Oprah Winfrey's Secret: She Has a Half-Sister

Forty-seven years ago, when Oprah Winfrey was 9 years old and living with her father in Tennessee, her mother, Vernita Lee, became pregnant with a daughter who was given up for adoption. Winfrey had known nothing about it.

On The Oprah Winfrey Show on Monday, the talk show host revealed the family secret she had been hyping since last week, introducing her half-sister, Patricia, from Milwaukee.

"It was one of the greatest surprises of my life," said Winfrey, who found out the news last October. "It left me speechless."

Patricia was born in 1963 in Milwaukee and lived in a series of foster homes until the age of 7. She was then adopted, but said her childhood was "difficult" and she longed to be reunited with her birth mother, Winfrey says.

When Patricia was 17, she had a daughter, Aquarius, and then six years later son, Andre. She was unwed and as a single mom worked two jobs to care for her kids.

A Search for Her Birth Mother

When Patricia, whose last name was not revealed, turned 20, she first tried to find out who her birth mother was but quickly gave up the search. Then a few years ago, she resumed the search and got her adoption records.

Through the adoption agency, Patricia reached out to her birth mother, whose name she still didn't know, but her mother did not want to meet her.

The very day, she happened to catch a TV news story about a woman named Vernita Lee, who was talking about a son, Jeffrey, who died in 1989, and a daughter, Pat, who had died in 2003. The information matched details in her adoption records.

"The hair on the back of my neck stood up," Patricia said. "I said, 'No, that can't be.'"

Her son Andre researched Winfrey's background and quickly realized that dates and locations lined up. Patricia tried to reach Lee numerous times, once even having her church pastor contact Lee's pastor, but Lee was not ready for a meeting, Winfrey said.

A DNA Match

So Patricia went to a Wisconsin restaurant owned by Winfrey's niece, showed her the adoption documents and revealed her suspicion that they were related. Patricia and the niece underwent DNA testing, which proved a positive match.

After that, there were a flurry of emails back and forth between various Winfrey relatives and Winfrey, but none would reveal the secret, saying it was Lee's place. Winfrey asked her mother about giving a child up for adoption, but Lee said it wasn't true.

Then one day in October, 10 minutes before she was walking out to do a show, Winfrey asked her assistant what the truth was and she replied, "You have a sister."

Winfrey confronted her mother with the information and Lee finally admitted the truth. Lee and Patricia met on Oct. 25 for the first time since her birth.

On Thanksgiving Day, Winfrey drove to her mother's home in Milwaukee, where her half-sister sister Patricia was waiting.

"It was a Beloved moment," Winfrey says, referring to the movie in which a daughter comes back from the dead. Home video shows the two embracing for a long moment.

During an interview taped last week with Patricia and their mother, Lee said she had denied the truth for so long because she was ashamed that she had given up a child for adoption.

"I thought it was a terrible thing that I had done," Lee said, adding that she felt she wouldn't be able to take care of another child and get off welfare if she had kept her. Still, she said, "I did think about the baby. I went back looking for her and they told me she had left."

Oprah Winfrey Promises to Reveal Shocking 'Family Secret'

Next on Oprah … a miracle!

The talk show host is sparing no superlatives in hyping her show on Monday, promising to make a blockbuster personal revelation.

"I was given some news that literally shook me to my core," Winfrey, 56, says in a promotional spot. "This time, I'm the one being reunited. I was keeping a family secret for months, and on Monday you're going to hear it straight from me."

While no further details were released, there are many possibilities. Winfrey was born to unwed teens, had a baby who died, and was raised by various family members.

"I thought I'd seen it all," Winfrey continues. "But this, my friends, is the miracle of all miracles."

Hugh Jackman Injured in Oprah Appearance

Hugh Jackman sustained a minor facial injury while making a dramatic entrance to a taping of Oprah Winfrey's talk show at the Sydney Opera House on Tuesday.

The Australian actor, 42, flew on a zip-line cable from the top sail of the famous landmark down to the stage, but hit the brakes too late, flipped up into a lighting rig and injured his right eye.

Winfrey immediately called for a break in filming, as paramedics rushed to the stage – but the injury was minor, and People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive 2008 was able to continue with his appearance after being tended to.

"That's gonna swell," said Winfrey, 56, as Jackman returned with a small piece of tape under his eye and a visible bruise beneath it. The actor then headed down into the front row to comfort his son, Oscar, 10, who was upset by the accident.

"That was so much fun until the end," he said. Referring the Winfrey's previous guest, he added with a laugh: "Bono was meant to do this, but they couldn't afford the insurance."

Jackman was at pains to make clear it was not the stunt team's fault. He had had a successful practice run earlier, but said he was distracted by the 6,000-strong crowd. "I came down waving to everyone, looking over Sydney Harbor, saw my dad, the kids and you, went to pull the brake and then boing," he explained to Winfrey. "Totally my bad."

"God he hit that hard," Winfrey told the audience later. "Ooooh, we're gonna see that on the news. Over and over and over again. 'Hugh injured today. Ziplining on Oprah.' "

Jackman later returned for a stunning finale, singing "I Still Call Australia Home" with the Qantas Children's Choir. He was joined by fellow guest Olivia Newton-John, then Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman and finally Russell Crowe as the crowd unfurled a gigantic Australian flag over their heads.

Mishaps aside, Winfrey said she's loved her time in Australia. "No matter what we show you, it does not compare to actually being here," she told her TV viewers. "I will be back."

Oprah Winfrey: 'I'm Not a Lesbian'

The rumors have been around for years. She even made light about them recently. But Oprah Winfrey has once again stated flatly: "I'm not a lesbian."

"I'm not even kind of a lesbian," the talk-show queen, 56, tells Barbara Walters in tonight's interview on ABC. "And the reason why [the rumor] irritates me is because it means that somebody must think I'm lying. That's number one. Number two ... why would you want to hide it? That is not the way I run my life."

The rumors have focused on Winfrey's friend Gayle King. But Winfrey says that relationship is extremely close in a whole different way.

"She is ... the mother I never had. She is ... the sister everybody would want. She is the friend that everybody deserves. I don't know a better person. I don't know a better person," Winfrey says while choking up.

"It's making me cry because I'm thinking about ... how much ... I probably have never told her that. Tissue, please. I now need tissue. I've never told her that."

The occasion for the interview, airing tonight at 9:00 pm (ET) on ABC, is the end of Winfrey's syndicated show next May and the beginning of her new cable network – OWN, The Oprah Winfrey Network.

On that subject, Winfrey admits to having been afraid of how daunting the new project is. "I was very scared," she says. "I would wake up in the middle of the night literally like clutching my chest, like, 'What have I done? What have I done?'"

Barbra Streisand Tells Oprah Winfrey: 'I Wanted to Make The Way We Were Sequel'

Barbra Streisand will always regret not convincing Robert Redford to make a The Way We Were sequel - because she had a great story in mind for the follow-up film.

The two stars of the 37-year-old classic were interviewed together for the first time on Tuesday's Oprah Winfrey Show and Streisand revealed she always wanted to return as activist Katie in the tearjerker - but Redford refused to make a second story.

The actor explained, "I just felt certain things should be left alone."

But Streisand disagreed, stating, "There was a great story, a triangle... with our daughter, who would have become a political activist."

Redford then confessed he has never seen The Way We Were.

Marie Osmond Opens Up About Son's Suicide

Marie Osmond remembers one of the last conversations she had with her 18-year-old son Michael Bryan.

"When I heard him say to me, I have no friends, it brought back when I went through depression because you really feel so alone," Osmond, 51, said on Thursday's The Oprah Winfrey Show. "I'm not a depressed person, but I understand that place, that darkness.

"I told him … Mike, I'm gonna be there Monday and it's gonna be okay," she continues. "But depression doesn't wait till Monday."

Bryan committed suicide last February by jumping to his death from his apartment in downtown Los Angeles.

"I've been through some tough things in my life," says Osmond, whose 2001 memoir Behind the Smile detailed her own battle with postpartum depression. "This is … probably the hardest thing I've been through."

When Winfrey asks Osmond whether she lives with regrets, Osmond replies, "I think there's always 'what if's.' What if I had just put him on a plane and said come be with me, or gone there? I think if you live in 'what if's,' you stop living."

Osmond also addresses the reasons she chose to head back to work only weeks after his death.

"It was really hard," she says. "It was a calculated decision. I'm unique, I guess. I'm a female in the entertainment business who has been working 48 years consistently. My stage is my safe place. It doesn't scare me, like I guess it scares some people. And I knew that if I didn't get back on stage that I may never get back on stage."

Oprah Winfrey's Interview with Ricky Martin

Here is Oprah’s interview with Ricky Martin which aired Tuesday, the same day his memoir 'Me' was released.

It’s such a contrast to the Barbara Walters interview of a decade ago when she asked Ricky if he was gay and he did not answer. Walters has since expressed her regret over asking the question but Ricky is a different man today as you can see in these videos.

He tels Oprah of Walters: “She knocked me out… I had my little monologue prepared – what I was used to answering: ‘No, I don’t think it’s something that I want to talk about; this is something private… I show everything when I’m onstage…’. But she kept on going and going and going. I just wasn’t ready… It was not my moment.”

“People were mocking my sexuality and I was, like, ‘I don’t wanna be that. Is that me…?’ I think I hate myself…” he added.

But he holds no grudge against the veteran newswoman even though he was initially angry: “I felt invaded, I felt violated in many ways… but it was not the first time I was asked this question in an interview, but it was a massive TV show… That gave the right for every journalist to ask.”

Ricky also talks about recent string of young gay suicides and says they make it evident that gays must be allowed to come out only when they are ready: “Right now we are dealing with people that are being bullied because they are gay and now we’re dealing with people who are committing suicide because they’re forced to come out and that is horrible… You have to go through a very spiritual process in order for you to accept yourself and then it feels amazing.”

Well said Ricky and good for you.

Ricky Martin Felt 'Numb' and Cried 'Like a Baby' After Coming Out

After having children, Ricky Martin decided he couldn't live a lie any longer and decided to tell the world his biggest secret--he is gay. And in an interview with Oprah Winfrey airing today on her show, he confessed it wasn't easy.

"When I realized, okay, I just pressed send, whoo... I was alone," the international singer said to the talk show host. "I was in my studio alone for a minute. My assistant walked in and I just started crying like a little baby. I started crying." Martin admits he felt "numb" but then relieved after sharing the news with the world.

Martin credits his 2-year-old twins born via surrogate with helping him realize he needed to be totally open about his sexuality.

"I couldn't take it anymore. It was too painful. But I guess the most important thing is my children... When I was holding them in my arms I was like, 'What, am I gonna teach them how to lie?' Whoa, that is my blessing right there. Then, when I was holding my children I said, 'Okay, it's time to tell the world.'"

The 'Livin' La Vida Loca' singer is releasing his memoir 'Me' today. In it, Martin opens up about everything from his experiences in Menudo to his sexuality and fatherhood.

"From the moment I wrote the first phrase, I was sure the book was the tool that was going to help me free myself from things I was carrying within me for a long time. Things that were too heavy for me to keep inside. Writing this account of my life, I got very close to my truth. And this is something worth celebrating," he said.

Nancy O'Dell & Carson Kressley to Host 'Your OWN Show: Oprah's Search for the Next TV Star'

Nancy O’Dell (Access Hollywood) and Carson Kressley (Queer Eye for the Straight Guy) will co-host the new OWN series Your OWN Show: Oprah’s Search For The Next TV Star that will debut in January.

The new competition series is from Mark Burnett (Survivor) and will involve a nationwide search to find TV’s next big star. The winner will receive his or her own talk show that will air on OWN.

O’Dell and Kressley will work with 10 finalists, who were selected from more than 15,000 entrants. Each will participate in a veritable “host boot camp” in which they compete by booking interviews, researching story ideas, and completing screen tests.

Each episode will also feature a celebrity judge.

“I am so thrilled, grateful and excited to be a part of Your OWN Show,” said Kressley in a statement. “Not only do I get to inspire and be inspired by an amazing group of very talented contestants, I will also have the privilege of working with seasoned pros like Nancy O’Dell, Mark Burnett, and of course, my hero, Oprah Winfrey. How lucky am I?!”

Oprah Winfrey: Her Biggest Give Away Surprise Yet

After 25 years on the air and treating countless audience members to extravagant gifts, it takes a lot for Oprah Winfrey to surprise people anymore.

So she's sending them across the world.

Winfrey, 56, made the surprise announcement on the first episode of her farewell season on Monday that she'll send 300 of her "ultimate" fans on an eight-day trip to Australia this December.

"I wanted to kick off my 25th season in a big way and I've heard Australia is the ultimate adventure," she said in a statement. "It's one of the places I've always wanted to visit, and who better to take with me … than some of my most loyal viewers."

The Sydney Opera House will also play host to the Oprah show on Dec. 14 for a taping in front of thousands of Aussie fans.

Her emotional audience screamed, cried and jumped up and down in response to the announcement, waving miniature Australian flags.

A Treat for Oprah

But the fans weren't the only ones to be blindsided. After opening the show with a dance with John Travolta, Winfrey was shocked by two surprise guests during her season premiere.

Back when Oprah first hit the air, Don Johnson turned down the opportunity to appear on the show, so the host changed the episode to feature everyday people instead. She jokingly asked Johnson on air to return the rhinestone glasses that she'd sent to him.

"I know it's taken me about 24 years to get these back to you," said Johnson as he emerged from backstage, wearing the bejeweled frames in the season premiere. "Now for clarity, I was shooting 18 or 20 hours a day at the time – it's not that I didn't want to come," he added with a smile. "But I understand things are going okay."

Then, at the end of the episode, a tearful Winfrey watched as Paul Simon serenaded her with a song about her 25 years on the air.

Quipped the choked-up host: "I'm gonna have to stop that surprise thing!"

Nate Berkus on Oprah & His New Talk Show

Nate Berkus shares the cover of the news issue of TV Guide Magazine with his television mentor Oprah Winfrey and two more of Oprah’s most successful proteges: Dr. Phil and Dr. Oz.

The design expert turned talk show host (The Nate Berkus Show premieres September 13th) appeared on Oprah’s show frequently over an eight-year span and in the process, did 127 makeovers.

He says of stepping out on his own: “I’m really ready. Oprah asked me if I was nervous and I said no. She said, ‘That’s a really great place to be. I wasn’t nervous the day my show went national either.”

What he learned from Oprah: “I learned to always speak my truth, even if it was uncomfortable, to always listen to my inner voice and when people show you who they are, believe them.”

His favorite Oprah moment: “My farewell show. Oprah gave me an album that included photos and letters from all the people I met along the way. It brought me back to the people and makeovers and reunions that I was able to be a part of.”

Rosie O’Donnell Will Return to Daytime TV

She’s baaack!

Three years after leaving The View, Rosie O’Donnell is coming back to daytime television by teaming up with OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network for her own daily talk show.

“Rosie is an undeniable talent who has captivated TV audiences for nearly 20 years,” Winfrey, 56, said Thursday in a statement. “She’s a true original, who brings her authentic voice, dynamic energy and pure passion to everything she does.”

The show, according to OWN, will be “fun” and “uplifting” with O’Donnell’s “playful and energetic style.”

“It’s an honor and privilege to work with Oprah Winfrey on her network,” says O’Donnell, 48, who will produce the show, which will premiere in 2011 and be based in New York.

O’Donnell, who had her own Emmy-winning show from 1996 to 2002, hasn’t exactly been low-key since her departure from The View. Along with her blog, she’s also hosted her own daily Sirius XM radio show since last fall.

In January, she debuted her HBO documentary A Family Is a Family Is a Family: A Rosie O’Donnell Celebration, which highlights different family dynamics.

Oprah Winfrey's Life Story to be Made Into Movie

A tell-all book about TV queen Oprah Winfrey's life is to be adapted into a movie.

Filmmaker Larry A. Thompson has acquired the rights to Kitty Kelley's controversial book Oprah: A Biography and is turning it into a film - and the director admits he faces a challenge in finding the right actress to play Winfrey.

Thompson says, "Oprah Winfrey's fascinating journey from rural Mississippi to the world stage is packed with simple truths and complicated personalities...

"Casting someone to play Oprah will be the real challenge. We are planning to audition both known and unknown actresses."

News of the project, to be released next year, won't be welcomed by the talk show titan - she slammed the unauthorised tome earlier this year, branding it a "so-called biography".

The book alleges Winfrey used drugs and embellished stories about her poverty-stricken background.

Oprah Winfrey Regains Her Power – on Forbes List

Oprah Winfrey is back on top.

A year after slipping to No. 2 on Forbes' annual Celebrity 100 list, the media queen regained her crown as 2010's most powerful star worth an estimated $315 million.

Last year's title holder, Angelina Jolie, fell 17 spots while Beyoncé climbed to No. 2 with $87 million in earnings (husband Jay-Z landed the No. 15 spot).

The list – determined by a celebrity's earnings and fame – placed Avatar director James Cameron, who pocketed $210 million, at the No. 3 ranking. Lady Gaga and Tiger Woods rounded out the top five.

It was also a good year for Grammy Award winner Taylor Swift, who jumped up to No. 12 from 69, and Twilight stars Robert Pattinson (No. 50) and Kristen Stewart (No. 66). The popular franchise also helped author Stephenie Meyer earn a No. 59 ranking.

Visit FORBES for the complete Top 100 Celebrities list.

Tammy Etheridge Says Her Split with Melissa is Not Mutual or Amicable

Melissa Etheridge may have told Oprah Winfrey that her breakup with Tammy was "as mutual as those things can be," but the singer's former partner is now publicly disagreeing.

"I did not go anywhere, honey. And you and I both know it," the former Tammy Lynn Michaels, 35, wrote on her blog Thursday. She does not mention her ex by name, but refers to her "wife" in the post. "Please stop telling the press it was mutual."

In the post titled "no more censorship for me?", Tammy writes that her relationship with Etheridge, 48, "didn't work out. You evolved. You needed to be happy – but really you withdrew your hands from family and intimacy to pluck those strings more."

Referring to Etheridge's new album Fearless Love, Tammy writes that when she first heard the new music, she felt like it was a "break up album."

"You laughed and laughed," the post continues. "I heard [the song "Fearless Love"] and I got sick. 'That's your break up song with me' I said to you. You got so angry, with me, remember? And stomped off."

"My birthday rolled around, the holidays. And me and the twins sat right there waiting," she writes. "I saw you with your new friends. You wear them so well."

"I still love that damn woman so much. I'm still trying to stop," she adds. "I had a dream where honey and I were fighting and going to get a divorce and I woke up sobbing then I realized, oh, it's true."

"There is my truth as of today," Tammy writes at the end of the post, before signing off with "Home again. Home again. Feeling true. Feeling honest."

Melissa's rep could not be reached for comment.

Simon Cowell is Bored by American Idol

Never one to be shy about what’s on his mind, Simon Cowell is blunt about why he’s leaving American Idol : He was bored.

In an interview on the Oprah Winfrey Show this past Thursday, the sharp-tongued judge said he just couldn’t “hide it anymore.”

“After awhile, you start to go on automatic pilot,” Cowell, 50, told Winfrey. “And there were too many times, Oprah, where I was sitting there bored, and I thought, ‘[At] the end of the day, the audience doesn’t tune in to watch me being bored. They deserve more than that. But I can’t hide it when I’m bored. I just can’t fake it.’ “

Cowell also said the pressure of the show has taken a toll on him. “Maybe it’s the draining effect when you have a lot of people who depend on you … And you just become aware that a lot of people depend on you, rely on you, or you’re not giving people the time you should be giving them,” he said. “It’s almost like a guilt thing. And that does drain me.”

As for Cowell’s next act, he’ll be working on X Factor, another competitive singing reality show. While it won’t be too far a cry from Idol, there will be some differences.

“It’s different because there’s no upper age limit … Singing groups can enter the show,” he said. “I have no idea whether it’s going to work or not, but I’ll put its success and failure on whether we can find a star.”

Despite his boredom with Idol, Cowell told Winfrey he hasn’t lost the desire to be part of the reality show action. “I actually like doing it, funny enough,” he said. “I like the buzz it creates. You want to be part of something people are talking about. I love that feeling."

Simon Cowell Speaks About Depression & Mistakes

Simon Cowell showed Americans his softer side on Thursday, telling Oprah Winfrey he suffered from depression and that he had made "some absolutely horrific mistakes" in the past.

The normally abrasive "American Idol" judge said during an appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" that he was prone to dark moods.

"I get very, very down," Cowell said "Pretty much depression. (But) what I always say is, 'You're taking yourself too seriously, so stop it.' At the same time, you should never put a painted smile on. When you're feeling down, you're feeling down."

Cowell, 50, who also has his own record label and created the TV shows "America's Got Talent" and "The X-Factor," said he sometimes felt drained by the demands of his work.

"You just become aware that a lot of people depend on you, rely on you, or you're not giving people the time you should be giving them. It's almost like a guilt thing, and that does drain me," he said.

Often seen as arrogant because of his stinging put-downs to aspiring singers, Cowell admitted that he had a strong ego.

But life hasn't always been kind. He recalled the time 20 years ago when he lost his job, car and home and had to move back to live with his parents in Britain when a business deal went wrong.

"I made some absolutely horrific mistakes. I believed my own ego, believed my own hype, believed my own abilities, and lots of times it came crashing down," he said. "I thought I was absolutely untouchable."

Cowell's interview with Winfrey was broadcast a week before the May 26th finale of "American Idol", which will mark the end of his eight year association with the most-watched TV show in the United States.

General Hospital Leads Daytime Emmy Nods

ABC’s General Hospital earned 18 Daytime Emmy nominations yesterday while The Young and the Restless scored 16 in anticipation of the 37th annual kudofest set to air live on CBS from Las Vegas on June 27th.

Both ABC’s GH and CBS’ Restless will vie for the outstanding drama series opposite CBS’ The Bold and the Beautiful and ABC’s All My Children, which received 11 and 10 nominations, respectively.

The canceled CBS drama As the World Turns earned 13 nominations, while ABC’s One Life to Live snagged 13. NBC’s Days of Our Lives earned nine.

The Ellen DeGeneres Show got eight nominations, including one for outstanding talk show, while The View scored five and The Oprah Winfrey Show, four. Veteran soap writer Agnes Nixon, who created the series All My Children and One Life to Live, will be the recipient of this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Here are some of the major categories:

Outstanding lead actress: Crystal Chappell as Olivia Spencer (Guiding Light); Michelle Stafford as Phyllis Newman (Y&R); Maura West as Carly Tenney (ATWT), Sarah Brown as Claudia Zacchara Corinthos (GH), Bobbie Eakes as Krystal Carey (AMC).

Outstanding lead actor: Peter Bergman as Jack Abbott (Y&R); Jon Lindstrom as Craig Montgomery (ATWT); Michael Park as Jack Snyder (ATWT); Doug Davidson as Paul Williams (Y&R); James Scott as EJ Dimera (Days).

Outstanding talk show, entertainment: Rachel Ray, Live with Regis & Kelly, and The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

Outstanding talk show, informative: Dr. Phil, The Dr. Oz Show, and The Doctors.

Outstanding talk show host: Rachael Ray, Bonnie Hunt, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa, and the women of The View.

Outstanding morning program: Good Morning America (ABC), Today Show (NBC), and CNN/American Morning.

Eclipse Gets Rapturous Reviews From Sneak-Peek Viewers

Abbreviations and expletives are flying through Twitter as the lucky few who saw The Twilight Saga: Eclipse this week at a screening with Oprah Winfrey offer their ecstatic – though cryptic – reviews.

The audience was sworn to secrecy about the details of the movie, but the overall reaction to the early cut was a huge thumbs-up. "I just saw Eclipse. Oh my [expletive] god," writes Nicolediscogrll. "Best movie I have ever see. The fight scenes the love scenes oh my god."

She adds: "I wish I can talk about the movie but I can't. But you will NOT be disappointed and the love scenes are [expletive] HOT."

Here are reactions from others who attended:

• TrendingJB: "AMAZING movie. That's ALL I'm saying … I loved it. And it was two months early, which makes it more awesome. And I'm gonna see it again June 30th."

• Shannon_Haile: "Eclipse left me speechless … I couldn't contain myself. Everyone should be GLAD the movie turned out AMAZING."

• vivian_ortiz: "Eclipse was amazing!! Can't wait to see the final version!!"

The audience also got to attend a taping of The Oprah Winfrey Show with the movie's stars – Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner and Dakota Fanning. The episode will air next Thursday, May 13th. Eclipse opens in theaters on June 30th.

To cap off the busy week, Summit Entertainment has also announced a release date for the next Twilight installment, Breaking Dawn. It will open in the U.S. on November. 18, 2011.

Mo'Nique's Brother Apologizes for Sexually Abusing His Sister

The brother of Oscar-winning actress Mo'Nique admitted to Oprah Winfrey on Monday that he repeatedly molested his little sister starting when she was only 7 years old.

Mo'Nique, who won the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, has spoken publicly about the abuse at the hands of Gerald Imes, saying she channeled "that monster" when she played the brutal mother in the film.

"I'm sorry, Mo'Nique. I'm sorry," Imes said Monday on The Oprah Winfrey Show. "I betrayed everybody's trust. I broke that trust. I broke that bond." Mo'Nique declined to be involved in Imes's interview or respond to his apology.

Imes blamed the sexual abuse, which happened over a period of two years mostly while Imes believed Mo'Nique was sleeping, on the fact that he too had been molested and was masking his pain with drugs.

"I started using cocaine, heroin, alcohol at the age of 11," he told Winfrey. "I used these drugs to hide my own pain, to hide my own fears ... The drugs allowed me and afforded me the opportunity to hurt my sister."

He said he hid the shame he felt at having been sexually abused himself and took it out on his sister, who is now 42.

Imes was later sentenced to 12 years in prison for molesting another girl. But now he wants to repair his relationship with his sister and move forward.

"I can only hope by coming forth today ... that somewhere down the line … we can come back together as siblings," he said. "I understand your pain. I truly think, let's share this together and move on."