During a recording of Amanda de Cadenet’s podcast The Conversation: About the Men, which was released on 19 September 2022, Texas-born actor Matthew McConaughey opened up about a disturbing incident that took place during his youth.

Recalling his first sexual encounter at age 15, McConaughey told De Cadenet, “I’m not gonna be afraid of relationships because my first experience was blackmail.” The Dallas Buyers Club actor went on to elaborate, emphasising how he refused to let the incident impact his future romantic relationships as a teenager.

“I was very clear, again, that was not right, that was not cool, that was not the way it is. After that, I got to have some healthy sexual relations and have girls that I liked and liked me, and we slowly got intimate and it was beautiful and clumsy, and all those things, but it wasn’t ugly like that was.”

According to UNILAD, McConaughey also revealed in his 2020 memoir Greenlights how, at 18 years old, he was molested by an older man in the back of a van while unconscious. In his autobiography, he also stressed his desire to move past those traumatic experiences, in search of healthy and consensual relationships.

The actor is currently married to Brazilian model and designer Camila Alves. They’ve had three children since their union in 2012. McConaughey has also highlighted the impact his past has had on educating his three young children.

Speaking at length on the podcast about consent, he recollected his father’s advice: “He said, ‘Son, as a male in the situation,’—speaking to me about a heterosexual relationship—‘if you ever feel the girl, the female, hesitate, stop. You may even feel them hesitate, and then after you stop, they may go, ‘Oh, no, come on’. Don’t. Wait till next time’.”

McConaughey has also recently hinted at a future in politics. Speaking to attendees at the San Francisco Dreamforce conference on 20 September, the actor shared his thoughts on the state of American politics.

In regards to the 2024 presidential election, he said, “Yeah I’ll consider it in the future. I’d be arrogant not to, absolutely I would consider it. If I got into any form of politics, I’d be remiss not to also go in as an artist and a storyteller; help put a narrative together. You’re the CEO of a state and a nation—a lot of compartmentalisation and choices to be made. They scare me but I’m not afraid of ’em,” as reported by SFGATE.