Actor Terrence Howard shares his unsettling childhood experiences of sexual encounters at a young age.
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Actor Terrence Howard recently sat down on the "PBD" podcast with host Patrick Bet-David and opened up about something deeply personal from his childhood.
It is the kind of confession that makes people gasp for air. But in today’s world, where more stories about childhood trauma and abuse are coming to light, it sadly isn’t as shocking as many might think.
During the conversation, Bet-David asked Howard a blunt question: when did he first have a sexual encounter with a girl?
Howard’s answer stunned many viewers. “I was four,” he said, explaining that the girls involved were slightly older, around six and seven years old.
According to Howard, the behaviour continued for years. “We did that every day until I was like 13. I had more sex then than I’ve had in my adult life.”
He went on to explain that growing up in an unsupervised environment played a huge role. In his neighbourhood, he said, the behaviour was normalised among children.
“All the kids in the neighbourhood were doing it,” he explained, describing games like hide and seek that turned into something very different when the adults were not around.
For Howard, those early experiences shaped how he viewed relationships and intimacy for years. “It gave me an askew view of interactions,” he admitted. “I kept thinking everybody was promiscuous like that.”
Now a father himself, the actor says the experience makes him extremely protective. With young children of his own, he said he cannot imagine them going through something similar and insists on keeping a closer eye on their environment.
But the conversation also raises uncomfortable questions.
Four and seven years old. Who knew better? Who should have stepped in? And where does behaviour like this even begin? Was it something those children saw? Something they were exposed to? Something taught to them by someone older?
It is a sensitive topic because, technically, everyone involved was still a child.
Yet experts say these situations are more common than many people realise.
In South Africa alone, violence and sexual abuse involving children remain a major concern.
More than 26, 800 cases of child abuse and neglect were reported nationwide in the 2024/2025 financial year, with nearly 10 000 involving sexual abuse.
Research also suggests the real numbers are far higher due to underreporting.
One UNICEF-linked study found that about 58% of children in South Africa between the ages of five and 16 have experienced some form of sexual abuse or victimisation.
Online reactions to Howard’s story reflected both shock and painful familiarity.
Some viewers shared similar experiences, while others pointed to the risks children face when left unsupervised.
One commenter wrote: “That’s why you never let your kids do sleepovers with nobody, no friends, no cousins, nobody, no babysitters.”
Another added, “If you ask any social worker, they will tell you stories just like this.”
And that may be the most uncomfortable truth of all. Stories like Howard’s are not rare exceptions. They are reminders of how often children are exposed to things far too early, sometimes by the very environments meant to protect them.