During a recent appearance on “Club Shay Shay,” Kevin Gates opened up about being sexually abused as a teenager.
Kevin Gates is no stranger to making headlines for his wild and often controversial antics. This week, however, he’s captured fans’ attention thanks to an incredibly vulnerable conversation he had with Shannon Sharpe. During an appearance on Club Shay Shay, the rapper opened up about being sexually abused as a teenager, revealing that his abuser is now dead.
“He outta here,” he confirmed, smiling. “He’ll never do that to anybody again.”
“I don’t wanna say too much, but I really broke generational curses with that situation because people that came before me, they was raped,” Gates continued. “And it created the space for me to have with my children to where my children know, don’t nobody never touch you, not even me. I had these open conversations with my children, they are equipped. I created a space for them to be able to tell their dad anything.”
Kevin Gates Club Shay Shay
According to Gates, his decision to share his story with the world has resulted in other men approaching him in public to thank him. “I created a space,” he explained. “And I tell them, ‘You was vulnerable.’ Then, we have built ourselves into machines to where we can protect the inner child.”
Gates also opened up about the abuse he faced during an appearance on Hotboxin With Mike Tyson in 2021. He revealed that this resulted in violence and aggression.
“I’mma say something, I never said this in no interview, no podcast or anything like that,” he said. “I grew up real, real violent. Real aggressive. Not because I wanted to be, ’cause I was molested when I was a child.”
“I had this fear of being vulnerable so I took every kind of martial art you can take and I even boxed, I did everything,” Gates added. “I wanted to be the toughest person on earth, but writing and making music was always an escape for me. Like, I never had the nuts to come out and say that. This my first time saying this today.”