"I know it may seem like there's no hope, but please reach out to someone," Tyler Perry said in an Instagram video.
Trigger Warning: The following story mentions suicide and sexual abuse which some readers may find distressing.
Stephen "tWitch" Boss who is famous as the DJ on the Ellen Degeneres Show and So You Think You Can Dance died by suicide at the age of 40 on December 13, 2022, his wife Allison Holker confirmed with PEOPLE.
Actor and Filmmaker Tyler Perry opened up about his attempt to take his own life after hearing about the death of Stephen "tWitch" Boss in an Instagram video, captioned "Life." In the video, he said something most people go through but hardly ever talk about. "I've only met him a couple of times," the film director and actor said of the professional dancer. "He was always full of life, it seemed like, such a light," he continued.
Recalling the "dark" times Perry shared that he "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." However, he said, "Had any of those attempts happened, I would've missed the best part of my life."
Reflecting on his past he said that he now realizes that "sometimes the pain is a buy-in. I know that's hard to understand." He added, "That's the way I had to learn to look at it to get through it. What I mean by that is, all that pain, all that hell, all that struggle, if I had given up, if I had stopped, I wouldn't have seen the better part of my life. I was buying into something, I was paying for something."
He then explained, "I know that doesn't make sense to a lot of people but for me, it was the way I was able to rationalize it, to be able to move through the pain, knowing that if I could just get through this moment, there's got to be something better."
He went on to share a message for others saying, "I know it may seem like there's no hope, but please reach out to someone ... call, ask for help if you are dealing with anything that is emotionally taking you to a place where you think you want to end your life." Perry then said he is now "the happiest I've ever been," sharing that his "life is full of joy and love, things I never thought I'd get to."
He continued, "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. It could be amazing. And you would miss the best part of it going through the darkness. Don't let the darkness stop you from getting to this incredible place of life."
He concluded, "Let's end this new year loving us, loving on each other, encouraging ourselves, this is gonna take that from within. God bless you. Rest in peace, tWitch."
He urged those who relate to the whole situation to call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255)
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Cover Image Source: Getty Images | (L) Frazer Harrison; (R) Aaron J. Thornton
