Andre Leon Talley Reveals Childhood Sexual Abuse: 'It Was Painful, It Was Serial'

Andre Leon Talley revealed he was sexually abused as a child in his new memoir called "The Chiffon Trenches."

The legendary fashion editor, who worked alongside Anna Wintour at Vogue for decades, opened up about the harrowing experiences that have caused him to have intimacy challenges to this day.

"It was not one man, it was many, young adults, teenagers, or men throughout the neighborhood," Talley revealed, according to People, about the abuse that began at the age of 9. "It was painful. It was serial."

"And it took place in shame," he continued. "In shaming places, in dark places -- like the woodshed of my house, where they kept the wood and coal."

Talley went on to say how the shame made him keep the abuse a secret.

“I was afraid to tell anyone. I was afraid they would send me away," he explained. "I didn't know at that time, that you could go to doctors. We didn't have hotlines for sexual abuse or suicide."

"I did not know how to articulate this. It has lived with me until I wrote this book," he confessed.

He did, however, discover a coping mechanism.

“I found a way to alleviate the pain, through the escapism of fashion and the world of style and, eventually, the pages of Vogue."

But the affects of the sexual abuse still have a hold on the former "America's Next Top Model" judge.

"I have not been able to have any intimacy that is successful," he divulged. "I don't have intimacy with men or women. I am afraid to be touched. I still don't know who to trust."

He said he is grateful for his life, but he is "not happy."

"I want to continue to try and be kind and not cruel. But I have had a difficult life."