Taraji P. Henson gets emotional as she recalls telling her son his dad was murdered

Taraji P. Henson opened up about a heartbreaking moment in her life where she had to tell her then 9-year-old son Marcell that his father was murdered. During a sneak peek for Wednesday's episode of Peace of Mind With Taraji, the Empire actress got very emotional and broke down in tears as she recalled telling her son about his father's death.

"My son's father was suddenly taken, murdered when he was 9, and I didn't know how to tell him that," Henson told therapist Sierra Hillsman and her Peace of Mind with Taraji co-host Tracie Jade Jenkins. "I couldn't tell him he was murdered, so I told him he died in an accident." 

Henson revealed the moment she decided to go to therapy with her now 26-year-old son, saying, “Later on in life, he found out, and he came back to me and was like, 'Why didn't you tell me my daddy was murdered?' And so then we had to get therapy.”

The 50-year-old actress asked Hillsman what she would suggest to other parents in similar situations like hers. “I would definitely say use age-appropriate language, explaining sometimes there are situations where people do evil things to other people. In this situation, somebody killed your father,” Hillsman said. The Proud Mary actress told Hillsman that she “didn’t have the balls” to disclose the information to her son at the time. 

“It wouldn't come out. I hid it. I read the, actual…" Henson said as she started to tear up. "It was in the paper, and I didn't know how to tell him. He was stabbed to death, it was the worst way you could die. I just didn't have the words. I didn't know how to tell a 9-year-old."

Henson’s original series continues to interview celebrities, experts and everyday people about mental health and illness, particularly those in the Black community. Each episode focuses on different mental health topics. Henson and Jenksin sit down with celebrity guests on the Monday episodes and then with licensed professionals and experts on the Wednesdays episodes to take a deeper look into their conversations with previous guests.

RELATED:Taraji P. Henson hosting a new show about mental health

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Earlier this week, Henson had Pop Smoke's brother Obasi Jackson on the show. Jackson's late brother Pop Smoke was killed after he was gunned down inside of a Hollywood Hills home he was renting during a home invasion last February. The "Dior" rapper was 20 years old. Police arrested four men in their teens in connection to the crime.

"Me losing my only brother — I'm going to miss so many things," Jackson told Henson. "I won't be able to hug my brother again, tell him I love him, see him again. [I] won't be able to play basketball with him again, work out with him again. I won't be able to show him my accomplishments." He held back tears as he told Henson that there were "threats" on his brothers life and they were trying to figure out where those threats were coming from.

"It's mind-boggling to me that someone would let a superstar go out with no security, that still plays on my mind," Jackson said. "That makes no sense." Days before Pop Smoke's death, Jackson shared that the rapper had a personal conversation with his family, which was something he had not done in a long time. "Me, my mom and my brother sat in a room for hours, which had not happened in years," he said. "That last conversation [showed me that], 'Okay, I know my brother loves me and he knows I definitely love him.' He said he loved me."

Jackson shared an important message while on the Henson's Facebook Watch show. "I’m a firm believer that men, Black men too, should be vulnerable," he said, "and allow themselves to open up and show the world what they’re feeling and who they truly are."

Before the launch of her Facebook Watch show, Henson explained that she's "long been a mental health advocate for the Black community" and created the Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation to help provide resources to people who are struggling. She added that she looked forward to bringing the talk series to light and will continue to create conversations around mental health.

BEFORE YOU GO: How to know if you need mental health help and where to get it

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