15 Times Famous People Opened Up About Devastating Stories In Their Memoirs

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This station deals with delicate topics similar suicidal ideation, gestation loss, eating disorders, addiction, intersexual harassment, grooming of minors, and intersexual abuse. Read with caution and instrumentality attraction of yourself ❤️. 

1. In her memoir, Brutally Honest, Mel B. recounted her termination attempt. “My beingness was a sham. Behind the glitter of fame, I felt emotionally battered, estranged from my family. I felt disfigured and detested by the precise antheral who erstwhile promised to emotion and support me, my hubby and manager, Stephen,” she wrote. “...So determination I was. Trapped successful the vice of my ain personage image. All smiles connected the outside, misery and self-loathing connected the inside, ever telling the satellite however blessed I was erstwhile truly each I ever wanted was to shriek for help."

After swallowing a lethal magnitude of pills, she regretted the determination instantly and called her hubby for help. "I couldn’t fto myself spell under. I had to judge things could get better. I couldn’t bash it to my girls, my family, oregon each those radical who really believed successful me," she wrote. "I looked successful the reflector and said, ‘No.’ Suicide was not the answer. I had to marque my beingness count. I had to get to a hospital, I had to get those pills retired of my tummy earlier thing happened."

"Of each the memories from each those hours, it is the 1 that inactive floors me... it’s similar a weapon done my heart... It was the saddest infinitesimal of my life," she recalled. "It volition ever unrecorded with me. All I ever privation is for her to cognize however atrocious I am, however mislaid I was and however I volition never, ever wantonness her again.”

2. In her memoir, Matriarch, Tina Knowles wrote astir her narration with Beyoncé and Solange's father, Mathew Knowles. When she was large with Solange, she recovered retired astir his infidelity and thought astir divorcing him. “He would cheat oregon enactment up, and I would accidental I’d had enough. He’d beg for forgiveness, crying and promising to get better.” But “the aforesaid happening would hap again,” Tina wrote. “But this is what joined radical did, I told myself.”

“The matrimony was deteriorating faster than I could perchance find ways oregon reasons to marque it enactment — adjacent with the pregnancy," she wrote. "Mathew’s infidelity became truthful retired determination for each to spot that I could not perchance enactment successful the marriage."

3. In her memoir, Master of Me, Keke Palmer wrote astir being sexually assaulted by her cousin. "I couldn't statement it then, but I came to recognize that what was being done to maine was enactment play, immature enactment play," she wrote. "As an big now, I recognize my relative was lone regurgitating the things she'd seen. We were children that had seen excessively overmuch and were trying to unrecorded retired the things we saw without immoderate conception of what they meant."

In a abstracted interrogation with People, she reflected connected the experience, saying, “People don’t truly deliberation astir child-on-child molestation, but it’s thing that exists. I felt weird and violated, but I didn’t truly cognize however to spot it. I conscionable knew I had each these weird feelings and thoughts, and I felt a small spot retired of power and overwhelmed.”

4. In her memoir, Bits and Pieces: My Mother, My Brother, and Me, Whoopi Goldberg wrote astir her acquisition with cause addiction during the '80s. At first, she thought she "could grip the cocaine thing" due to the fact that of her erstwhile cause use. Shortly after, she "fell into the heavy well" with cocaine and was a "very high-functioning addict."

She wrote that her wake-up telephone was the clip she accidentally frightened a housekeeper, who recovered Whoopi connected the level of a edifice closet with cocaine each implicit her face. “I was letting thing other tally my beingness and instrumentality maine over,” she wrote.

5. In his memoir, The House of Hidden Meanings, RuPaul shares that erstwhile helium was inactive a minor, helium had a narration with a 36-year-old antheral named Andrew, a counsellor astatine a cheery center. He wrote that 1 time aft a session, Andrew asked Ru to buss him, which ended up being Ru's archetypal "real kiss." He besides wrote that Andrew yet said they had to hold until Ru was 18 to person sex.

6. In her memoir, My Love Story, Tina Turner reflected connected her abusive matrimony to Ike Turner. "He threw blistery java successful my face, giving maine third-degree burns. He utilized my chemoreceptor arsenic a punching container truthful galore times that I could sensation humor moving down my pharynx erstwhile I sang. He broke my jaw. And I couldn't retrieve what it was similar not to person a achromatic eye." At this time, she had besides attempted suicide. She wrote that during 1 of Ike's tours, she took 50 sleeping pills.

Then, aft waking up successful the hospital, she recalled Ike successful her look saying, "You should die." She added, "When I took those pills, I chose death, and I chose it honestly. I was unhappy erstwhile I woke up."

7. In her memoir, Leslie F*cking Jones, Leslie Jones opened up astir her trauma from being sexually abused arsenic a toddler. "It was 1 of my babysitters who messed with me," she wrote. "Man, I privation I could spell backmost and combat that feline — that small miss couldn’t support herself." She added that successful looking backmost astatine photos of herself, she tin spot wherever her grin began fading. She's unsure if either of her precocious parents knew astir the abuse.

8. In her memoir, Who's That Girl?, Eve shared what it was similar filming her TV amusement portion experiencing an ectopic gestation and losing her archetypal baby. "I told them each it was appendicitis. It was 2006, and I was inactive filming my Eve TV series, erstwhile I recovered retired that I was pregnant," she wrote. "It was called a tubal pregnancy, wherever the embryonic sac ruptured successful my 1 fallopian tube. It's besides known arsenic an ectopic pregnancy."

She continued saying, "I had to person exigency country and halt filming the amusement for 2 weeks. I don't cognize wherefore I lied to everyone connected acceptable and said that my appendix had ruptured, really. Maybe due to the fact that I was lying to myself. If I faced losing my baby, past I didn't cognize if 2 weeks would beryllium capable affectional healing time. In the end, it was hardly capable healing clip for maine physically earlier I was close backmost to enactment connected set."

"I had mislaid truthful overmuch value aft the surgery, and my assemblage was truthful frail. I inactive had to locomotion reddish carpets during that time, and erstwhile I look backmost astatine pictures, I tin spot however skinny I was. Too skinny. And excessively overmuch successful denial. But it's similar I've said before, sometimes I did immoderate it took to amusement up and get the occupation done ... adjacent if it was to my ain detriment.

For years, I ne'er grieved losing my archetypal baby. I didn't cognize however to, but I yet learned. I had to talk to that babe and admit their existence. I had to forgive myself and cognize that what had happened wasn't my fault, that I deserved to beryllium a mother, and that I was acceptable to bring a babe into this satellite down here.

And his sanction would beryllium Wilde Wolfe."

9. In her memoir, Finding Me, Viola Davis shared her acquisition increasing up successful utmost poorness successful Central Falls, Rhode Island. She explained, “We were ‘po.’ That’s a level little than poor."

She added that nutrient stamps were ne'er capable to provender her household and that nary of the toilets successful their location worked — she became "very skilled astatine filling up a bucket and pouring it into the toilet to flush it." She said they would besides spell "unwashed" and could ne'er participate their room due to the fact that "the rats had taken over." The flat gathering she lived successful had adjacent caught occurrence respective times.

10. In her memoir, Thicker Than Water, Kerry Washington opened up astir her struggles with an eating upset portion she attended George Washington University successful the '90s. "In galore ways, that was 1 of the darkest times of my life," she wrote.

She adjacent goes connected to telephone that constituent successful her life, "a toxic rhythm of self-abuse that utilized the tools of starvation, binge eating, assemblage obsession, and compulsive exercise."

"Kerry successful assemblage was a blistery mess... and spot of a chaotic child," she added. "But it's halfway done assemblage that I started asking for help. In immoderate ways I'm truly grateful for Kerry successful assemblage due to the fact that hitting bottommost the mode that she did, she opened the doorway for a batch much healing for me."

"I inactive person that messaging successful my encephalon astatine times, that I'm not capable oregon that I should look better," she wrote. "But I besides tin take different thought patterns now."

11. In his publication Will, Will Smith shared that due to the fact that of his method-acting for Six Degrees of Separation, helium really fell successful love with his costar Stockard Channing. At the time, helium had conscionable welcomed a caller babe with his then-wife, Sheree Zampino.

He wrote, "Sheree and I were successful the archetypal fewer months of our matrimony with a brand-new baby, and for Sheree, I tin ideate that this acquisition was unsettling to accidental the least. She'd joined a feline named Will Smith, and present she was surviving with a feline named Paul Poitier. And to marque matters worse, during shooting, I fell successful emotion with Stockard Channing."

He besides explained that his matrimony to Sheree was disconnected to a "rocky start" due to the fact that helium recovered himself "desperately yearning to spot and speak" to Stockard. He added, "I was like, 'Oh no! What person I done?' That was my past acquisition with method acting, wherever you're reprogramming your mind. You're really playing astir with your psychology. You thatch yourself to similar things and to dislike things. It is simply a truly unsafe spot erstwhile you get bully astatine it. But erstwhile I had that experience, I was like, 'No much method acting.' For Six Degrees, I wanted to execute good truthful severely that I was spending six and 7 and 8 days successful quality earlier shooting, and you person to beryllium cautious with that."

12. In her 2nd book, You Got Anything Stronger?, Gabrielle Union shared the heartbreak she felt erstwhile she recovered retired her spouse Dwyane Wade was having a kid with idiosyncratic other during the clip she was dealing with her ain fertility struggles.

She shared that she'd had "eight oregon nine" miscarriages owed to her adenomyosis. "To accidental I was devastated is to prime a connection connected a debased support for convenience, the acquisition of Dwyane having a babe truthful easy portion I was incapable to, near my psyche not conscionable breached into pieces, but shattered into good particulate scattering successful the wind," she wrote.

She and Dwyane welcomed their kid Kaavia successful 2018 via surrogate. 

13. In her memoir, Miss Me with That, Rachel Lindsay called retired her chap Bachelor alum Raven Gates for her rude archetypal content of Rachel. Rachel explained that during Season 22, Raven kept a diary wherever she kept notes astir different contestants. For her archetypal content of Rachel, she wrote, "Rachel — she has Black skin" and work it aloud to the group. In her memoir, Rachel past reacted saying, "What the fuck? Who says that shit? Not lone bash you deliberation it, but you really accidental it retired large for radical to hear?"

14. In her memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey, Mariah Carey wrote that her matrimony with Tommy Mottola was similar walking connected "a furniture of nails." “In the beginning…I was walking connected eggshells. Then it became a furniture of nails, and past a minefield. I ne'er knew erstwhile oregon what would marque him blow, and the anxiousness was relentless," she wrote. “It felt similar helium was cutting disconnected my circulation, keeping maine from my friends and what small 'family' I had. I couldn't speech to anyone that wasn't nether Tommy's control. I couldn't spell retired oregon bash thing with anybody. I couldn't determination freely successful my ain house.”

She aboriginal added that her matter with Derek Jeter was “the catalyst [she] needed to get retired from nether Tommy’s crippling control."

15. Finally, successful her memoir, Worthy, Jada Pinkett Smith shared that she had to commencement dealing drugs conscionable truthful she could person wealth successful her pocket. “Growing up, the cause dealers were the ones that had affluence. That’s what we readily saw arsenic success," she wrote. "And truthful for me, considering my circumstances astatine the time, my parent was not doing well, she tried to get cleanable from heroin."

“I conscionable wanted fiscal freedom," she continued. “What if thing happens to my mother? What if she doesn't travel location 1 night? Either overdosed, arrested, whatever. And so, I decided to merchantability drugs. I decided to merchantability ace cocaine.”

She added, “Drugs were going to interaction you, period. You could usage them, you could merchantability them, but determination was nary being successful an situation similar that and drugs not interaction you. And I'm not saying that it's right, of course, present being successful a full antithetic mindset. But erstwhile you're surviving successful a warfare portion and you conscionable reasoning astir survival, I wasn't trying to usage drugs. I surely wasn't going to beryllium a cause dealer's girlfriend. But I wanted wealth truthful that I could beryllium independent. I wanted to instrumentality attraction of myself.”

The National Alliance connected Mental Illness helpline is 1-800-950-6264 (NAMI) and provides accusation and referral services; GoodTherapy.org is an relation of intelligence wellness professionals from much than 25 countries who enactment efforts to trim harm successful therapy.

The National Eating Disorders Association helpline is 1-800-931-2237; for 24/7 situation support, substance “NEDA” to 741741.

If you oregon idiosyncratic you cognize has experienced intersexual assault, you tin telephone the National Sexual Assault Hotline astatine 1-800-656-HOPE, which routes the caller to their nearest intersexual battle work provider. You tin besides hunt for your section halfway here

Dial 988 successful the United States to scope the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The 988 Lifeline is disposable 24/7/365. Your conversations are escaped and confidential. Other planetary termination helplines tin beryllium recovered astatine befrienders.org. The Trevor Project, which provides assistance and suicide-prevention resources for LGBTQ youth, is 1-866-488-7386.

If you oregon idiosyncratic you cognize is struggling with substance abuse, you tin telephone SAMHSA’s National Helpline astatine 1-800-662-HELP (4357) and find much resources here.

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