Bobby Brown Reveals He Was Molested by a Priest as a Child

Biography: Bobby Brown (Credit: A&E)

Bobby Brown is opening up like he’s never done before.

In his upcoming A&E documentary, Biography: Bobby Brown, the R&B singer discusses his childhood and how he was taken into child protective custody when his mother was jailed after intervening in the arrest of a neighbor.

“I was sent to a temporary custody by social services which was supposed to be a religious place but it wasn’t a very nice place to be for a child,” Brown says in the film. “One of the priests tried to molest me. He tried to touch my private parts … At that time, I was a young boy.”

Related Story: Bobby Brown Makes Emotional Visit to Bobbi Kristina’s Grave in Trailer for A&E Documentary

Brown was 10 years old at the time and says he didn’t know what sexual boundaries were. But he did know he didn’t like being touched.

“That really, really bothered me as a child, and as a grown adult,” Brown said in an interview this week with People magazine about the film.

The Grammy-winning singer believes the encounter may have been the reason for his eventual drug and alcohol abuse.

“I think it was part of the reason I did things, other things, drugs, alcohol, why I abused myself,” the 53-year-old entertainer said.

The “Every Little Step” singer says he has since turned his life around and hasn’t touched narcotics for 20 years. He credits speaking out about his past with helping him get through it all today.

“I had tucked it down so deep into my soul that I didn’t think that I would talk about it again,” Brown told the magazine. “I could see where things went wrong for me.”

Related Story: Bobby Brown Pays Tribute to Daughter Bobbi Kristina on Anniversary of Her Death

Brown was one of the original members of Boston boy band New Edition, which launched in 1981. He then began a massively successful solo career, which led to meeting Whitney Houston.

The film on his life will be shown over two nights and chronicles Brown’s rise to superstardom, the fallout from his personal struggles with sobriety and the tragic deaths of his two children, Bobbi Kristina and Bobby Jr., and ex-wife Whitney Houston.

Biography: Bobby Brown airs on Monday, May 30 and Tuesday, May 31 at 8pm ET/PT.

It will be followed by the docuseries Bobby Brown: Every Little Step on Tuesday, May 31 at 10pm ET/PT with new episodes airing Tuesdays at 9pm ET/PT starting June 7.

Watch the trailer below for the film.


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About Maria Leal

Maria Leal is a bilingual, multi-media journalist based in Los Angeles. She can be reached on Twitter @MariaLealNews.