Actress Taraji P. Henson has always played strong characters. In the Benjamin Button film, she played a strong motherly figure that helped navigate the main character throughout his journey. In other films like Baby Boy and Hidden Figures, Henson’s strong female character took over the screen in beautiful portrayals of strong, Black women.
Well, recently, Henson revealed that we are all human, and even she had a moment of weakness during this crazy year of 2020.
“During this pandemic, it’s been hard on all of us, and I had a moment. I had a dark moment. I was in a dark place. For a couple of days, I couldn’t get out of the bed, I didn’t care,” she said.
“That’s not me. Then, I started having thoughts about ending it. It happened two nights in a row,” she continued.
She went on to reveal that she had bought a gun recently which was kept in the safe and there were times when she would think about using the gun to kill herself.
“I just didn’t care. I felt myself withdrawing. People were calling me. I wasn’t responding. I didn’t care. Finally, I’m talking to one of my girlfriends and I knew I was smart enough to say ‘I have to say it,’” she said.
“So one day I just blurted it out to my girlfriend. She called me in the morning and I was like, ‘you know I thought about killing myself last night. Oh my god, I feel so much better. I’m not gonna do it now’,” she went on to say.
“At first, it was like, I don’t want to be here. And then I started thinking about going and getting the gun. And that’s why when I woke up the next morning, and I blurted it out. Because I felt like after a while it was going to take over me, and it was going to become a plan because that’s how strong my brain is. Our thoughts … They’re that powerful.”
Henson wasn’t the only one who has contemplated suicide recently.
We reported on Tamar Braxton who actually tried to take her life earlier this year after being pushed too far in her television contract. The 43-year-old Braxton confirmed many of those rumors. She revealed in a lengthy statement posted on her Instagram that she had attempted suicide after suffering “pain” for the past 11 years while working in the entertainment industry as a reality star.
A few bright spots in her post to her fans was that Tamar explained how she’s on a “path to healing” following her recent hospitalization after she was found unresponsive in a hotel room earlier this month.
“In this present moment, it is my only responsibility to be real with myself and to be real with the ones who truly love me and care for my healing. I have without fail, shared with you my brightest days, and I know that sharing with you what has been my darkest will be the light for any man or woman who is feeling the same defeat I felt just only a week ago.”
Tamar goes on to talk about how she got her and what her breaking point was.