Ellen DeGeneres opens up about sexual abuse from stepfather

Comedienne and talk show host Ellen DeGeneres is getting candid about a painful experience in her past.

In a new interview with David Letterman for his Netflix series, "My Next Guest Needs No Introduction," DeGeneres is speaking out about her sexual abuse when she was a teenager. The alleged abuse took place when her mother was going through breast cancer, according to Good Morning America.

"It's a really horrible, horrible story and the only reason I'm actually going to go into detail about it is because I want other girls to not ever let someone do that," DeGeneres told the former late night host.

DeGeneres has been open about her alleged abuse before, speaking to ABC's Barbara Walters about her stepfather back in 2007.

"My mother had just had a mastectomy. She had breast cancer. He told me he thought he felt another lump in her other breast and he needed to feel mine," DeGeneres told Walters.

From that moment, DeGeneres said she believed the abuse would escalate from there.

"One night [he] tried to break the door down when I was sleeping and I had to kick a window out and go sleep in a hospital overnight," DeGeneres said.

The 61-year old also said she wished her mother had believed her as a teen.

"I wish I would have been better taken care of," she said.

Now, over a decade after the Walters interview, the daytime host who's known for sending messages of kindness is hoping to empower women.

"It is just time for us to have a voice. It's time for us to have power," DeGeneres said.