Darrell Hammond Opens Up About His Mother’s Abuse
Darrell Hammond’s mother should be punched repeatedly in the ovaries. And that’s the kindest thing I can say right now.
The comedian and Saturday Night Live alum, well known for his dead on impressions of Bill Clinton and Sean Connery (in Celebrity Jeopardy, the best skit ever on SNL), reveals that his childhood was no laughing matter.
Darrell’s new book, God, If You’re Not Up There, I’m Fucked, Hammond recounts horrifying verbal and physical abuse he took from his own mother.
Abuse that included: beatings, stabbings and electric shocks.
The hell?! This just turns my stomach.
The tales are terrifying, nauseating and unbelievably sad.
In one instance, Darrell writes:
I am three or four years old, and my mother is holding me close to her with one arm. In her free hand she holds a serrated steak knife.
Slowly, she sticks it into the center of my tongue, making an incision about one-quarter inch to one-half inch long. It is quiet except for the sound of the hibiscus bush thump-thumping against the kitchen window. I do not struggle or cry. Somehow I know that to do so will make it worse. The kitchen floor is red with my blood.
In another incident, he tells of his mother using a car door for pain.
I am getting into the car to go somewhere with my mother. “Wait,” she says, holding the door open. “Put your hand there.” When I do, she slams the door.’
This bitch.
Of course, this type of abuse didn’t go without emotionally scarring Hammond, as well. During his teenage and young adult years, he battled psychological issues. Eventually, he became dependent on alcohol and cocaine.
When he found celebrity and success on Saturday Night Live, his personal life was in tatters, and was dealing with these demons behind the scenes. He kept liquor at his desk to calm his nerves.
When drinking didn’t work, he was cutting himself.
His inner demons were so traumatizing for him that after one performance on SNL, he was taken out of the building in a straitjacket.
As Darrell was put into treatment for these issues, a therapist suggested he call his mother to discuss his childhood. His mother’s response to his call? “Don’t call us ever again.”
Darrell Hammond left SNL in 2009. He was the longest-running performer to ever be a part of the series.
Celebrity Jeopardy: The Revenge Of Sean Connery. – kewego
Tonight Host Alex Trebek (Will Ferrell) invites to play, Ozzy Osbourne (Horatio Sanz), Martha Stewart (Ana Gayster) and, yet again, Sean Connery (Darrell Hammond).
