Yasmina Filali reveals abusive childhood and years in German youth homes

German actress Yasmina Filali, known for roles in series such as "Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten" and married to former footballer Thomas Helmer, spoke to Bild about a traumatic upbringing. She recounted that her father left when she was two and half, later forcing her to spend every second weekend with him, where she often waited for his and his partner’s alcohol intoxication. Both later died from long‑term alcohol abuse.

Filali described severe violence in a children’s home, recalling an incident where "someone hit my front teeth and nose with a phone while I was sleeping." She said the institution was marked by constant shouting, drug use and physical aggression. At age ten she fled home, sought shelter on Hamburg’s Reeperbahn, was taken by police to a transitional home and then placed in a permanent facility until she turned 18.

The interview marks the first time the actress, now a mother of two, has publicly detailed these experiences, highlighting the lasting impact of early abuse and institutional neglect.