Grace Tame has spoken up about the sexual assault she endured at the hands of a “f***head” predator and expressed concern that he may have contributed to her development into “a psychopath.”
In an extensive interview conducted in advance of the publication of her book, Tame discussed the emotional harm caused by her math instructor Nicolaas Bester, who groomed and then sexually assaulted her at the age of 15.
Tame, who is now 27 years old, acknowledges in the book that she drank alcohol at school, experimented with recreational drugs throughout her late teens, and was twice hospitalised for anorexia.
That includes smoking marijuana and cocaine. Even a weed farm was where she worked.
Tame stated in an interview with Nine newspapers before the book’s release that the horrifying torture she received at the hands of Bester was not the only sexual assault she had to deal with.
In the book, Tame acknowledges that when she was just six years old, an older kid sexually raped her.
Tame used alcohol as a coping mechanism after Bester groomed and sexually assaulted her.
She also used cocaine and marijuana as a kind of comfort and justifies doing so.
Tame claims that although it is harmful to glorify drug usage, it is more harmful to “look down” on individuals who are going through challenging times.
She continues by saying that she “really liked” being high.
Tame ‘ran away’ from Australia to the US when she was 18 years old after taking a trip to Santa Barbara in the US in 2017.
Spencer Breslin, a child star in Hollywood, was the man she married there, but their marriage ended quickly.
In the book The Ninth Life of a Diamond Miner, Tame discussed the emotional harm that Bester’s abuse had caused her.
I’ve questioned if, similar to how a passive smoker develops lung cancer, “Oh my gosh, am I a psychopath?” That is how good these f—heads are at making you feel horrible, if I may use an American expression.
As a result of being thrown into the spotlight after being named the 2020 Australian of the Year, she also acknowledges that she has made errors.
She insisted that she had done nothing wrong when she gave the then-Prime Minister Scott Morrison the infamous “side eye” in 2021.
After publicly criticising the former PM for how he handled the subject of sexual assault and what she saw as his disregard for women, Tame said that she was “not a fan” of his.
She remarked to her fiancé Max Heerey, “I said, “I can’t smile at him, I can’t,” during the meeting with Morrison in 2021. I don’t give him a smile.
Tame remarked that she sometimes feels like she is carrying “a jerrycan” because of her feisty, somewhat combative public demeanour.
She wishes anybody who challenges her “good luck.”
She also discussed why she declined lucrative offers to work for L’Oréal Paris, Nike, and the Young Global Leaders programme.
Tame is said to have received a writing fee of more than $200,000 for the book, whose cover she created.
Tame said in the release, “I’ve also drawn the cover, using a cheap $1 ballpoint pen from Woolies.”
Two self-portraits of Tame are included in the detailed picture, which also includes a skull, vines, mushrooms, spiders, and wolves among other creatures.
I’m prepared for the two-headed Tasmanian jokes, she said in jest.
Although it has a $49.95 cover price, at least one significant store offered a pre-order discount. On Saturday, Angus & Robertson was accepting online orders with a $34.35 asking price.
Bester pleaded guilty to “maintaining a connection with a young person under 17” and possession of child exploitation material. He was given a sentence of two years and ten months in prison.
Bester was sentenced to one year and nine months in prison after which he continued to lament the fact that his conviction had cost him “everything,” including his standing in society.
He was arrested once more after bragging about the abuse on Facebook, although he only served a total of less than two years.
He recently sent her offensive texts threatening to give her a “comeuppance” when her book is out. She informed the authorities.