Marlon Wayans Opens Up About Losing Nearly 60 Loved Ones and His ‘Real-Life Pain’

Marlon Wayans shares how he was able to turn his grief into the premise for his fourth special.

Wayans, 51, shared in an interview with The New York Times that his upcoming special, Good Grief, “rescued [him] from depression by learning to laugh in [his] worst circumstances.”

Throughout the interview, Wayans notes that he’s lost nearly 60 loved ones, including his parents, Howell Stouten, who died at 86 in early April 2023, and Elvira Alethia, who died at 81 in July 2020.

“I lost 58 people that I loved in a matter of three years. It felt, like, biblical,” the comedian shared. “I think as a comedian, I’m getting to the good stuff.”

“When you talk about real-life pain, like parents passing, and you can get through that set and you can still be irreverent, edgy, crazy, silly, thought-provoking, and vulnerable, I think that’s growth.”

“I miss my parents dearly, but I’m a different human with my parents gone than I was when they were here. Now I’m a man. I don’t have parents anymore, so I live differently. I understand the quality of life,” Wayans said, adding, “I pray more, because when I pray I feel like I’m speaking to my parents and that they’re listening. I let them know what’s going on.”

He revealed that the death of his mother “broke” and “shattered [him] into a million pieces,” adding, “That was my girl.”

“I never got married, because I never wanted my mother to be jealous of a woman. I never wanted my mother to feel second to any woman.”

As Wayans continued to open up about his grieving process, he noted the loss of his friend Chadwick Boseman “was a hard one.” Boseman was 43 when he died of colon cancer in August 2020. 

“It’s crazy when you think about how many people have passed,” the Scary Movie actor added. “That’s what made me do this special. We need to laugh about it. I needed therapy, and it was therapy for me. I still hurt, but man.”

“I rescued myself from depression by learning to laugh in my worst circumstances,” Wayans told the Times. “Losing my parents broke me, and I’m telling the audience, Here’s how you can survive this: Find humor in everything.”

The stand-up comic reassured the Times that despite the title and source material, “about an hour and five [minutes]” of the “hour and seven-minute” special is “hilarious,” adding dispersed “two to maybe three minutes of heart” throughout the special.

“I’m proud of this special because it’s going to make you feel. I think that’s more important than making you laugh. You want to move somebody. I’m crazy and I know it,” confessed The Wayans Bros. actor.

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Good Grief will be available to stream on Amazon Prime Video beginning June 4.