TL;DR
- Lukas Gage reveals in his memoir he was abused by a camp counselor at age 11.
- He says he only recognized it as molestation in therapy years later.
- The actor told his mother only after finishing his book.
- Gage uses humor as a coping mechanism and path to empowerment.
- His memoir, I Wrote This for Attention, comes out October 14.
A Confession Years in the Making
Hollywood heartthrob and queer icon Lukas Gage has dropped a bombshell: the White Lotus and Euphoria actor was sexually abused at an acting camp when he was just 11. In his first memoir, I Wrote This for Attention, Gage lays bare the painful memory he kept locked away for nearly two decades.
“I didn’t even realize it was a thing,” he admitted in a podcast interview, explaining that therapy finally made him confront the reality: “Would you ever do anything with an 11-year-old? No. But I thought I was somehow a participant.” That twisted sense of responsibility, he says, fed his silence.
Breaking the Silence With His Mom
The hardest audience? His own mother. Gage confessed he didn’t share the story with her until he placed a copy of his manuscript in her hands. “It killed me to hear her so hurt,” he said. “There was nothing she could’ve done. The world is a crazy, scary place, and you can only protect your kids so much.”
His words capture the heartbreak of parents who blame themselves for the unimaginable, and the resilience of children who grow into survivors.
Healing Through Humor
For Gage, survival means rewriting the script. Known for his sharp wit, he insists humor is his “favorite defense mechanism.” He uses jokes to retell even his darkest memories—not to trivialize them, but to reclaim them. “Humor, I lean into it to feel strength,” he explained. By laughing, he refuses to shrink under shame.
That irreverence makes Gage not just a survivor but a rebel. In his story, pain doesn’t win; he does.
Why It Matters for the Queer Community
For LGBTQ people, especially queer men, speaking openly about childhood sexual abuse has long carried stigma. Gage’s candor smashes that silence wide open. By choosing to share his story, he challenges the toxic idea that masculinity means swallowing trauma.
His memoir doesn’t just spotlight his personal battle—it sends a message to queer survivors everywhere: you are not alone, your story matters, and your healing is valid.
A Memoir That Pulls No Punches
Beyond the abuse, I Wrote This for Attention promises a raw portrait of Gage’s turbulent youth, his diagnosis with Borderline Personality Disorder, and the messy fallout of his six-month marriage to celebrity hairstylist Chris Appleton. It’s a cocktail of pain, love, chaos, and resilience—shaken, not stirred, and served with Gage’s trademark wit.
For queer fans, the memoir is more than celebrity gossip. It’s proof that healing is possible, that shame doesn’t have to stick, and that even the most glamorous lives are shaped by scars—and the strength it takes to show them.