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regina king
Regina King tearfully opened up about her son Ian Alexander Jr. in her first TV interview since he died by suicide in January 2022.
After taking some much-needed time away from the spotlight, King made her emotional return to Good Morning America this morning, where she spoke to Robin Roberts about her life since the death of her only son.
“Grief is a journey, you know,” she began. “I understand that grief is love that has no place to go. I know that it’s important to me to honor Ian in the totality of who he is, speak about him in the present, because he is always with me and the joy and happiness that he gave all of us.”
Alexander Jr., who was a musician and DJ, was 26 years old when he took his own life.
“When it comes to depression, people expect it to look a certain way — they expect it to look heavy,” King said as she wiped tears away from her eyes, noting that it was his “choice” to die.
She continued, “To have to experience this and not be able to have the time to just sit with Ian’s choice, which I respect and understand that he didn’t want to be here anymore, and that’s a hard thing for other people to receive because they did not live our experience [and] did not live Ian’s journey.”
King — who said she is a “different person now” than she was before her son’s death — admitted that she was “so angry with God” at first.
“Why would that weight be given to Ian? Of all of the things that we had gone through — therapy, psychiatrists, programs — and Ian was like, ‘I’m tired of talking, Mom,'” she said. “My favorite thing about myself is being Ian’s mom. And I can’t say that with a smile, with tears, with all of the emotion that comes with that. I can’t do that if I did not respect the journey.”
The actress concluded that her “sadness will never go away.”
“Sometimes, a lot of guilt comes over me. When a parent loses a child, you still wonder, ‘What could I have done so that wouldn’t have happened?'” she said. “I know that I share this grief with everyone, but no one else is Ian’s mom, you know? Only me. So it’s mine. And the sadness will never go away. It will always be with me.”
King previously paid tribute to Alexander Jr. on what would’ve been his 27th birthday.
“As we still process his physical absence, we celebrate his presence. We are all in different places on the planet…so is Ian,” she wrote on Instagram in January 2023. “His spirit is the thread that connects us. Of course orange is your favorite color…It’s the fire and the calm. I see you in everything I [breathe]. My absolute favorite thing about myself is being ….Regina the mother of Ian the GodKing. Continue to shine bright, my guiding light.”
If you or someone you know are experiencing suicidal thoughts, call the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 988.
