The Breakfast Club host and media personality Charlamagne Tha God has shown much appreciation for Tyler Perry throughout his career. What many do not know, including the Madea star, is that Perry helped Charlamagne to uncover a sad experience in his life.
“You can’t heal what you don’t reveal!” These words have been uttered by Moncks Corner, South Carolina-native Charlamagne The God on plenty an occasion. Practicing what he’s preached, “Uncle Charla” (as he’s affectionately known by some) has often been candid of some sordid moments in his upbringing. Born Lenard McKelvey, Charlamagne Tha God chronicled his journey in the 2017 New York Times best-selling book Black Privilege: Opportunity Comes To Those Who Create It. “I wanted to share my story,” he told the Charleston City Paper. “Those stories inspired me.”
Within the book, he reveals an unfortunate incident that occurred at the hands of an ex-wife of one of his cousins, which no child should ever endure. Charlamagne would further speak on the violation that happened when he was a mere eight years old on an episode of TV One’s Uncensored. Charlamagne stated on the docu-series that he spent the majority of his life feeling that nothing was wrong with the incident until he watched Tyler Perry share a similar account that happened to him during an Oprah Winfrey interview. Tears from an emotional Tyler Perry stemming from his traumatic story led to Charlamagne questioning himself.
For a long time, Charlamagne remembered enjoying the offensive act, which made him question if something was wrong with him. According to Charlamagne, he only stopped her once she began to “wear a Jheri curl.” This began various insults from her towards him, which in turn developed a “healthy appetite” within him.
Over the years, Charlamagne Tha God has been open about the self-work he’s doing to achieve clarity and awareness while reconciling with his past. Charlamagne has also become a loud advocate for mental health awareness while on this journey of discovery. In a recent interview with Daily Beast Live, Charlamagne Tha God further detailed how viewing the interview helped to open his eyes to the destructive incident. “When I first watched that interview, you know, I wasn’t nowhere near doing any work on myself,” Charlamagne confessed. “And, I watched him crying. I remember just saying to myself, ‘What’s wrong with him?”
Charlamagne attributes his thought process to that of many men who view that type of assault. He recalls having conversations with friends at that age where they would fantasize about bedding older women, not realizing the longstanding ramifications it would cause. All of this was not able to be processed for Charlamagne until he arrived in his late 30s. Hear Charlamagne speak on this topic, as well as his new Comedy Central show in the clip below.
