Denise Richards pressured to keep silent about alleged sexual harassment to avoid Hollywood blacklist

The 54-year-old reality star confessed there was a point in her early career when she considered filing a sexual harassment lawsuit but was pressured to keep quiet. 

"I felt so vulnerable. This was the career I wanted to do. To be told that you're never going to work in an industry that you are passionate about, it's a hard thing."

While Richards has created a name for herself over the last three decades in Hollywood, the actress said she's "amazed" about the impactful changes in the industry - especially during the #MeToo movement. 

"There definitely needed to be a change - and not just in the entertainment industry," she remarked. "I am glad that women are able to have more of a voice and be more protected." 

"If that happened at this age, I would handle it differently, but I was so young and an unknown and [just] starting out."

Richards reflected on her Hollywood career as she viewed the industry through the lens of her three daughters - Sami, 20, ans Lola, 19, whom she shares with ex-husband Charlie Sheen. Richards adopted daughter Eloise in 2011.

"I wish I had the confidence that they have, because I would never be able to stand out for myself the way they do," she explained. 

"I was such a people pleaser when I started my career," she continued. "And I love that my girls, this early in their career, that they're able to [speak up]. Sometimes I'm like, 'You might want to tone it down,' but for the most part I'm glad that they're able to say [what's on their mind]. I wish I was able to back then."

Richards previously spoke out about how she struggled to "balance" life as a mom of three in Hollywood. 

"I'm trying to just balance everything," Richards said in the show trailer as she listed off a few of her roles in life, including wife and mother to three daughters. Richards married husband Aaron Phyphers in 2018. He was previously married to actress Nicollete Sheridan.

Sheen and Richards were married in 2002 and divorced four years later.

Fox News Digital's Tracy Wright contributed to this report.