‘Reacher’ star Alan Ritchson recalls attempting suicide after sexual assaults

Alan Ritchson vulnerably revealed he attempted suicide after being the victim of multiple sexual assaults.

“I hanged myself,” the actor, who has appeared in series such as “Blue Mountain State,” “Smallville” and “Black Mirror,” and currently stars in Prime Video’s “The Reacher,” said at Hollywood Reporter in a published profile. Wednesday.

His attempt took place in the attic of his Encino, California, home with a green extension cord. “It all happened so quickly and I was there,” he recalls.

However, Ritchson made a last-minute decision to get back up before passing out after seeing a vision of his sons, Calem, 11, Edan, 10, and Amory, 8, in their mid-30s.

“They calmly asked me not to do it and told me they wanted me to be here, alive and part of their lives,” he noted. He shares his sons with his wife of nearly 20 years, Catherine Ritchson.

Ritchson, 41, said she sought help immediately after the alarming incident, which led to her bipolar diagnosis at age 36. A few years later, at the age of 40, he learned he also lived with ADHD.

His suicide attempt came after years of sexual assault that followed him from the modeling industry to the acting world and “broke him,” he told THR.

“There are very few redeeming qualities about working in the (modeling) industry. Let’s be honest, it’s like legalized sex trafficking,” he said. “The industry is unregulated, and it’s a well-known secret that if you’re hired for a job, you’re essentially handed off to a photographer to be trafficked.”

“The number of times and situations I was placed in horrible environments where sexual abuse was the goal and the paycheck you desperately needed to survive was the carrot, I can’t count on two hands. It was quite common.

An alleged incident led to the father of three leaving the modeling world for good.

“I had been booked for a photo shoot for this very famous photographer,” he recalls. “I was sent to a hotel room to do nudes with the promise that if I did the shoot he would offer me a very lucrative campaign for a magazine and clothing line. I was sexually assaulted by this guy.

Later, as he successfully transitioned into the television and film industry, another devastating blow led to the deterioration of his mental health.

Ritchson said he had been in a business meeting all day with someone he had partnered with for a film fund they had high hopes for, but things went wrong when his partner threat.

“She gave me an ultimatum to come to her room and told me if I didn’t she would destroy the company and she would destroy me by calling TMZ to claim I sexually assaulted her,” -he affirmed.

Even though the threats never came to fruition, the former model was devastated by what happened. “I was super depressed and didn’t know how to deal with it,” he explained. He attempted suicide shortly after.

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Ritchson said he speaks regularly with his psychiatrist as he addresses his mental health issues, bipolar disorder and ADHD.

He also found more meaningful work to nourish his soul, including talking about his past problems.

“I came away from all of this wondering, ‘OK, if I choose to live here – a decision we all make, some to a greater extent than others – what do I do?’ Why am I here?’ “, he remembers.

“What I kept leaning on was the meaning and purpose of life as a person who believes that there is a creator and that we are created beings, our purpose in life is, without reserve, to make the world a better place and to serve others.”

“This is what life is like.”

If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call or text Suicide & Crisis Lifeline to 988.