John Stamos recalls ‘playing dead’ while sexually abused as a child

John Stamos opens up about being sexually assaulted by his babysitter as a child in his upcoming memoir “If You Would Have Told Me.”

Ahead of the book’s Oct. 24 release, the “Full House” alum, 60, spoke with People about feeling the need to talk about the alleged incident for the first time while crafting his life story.

“I do so much advocacy for the [survivors],” the longtime celebrity ambassador for Childhelp explained. “I felt like I remembered it slightly. It has always been there, but I packed it away as people do, right?”

Stamos claimed the alleged assault was “always in the back” of his mind throughout his life, but he didn’t really reflect on it until he was preparing an acceptance speech for his work with the organization that is dedicated to the prevention and treatment of child abuse.

“I started to write it, and that’s when it really came out,” he recalled. “And then I thought, ‘No, tonight is not about me. It’s about the kids. I’m going to pack it away again until the right moment.’ Otherwise, I’m a phony f–k. It’s like, ‘Come on.’”

He continued, “I didn’t want the headlines to be that, and I didn’t want the book to be over that. It was a page or something, but I felt I had to talk about it. It was weird. It was something that, I think, I was probably like 10 or 11 [when it happened]. I shouldn’t have had to deal with those feelings.”

The actor claimed he acted like he was “playing dead so they’ll stop” during the alleged incidents.

“But it wasn’t totally aggressive,” he said. “I don’t know. It was not good.”

Stamos and his wife, Caitlin McHugh, 37, now share their 5-year-old son, Billy.

“But I’ll tell you: if I found out someone was doing that to my son? That’s a totally different story,” Stamos added.

The Post has contacted reps for Stamos for comment.

Elsewhere in the book, Stamos recalled how he “hated” his first wife Rebecca Romijn after their divorce in 2005.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.