Tyler Perry has opened up about attempting to end his life following the death of dancer Stephen’ tWitch’ Boss.
The former “Ellen DeGeneres Show” house DJ and “So You Think You Can Dance” star died by suicide on Tuesday at the age of 40, prompting an outpouring of grief on social media.
Filmmaker Perry released a video on Instagram in which he expressed his “shock” at Boss’s death and gave his advice to people who may be in a dark place.
“I just want to take you back to a time in my life when I tried to commit suicide, a couple of times, because it was so dark I didn’t think it would get any better. I had endured so much pain, so much abuse, sexual abuse, it was all so hard to just move through that I thought the only way to make this better was to end my life,” he said. “Had any of those attempts happened, I would’ve missed the best part of my life.”
He urged anyone struggling to reach out to a loved one or a professional to help them escape to the other side of their dark time.
The 53-year-old actor insisted he is “the happiest I’ve ever been” and his life is full of more joy and love than he ever imagined.
“I’m saying that to you, if you are a person who’s considering suicide, ending your life, you’ve already been through a lot of hell, please, please, please, think about what the other side could be,” he continued. “Don’t let the darkness stop you from getting to this incredible place of life… I’m a living witness you can make it through it. I’m so glad my attempts didn’t work.”
On Thursday, Ellen DeGeneres issued a second tribute to the longtime fixture on her talk show, which ended in May. She shared a video from the show’s final week in which she honored Boss with a montage of his best moments.
In the clip, she emotionally calls him her pal and sidekick and says, “I don’t want to say goodbye.”
“Right now what I want to do is remember all the love and laughter I had with tWitch. He brought so much joy to my life. I know he brought joy to yours too. I’m going to be sharing some of my favorite moments with him,” she wrote in the caption.