Padma Lakshmi Admits to Being Raped at the Age of 16 The 'Top Chef' judge, author and activist has opened up about the experience in an op-ed for
'The New York Times.' Lakshmi says the incident happened with a
23-year-old man when she was a virgin at the time. She then admits to not telling anyone about what happened. Lakshmi explains there was no language for
date rape in the 1980s, when it happened. She then imagined people would criticize her for dating an older man and being in his apartment. Lakshmi goes to on write that one of her stepfather's relatives sexually harassed her when she just
seven years old. When she told her mother and stepfather, she
was sent to India for a year to live with grandparents. Lakshmi adds that for a long time afterward, she believed, "If you speak up, you will be cast out.”