Actor Jonathan Lipnicki, who is best
known for his childhood role in Jerry Maguire, says he was
called gay slurs daily growing up.
Twenty-one years after Jerry
Maguire, Lipnicki
is speaking out about his life-long battle with anxiety and
depression, revealing on Instagram that his early success led to
bullying.
“As a kid/teen I was made fun on
relentlessly by some people who are now even my friend on FB,”
Lipnicki wrote. “I was told I was a has-been and would never book
a job again. I was made to feel like garbage every day of middle
school to the point where I had a panic attack every night before
school, because I wondered how I would get through the next day. In
high school a certain kid emphatically called me a has-been in front
of my Econ class.”
In an interview with TooFab.com,
Lipnicki said he's suffered “a very serious problem with anxiety
and depression.”
“I didn't go a day without going home
and being upset,” Lipnicki said. “I didn't go a day without
being called some form of gay slur, or a hateful slur pretty much
every day of middle school.”
Lipnicki can be seen in the upcoming
film Pitching Tents.