‘The Color Purple’ star Desreta Jackson opens up about rape after film (VIDEO)

Jackson spoke about working on the iconic film and spoke about her life experiences in Hollywood and beyond
Desreta Jackson, best known for her role as Young Celie in The Color Purple, sat down in a recent interview and opened up about her life experiences in Hollywood and beyond.
As a guest on PopViewers, the actress opened up about experiencing a traumatic rape shortly after filming the award-winning movie. When asked about her character, Young Celie, and the harsh treatment she received on-screen and how it impacted her going forward, Jackson revealed the words aimed at Celie did not affect her until after the assault.
“Right after that movie, I was raped, and to this day, in my mind, it was by a fan,” she remarked. “It was date rape. Back in that time, they didn’t have that term.”
“It was about two years or a year-and-a-half after the movie released and it was very impactful because at the time, coming back trying to go to auditions, that’s when I had this fragile…this thing. I couldn’t get past the rape. And the rape led to a pregnancy. My mother was very much like, well it’s your fault in a way…you knew the person.”
She continued to discuss how the comments made fictionally against Celie began to make their way into her reality.
“It was going back in the industry trying to find myself through this trauma, and then hearing things, or being told you’re too dark…I needed to heal. I needed to walk away at that time. That’s when I noticed those comments may have taken more effect.”
Jackson continued, “The comments about the movie referring to the movie or referring to my worth. That is when it became overwhelming.”
In addition to her film career, Jackson is also the CEO of a beauty brand, Blacksilk, and began working as a hairstylist herself. She shared with PopViewers how Oprah Winfrey played a part in revealing to her clients that she was a lead actress in The Color Purple.
“Oprah outed me. They called me for the reunion and I came out, I had just had a baby. I wasn’t in the industry,” she said. “Imagine what it was like going back home. “
Jackson also shared that she is back working on film projects, however,

LOS ANGELES, CA – JUNE 25: Actress Desreta Jackson poses at the AMPAS “Great To Be Nominated” presentation of “The Color Purple” at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences’ Samuel Goldwyn Theater on June 25, 2007 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images)

she could not release any details.

 

Blogs

ANOTHER RECORD FOR SZA AND KENDRICK

ANOTHER RECORD FOR SZA AND KENDRICK

Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s Grand National Tour brought in some serious cash. Billboard reports that Grand National is the highest-grossing co-headlining tour ever. The outing has grossed $254.6 million with 1.1 million tickets sold from 23 shows. By comparison, JAY-Z and Beyoncé‘s On the Run II Tour is the only other joint tour to hit…

LEBRON JAMES IS NOT RETIRING

LEBRON JAMES IS NOT RETIRING

LeBron James, 40, isn’t ready to retire yet. King James is staying with the Los Angeles Lakers for another season and he’s set to head into his 23rd NBA season. He’s been playing for the Lakers since 2018 and he won an NBA Championship with the team in 2020. Now, he’s hoping for another one…

SUPER BOWL HALFTIME PERFORMANCE RUMORS

SUPER BOWL HALFTIME PERFORMANCE RUMORS

We’re starting to hear loud rumblings about next year’s Super Bowl halftime show performer. The rumor going around is that Jay-Z will take the stage during the big game in San Francisco on February 8th, 2026. While we’re unable to confirm or deny at this point, it almost seemed inevitable that Hov would headline at…

PROSECUTION AND DEFENSE HAS RESTED IN DIDDY CASE

PROSECUTION AND DEFENSE HAS RESTED IN DIDDY CASE

On Tuesday, both the prosecution and defense rested their cases in the Sean “Diddy” Combs trial. The prosecution finished presenting evidence, wrapping up nearly six weeks of testimony, videos, pictures, and documents. On the same day, Diddy’s defense team brought no witnesses to the stand and presented several pieces of evidence in the case. The…