Tyler Perry is speaking candidly about past suicide attempts in hopes of helping those who are struggling. On Wednesday, Perry paid tribute to Stephen “tWitch” Boss, who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head Tuesday.
“I’ve only met [Boss] a couple of times, and he always full of life and seemed like such a light,” Perry said in an Instagram video before detailing times when he was in a dark place.
“I just wanted to take you back to a time in my life where I tried to commit suicide, a couple of times. Because it was so dark, I didn’t think it would get any better,” Perry candidly shared. “I had endured so much pain, so much abuse, sexual abuse. It was all so hard to just move through I thought the only way to make this better, this pain to go away, was to end my life. Had any of those attempts happened, I would have missed the best part of my life.”
The famed director and filmmaker encouraged his followers that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and that he emerged “the happiest I’ve ever been.”
Back in December 2020, Perry opened up about his 26-year-old nephew Gavin Porter, who died in prison while serving a 20-year sentence for killing his father. In the lengthy statement, the Why Did I Get Married? star reflected on how the situation impacted his family.
“A few years ago my nephew committed a heinous crime—he shot his biological father and killed him just feet away from my sister over a senseless argument. The murder shook our entire family to its core,” the statement read. “Despite his horrible act, before he went to prison I went to see him in the local jail. I assured him that we all still loved him, but it was important to all of us, including his mother, that he was punished for this horrific crime that he had committed.”
This came after Perry’s family called for a second autopsy report on Porter. Per TMZ, Porter was reportedly in solitary confinement after getting into a fight with another inmate. A few hours later, guards found him hanging in his cell.
