OPRAH
Could you imagine a world without Oprah Winfrey? Although the talk show maven has one of the best rags to riches stories ever, there was a time when things in Winfrey’s world seemed bleak. A then 14-year-old pregnant Winfrey attempted suicide by drinking a bottle of laundry detergent. The media mogul blames the attempt on the fact that she was so scared of coming home to her father pregnant. Winfrey’s baby died shortly after birth. Looking back on her life, the owner of her own cable network believes it was a blessing in disguise. “When the baby died, I knew that it was my second chance,” she said.
With millions of adoring fans and millions in the bank, celebrities may seem to have it all but behind closed doors, they have their dark moments too.Here’s a list of stars who have survived suicide attempts.
PARIS JACKSON
Paris Jackson lived a life relatively outside of the spotlight until her very famous dad suddenly passed away in June 2009. Since then, the King of Pop’s only daughter has struggled to deal with his death. To make matters worse, the 15-year-old is expected to stand trial at the lawsuit her family has filed against Jackson’s concert promoter later this month. Early Tuesday morning the younger Jackson was rushed to the hospital after trying to take her own life. She reportedly slit her wrist and took a large amount of aspirin pills. Grandma Katherine’s rep has released a statement on the teen: “Being a sensitive 15-year-old is difficult no matter who you are. It is especially difficult when you lose the person closest to you. Paris is physically fine and is getting appropriate medical attention. Please respect her privacy and the family’s privacy.”
HALLE BERRY
Halle Berry has been named the “Most Beautiful Woman” by People magazine but even the insanely gorgeous can hit a rough patch. The Oscar winning actress was at her wit’s end after her marriage to professional baseball player David Justice ended in divorce. Berry admitted to trying to kill herself by carbon monoxide poisoning. She locked herself in the garage and turned the car on but changed her mind when she pictured her mother finding her dead body. Although Berry’s second marriage also ended in divorce, as did her relationship with her daughter’s father, theMonster’s Ball star has finally found happiness with fiancé and the soon-to-be father of her second child Olivier Martinez.
EMINEM
Eminem burst onto the rap scene in 1997 and became a household name. The blonde-hair blue-eyed emcee’s lyrics immediately drew attention because of its particularly dark and misogynistic content. Although he frequently rapped about killing his daughter’s mother as well as his own mom, Emimen, real name Marshall Mathers, tried to take his own life by swallowing a bottle of Tylenol pills before he became a star. The Detroit native was distraught over his then girlfriend keeping his daughter away from him after a break-up. Eminem also nearly died after he overdosed on pills during the height of his career but he is now clean and sober.
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FANTASIA
Singer Fantasia Barrino shot to stardom after winning the third season of “American Idol.” Going from a nobody to a household name overnight can be tough on anyone. Add in the responsibilities of being a single mom and the sole provider in her family, publicly frolicking with (and getting pregnant by) a married man, and a struggling singing career and it’s not hard to see how all of the pressure boiled over in 2010 when the singer tried to take her own life by overdosing on pills. Many speculated her philandering relationship was the root of the attempt but Barrino admitted it was much more than just that. “I lost a lot of things. I lost a lot of friends, a lot of family. I lost a lot of money. I’m not sad about any of that and I wouldn’t change any of it because it made me the woman that I am today. It made me smarter and wiser,” Barrino said.
ELTON JOHN
British pop star Elton John wasn’t always an openly proud gay man. There was a time in Sir John’s young life where he struggled to keep his sexuality a secret. Upset over a lost lover, the “Rocket Man” singer tried to end his life by sticking his head inside of a gas oven. Luckily a friend caught him in the act before anything serious happened. Before he was comfortable living out loud and proud, the rock star was previously married to his secretary. When that ended in divorce, Sir John married another woman, which also didn’t work out. The 66-year-old singer is now in a civil partnership with long-term lover David Furnish. The happy couple has two sons.
DREW
Children growing up in Hollywood tend to grow up faster than normal children. That was certainly the case with Drew Barrymore who grabbed her first role at 11 months. The child star started smoking cigarettes at nine years old. By the time she was 13, she had graduated to snorting coke. After leaving a drug rehab, 14-year-old Barrymore tried to kill herself. After another rehab stint, the Charlie’s Angel star cleaned up, got her act together and went on to have a successful acting career.
Source: AP
JAYSON WILLIAMS
From the outside looking in, professional athletes seem to have it all with the adoring fans and multi-million dollar contracts but sometimes the fairytale doesn’t always have a happy ending. Former NBA all-star Jayson Williams was on a downward spiral after he accidentally killed someone in his New Jersey home in 2002. The one-time New Jersey Nets player spent the next several years in court fighting for his freedom. In 2009, police were called to a Manhattan hotel room to find an intoxicated and suicidal Williams. Reports showed police found empty pill bottles and a suicide note. Williams had to be tasered and handcuffed to stop him from killing himself. He has since plead guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to five years in prison.
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