Miranda Cosgrove opened up about the ongoing effects of a traumatic stalking incident which occurred eight years ago in an interview with Bustle published Friday.
Cosgrove revealed how an encounter with a stalker years ago continues to affect her sense of safety, especially at her Los Angeles home where the incident occurred. The stalker reportedly committed suicide by setting himself on fire and shooting himself in the front yard of her Los Angeles home. Before this incident, he had shot at a woman who resembled Cosgrove near the property, Entertainment Weekly reported. Cosgrove still lives in the same house, she told Bustle.
Miranda Cosgrove reflects on stalker who lit himself on fire and fatally shot himself: ‘I just don’t feel super safe’ https://t.co/ZRPWtE4EWC pic.twitter.com/ngaJ5lCjK8
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The memory of these events has impacted Cosgrove, who admitted the experience still haunts her and she still struggles with feeling safe in her own home, according to the outlet.
“I just don’t feel super safe in that house. For two years after it happened, I wouldn’t really stay there,” she told Bustle. “Then I got into a relationship and because that person was there with me, I was less scared. But I don’t really like being there on my own that much.”
The “iCarly” actress also unexpectedly met the woman who had allegedly been shot by the stalker during a Kitten Rescue LA event. The woman approached her, revealed her identity and offered another personal connection against the incident’s traumatic effects, according to the outlet. (RELATED: Alleged Stalker Rushes Stage, Attempts To Engage With Drew Barrymore, Video Shows)
Miranda Cosgrove poses as she attends the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards at Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California, U.S., April 9, 2022. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni
“This girl came up to me, and she was like, ‘I didn’t know if I should tell you this here or how to say this, but I’m actually the girl that was at your house that got shot at. She said she’d just gone through a breakup the night before and was going to her friend’s house because she was so distraught,” Cosgrove told Bustle. “When they brought her into the Hollywood Police Station to ask what he looked like and how it all happened, the detectives were like, ‘Start from the very beginning. What happened?’ And she was like, ‘Well, he broke up with me last night,’ and she started telling them all about her breakup.”
Moreover, Cosgrove expressed empathy towards Richard Gadd, a Scottish comedian who portrayed his harrowing stalking experience in a play, “Baby Reindeer.” Gadd’s work struck a chord with Cosgrove.
“I feel like if that were me, having to go back through your most terrible experiences and then try to act them [out], that’d be so hard,” Cosgrove added.