), somebody daddy wasn't in their life (sic) - whatever it could have been.

"If they don't see that anybody else has gone through that, and people keep acting as though they live these perfect lives, then it really doesn't allow other people to be inspired and motivated to go beyond their current realities. It leaves them in a position of thinking they're not good enough or this life wasn't offered to them to be good."