‘The View’: Valerie Bertinelli’s Bold Political Statement Gets Bleeped Out

TV legend Valerie Bertinelli held nothing back when it came to her thoughts on the lack of justice for Jeffrey Epstein victims on Wednesday’s (March 11) edition of The View.

The One Day at a Time and Hot in Cleveland star on was on hand to discuss a wide range of issues while promoting her new memoir, Getting Naked: The Quiet Work of Becoming Perfectly Imperfect, including why she decided to come forward with the devastating revelation that she was sexually abused at the age of just 11.

First, she revealed the reason why she decided to give her book that name and match it with a nude photoshoot for the cover, saying, “I wanted to get naked emotionally.” She also revealed how she has come to accept her body after a long history of seeking weight loss measures, and part of that was, she said, “not letting your shame be used as a weapon by anybody else to hurt you.”

Later, she revealed that the reason she decided to speak up about her abuse experience was that she was “finally able to make peace with it.”

“It finally wasn’t shaping me and shaping the tools that I used to get through challenging times any longer,” she said before describing the therapies she underwent to realize, “You are a survivor, and you can deal with the traumas that happen in your life and not necessarily make them a part of you, but make them something you can learn from and that doesn’t have to destroy you.”

Sara Haines then alluded to the panel’s many discussions of current events, and Bertinelli immediately drew the connection, saying, “Yes, because pedophiles aren’t being held accountable.”

Haines asked if seeing the Epstein files controversies play out affected her, and she confirmed, “A lot.”

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Bertinelli explained that she’d been grappling with her trauma for a decade, keeping most of story to herself and a select few others before seeing “these incredibly brave survivors speaking out about unspeakable things.”

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“We have idiots in Congress,” she said. “I want to use a stronger word… that are protecting them, and that are still having their job by protecting them.” She then paused with visible frustration before adding, “I’m so angry, and I’m so disappointed in our world as a whole, and how we treat survivors and how we just play it off as if it’s nothing. It changes your entire…” at that point, though, she was bleeped out for using a swear word and apologized, saying, “I’m so furious that we aren’t doing something. Sorry, I have a little passion about it.”

She then encouraged audiences to vote in November to remove anyone who hasn’t been holding Epstein clients accountable.

When Sunny Hostin then assured her that by her sharing her story, it “will matter,” Bertinelli pointed to other survivors who’ve spoken out without being believed.

“They wonder, ‘Why didn’t you say anything?’ It took me 50 years to talk about it!” she exclaimed.

The View, weekdays, 11a/10c, ABC

If you or someone you know is the victim of child abuse, contact the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child (1-800-422-4453). If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call 911.

If you or someone you know is the victim of sexual assault, contact the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network‘s National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). If you or a loved one is in immediate danger, call 911.

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