Laurence Fishburne recently got candid about the therapy he underwent after subjecting his first wife to physical abuse.
via: Vibe
The acclaimed actor shared how therapy helped him move forward as a guest on the Jemele Hill Is Unbothered podcast.
According to Madame Noire, Hill and Fishburne were discussing his role as Ike Turner in the 1993 film What’s Love Got to Do With It when the topic surfaced.
“Having had some experience with that as a young man, I did a lot of counseling,” shared the movie star when asked about getting into character. “I found a great African American therapist who helped me deal with my anger issues.”
The Matrix actor continued to detail his abusive relationship with his first wife.
“Because I had been physical with my first wife. I got married when I was twenty-three years old, my first wife was twenty-one,” Fishburne shared. “And our relationship was very volatile. And I was physically abusive with my first wife, to my regret, and to my shame.”
He added, “So, I was very familiar with the territory and with the emotional landscape of what, you know, brings a person to that place. Where they feel the need to be abusive to their partner.”
Fishburne was married to Hajna O. Moss in 1985. Together, the couple had two children, Langston and Montana Fishburne. After their divorce, he dated and married actress Gina Torres in 2002. The pair had one daughter together, Delilah, before finalizing their divorce in 2017.
Jemele Hill Is Unbothered is the namesake podcast of the Emmy Award-winning writer, journalist, and commentator. It is described as a platform where she discusses her nuanced opinions on news, pop culture, politics, and sports.
With Fishburne, the podcast also explored his relationship with Angela Bassett, the Cave Of Adullam documentary he produced, turning down roles and his most iconic characters.
Check out the episode featuring Laurence Fishburne below.
