Dame Meera Syal breaks 40-year silence on s****l assault that changed her career

Multi-Emmy-winning actress, comedian, and writer Dame Meera Syal opened up about a s***** assault incident that completely changed her life. The Goodness Gracious Me co-creator and star revealed that she was s***ually assaulted by an older man in her mid 20's who promised that he would boost her career. The incident occurred in the 1980s, and she initially thought she could trust him until he tried to r*** her.

In an interview with The Sunday Times Magazine, Syal further explained that she did not report the assault because she thought her parents would not be able to bear the complexities of a criminal trial.

Here's more about it.

Dame Meera Syal was s***** assaulted by an old man in the 1980s

Speaking to The Sunday Times magazine, Syal revealed she was s***** assualted by an 'older Asian man' in the 1980s. Syal explained that when she was in her mid-twenties, and when she failed to get stage acting jobs, she joined a jazz band in a Covent Garden restaurant while applying for other odd jobs. Syal was about to leave London and return to the West Midlands when an old actor she knew invited her to a party in his London house.

When she reached the party, she found that there was only another person who had left the old man's house. Syal admitted that she initially felt safe with the older man and decided to stay back for dinner. The magazine further states that after dinner, mid-conversation, the man jumped on Syal and tried to s******* abuse her, leaving her traumatized.

Eventually, Syal left the abuser's house and chose not to report him, fearing that a criminal trial could be a burden for her parents.

How did the incident change the direction of Dame Meera Syal's life?

The traumatic incident did not deter Dame Meera Syal's spirits. Speaking to The Sunday Times magazine, she revealed it did change her life and the direction of her career. Instead of giving up, she joined a group of Asian writers.

"They encouraged me to write more, they found me a place to live, they healed me and awakened me politically."

Years later, when she finally opened up about the incident with her friends, she learnt that many of them had faced similar incidents. Dame Meera Syal revealed that the abuse led her to write about strong female characters that the viewers saw in BBC2's hit sketch comedy show Goodness Gracious Me. The show originally aired on BBC Radio 4 before moving to BBC 2, where it ran from 1998 to 2001.

Some of her notable projects include Beautiful Thing, Yesterday, and Absolutely Anything, to name a few. Some of her upcoming projects (via IMDb) are Prodigies, Phony, and Up to No Good. She was awarded the BAFTA Fellowship in 2023. Her memoir Vigilauntie is set to be released in September 2026. Apart from that, she is also a singer and a journalist who occasionally writes for The Guardian.

Apart from other accolades and recognitions, Meera Syal was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2026 for her services in drama, charity, and literature.

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