According to a report from Page Six, Tyler Perry recently revealed he was the victim of child abuse, including rape as a child, in addition to shocking revelations that he once tried to commit suicide. The star subsequently managed to get past his childhood trauma and become one of the most successful filmmakers of all time.

Tyler, the House Of Payne star, 50, claims his alcoholic father repeatedly abused him as a young boy. Interestingly, Tyler came to realize that his father wasn’t his biological father just nine years ago. Speaking with reporters from People Magazine, Mr. Perry stated that his father once beat him so badly with a vacuum that it ripped the skin off his back.

Perry explained his father’s lack of love for him to the outlet, claiming that it was almost like his dad didn’t even think of him as a human being. The New Orleans native claims his mother, Maxine, who provided the inspiration for Madea, once tried to get up and leave but his father called the police and reported the car stolen.

Furthermore, Perry stated he was the victim of sexual abuse three times before he turned 10-years-old. “It was rape,” Perry explained, claiming he didn’t realize what it actually was at the time, but he just “moved through it.”

After years of holding back his inner turmoil and demons, Perry claims that his teenage years became characterized by anger and depression. He even fell into a deep depression as a child and tried to kill himself as well.

Offering up some words of wisdom for others who might be reading out there, Perry claimed that it’s important to just keep going, and take it one day at a time. Moreover, the director states that his struggles as a child provided fuel for the engine of his later success.

Moreover, the director believes his job as a writer helped him get over some of his past pain, including his “own behaviors.” Through the study of characters, he managed to “untie some of those strings and get to full healing.”

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These days, Perry is worth almost $1 billion, and recently finished the construction of his Atlanta studio, Tyler Perry Studios. Tyler has a four-year-old son with his girlfriend, Gelila Bekele as well.