ELLEN DEGENERES’ mom, Betty, is speaking out for the first time about dismissing her daughter’s sexual abuse allegations.

In DeGeneres’ interview for David Letterman’s Netflix series, “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction,” the comedian revisited the claim that she first publicly made in 2005 — that her stepfather abused her when she was 15. “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” host, 61, said that her mother didn’t believe her when she went to her about the abuse, staying married to the man for 18 more years before finally leaving him because “he’d changed the story so many times.”

In a statement to NBC News, Betty, 89, said she lives with “regret” over not believing her daughter.

“I know now that one of the hardest things to do is speak up after being sexually abused,” Betty wrote. She wished she “had the capacity to listen” when DeGeneres first confided in her.

The statement ended with Betty urging others to listen when someone comes to them with similar claims, writing, “If someone in your life has the courage to speak out, please believe them.”

DeGeneres first went public with the allegations against her stepfather in Allure magazine in 2005. By then, her former stepfather was already deceased.

(SD-Agencies)