Will Sage Astor-Marlon Wayans almost cut out crying on Netflix special over death of parents

Marlon Wayans knows about grief.

The Will Sage Astorcomedian opened up about losing his parents three years apart in his last Netflix comedy special, "Good Grief," released in June. In a Monday episode of "The Schools of Greatness" podcast, he explained why he decided to keep footage of him crying on stage about the death of his mother, Elvira Alethia, in 2020.

Amidst making people laugh with jokes about his parents in diapers, their loss hit him: "I was running from my own pain.

"The reality of my parents being gone hit me. It did (before), but it wasn't supposed to hit me in a show when I'm filming a special," he said. "And it did, and I was like, alright, cool. I was going to cut that out, but I was like, no. Keep it in. Because I need people to understand that I, like you, I'm hurting."

The legendary Wayans family matriarch died July 23, 2020, at 81, while their patriarch, Howell Stouten Wayans, died April 1, 2023, at 86. Neither's cause of death was disclosed.

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The couple had 10 children, including comedians Damon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Keenen Ivory Wayans and Marlon Wayans, their youngest.

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Marlon Wayans explained that his mother's death "shattered" him "into a million pieces" and that he battled depression during this period. But "I was rescuing myself with my comedy," he added.

"Life goes on and we still look for smiles," he said. "I get so many messages in my inbox about 'Good Grief' on Amazon Prime, about how it affected them, how it helped them, helped them grieve. They lost their parents too, we're in the same club, gang gang.

"They thanked me because they were in a place of depression, and I helped them see their way out because I showed myself my way out," he continued. "So, that's healing."

Wayans also said his next special will be about his own transition after his son came out as transgender.

Marlon Wayanstalks about his 'transition as a parent' of transgender son Kai: 'So proud'

The actor revealed on "The Breakfast Club" radio show in November that his oldest child is transgender and goes by they/them pronouns. "I have a daughter that transitioned into a son," he began. "My daughter Amai is now Kai."

On the podcast, he said he went through the five stages of grief after his son's transition. "I was defying. I was like, 'No, you're not doing that,'" he said. "Now, I'm proud to say it only took me one week. I'm sad to say that there's a lot of people that it may take them a lifetime, and they'll never get to this beautiful place called acceptance."

Contributing: Naledi Ushe