Wentworth Miller Hits Back at Fat-Shaming Meme and Reveals He Battled Suicidal Depression with Eating

Wentworth Miller wrote in a Facebook post that he turned to food while battling depression

Photo: D Dipasupil/Getty

Actor Wentworth Miller is sending a message after becoming the subject of a fat-shaming Internet meme.

The 43-year-old Prison Break star took to Facebook on Monday, revealing that he was once suicidal and addressing a meme highlighting his past weight gain.

“Today I found myself the subject of an Internet meme. Not for the first time. This one, however, stands out from the rest,” he wrote in the lengthy post. “In 2010, semi-retired from acting, I was keeping a low-profile for a number of reasons. First and foremost, I was suicidal.”

“I was looking everywhere for relief/comfort/distraction. And I turned to food,” the actor wrote. “It could have been anything. Drugs. Alcohol. Sex. But eating became the one thing I could look forward to. Count on to get me through.”

He added: “And I put on weight. Big f—— deal.”

A meme posted on the LAD Bible’s Facebook page features side-by-side photos of Miller, one a promotional shot of Miller, shirtless and fit for the Fox series Prison Break, and another, a photo of Miller in a red t-shirt with longer hair and a heavier frame.

He said the latter photo was taken years ago in Los Angeles, when, he says, he was at the “lowest point” of his adult life.

He wrote that he was “ashamed and in pain” at the time, suffering in silence. He wrote that he considered himself “damaged goods” and contemplated suicide.

Now, Miller is in a better place, although he said that when he first saw the meme “it hurt to breathe.”

“Now, when I see that image of me in my red t-shirt, a rare smile on my face, I am reminded of my struggle,” he continued. “My endurance and my perseverance in the face of all kinds of demons. Some within. Some without. Like a dandelion up through the pavement, I persist.”

He included multiple links to organizations focused on suicide prevention and depression help. He encouraged struggling fans to “Reach out. Text. Send an email. Pick up the phone if they are struggling.”

Officials with the LAD Bible Facebook page apologized to Miller in another post, writing “we want to say we’ve got this very, very wrong. Mental health is no joke or laughing matter.”