Tituss Burgess, in an expansive and emotional interview with Marc Maron on Monday’s “WTF” podcast, revealed for what appeared to be the first time that he was “molested repeatedly” by one of his uncles as a child growing up outside Athens, Georgia.
“I didn’t come on here and think we were going to talk about this,” the Emmy nominee and “Schmigadoon!” star admitted, exhaling through nervous laughter. He then launched into his “earliest memories” of his biological father, who was largely absent from his life.
“My dad was not there, but my dad was always no more than 15 minutes away from us,” Burgess said. “My earliest memories of him when I would call him in an attempt to connect were, uh, he would bring one of his girlfriends over in his two-seater Corvette, and I would end up in my uncle’s house while they went out, where I was molested repeatedly.”
The actor then said that his biological father has “recently tried to come back into my life,” but that he’s realized he’s not open to building a relationship. “We’ve been talking and texting, but I don’t have the — there is so much to clear out to keep me on track, and the restoration of a relationship that never existed is not one of them.”
“I’ve forgiven him,” he continued. “I believe that everyone did the best they could. I’ve been doing the best that I can with the tools I had. Doesn’t mean you didn’t do what you did, and it doesn’t mean I didn’t do what I did, and it doesn’t mean it hurts any less and is any less traumatic in our bodies and any less real in the ether. So I totally forgive him. I don’t want to go building a relationship. F–k that.”
The absence and negligence of his biological father is alluded to on a gospel song written and performed by Burgess, which closes his 2012 album “Welcome.” Titled “Love Is an Action,” Burgess sings of being raised by a single mother, and the chorus goes: “Love is an action. A verb, not just a word to abuse and take lightly, said to be heard. And everyday actions and reactions are chances to make love active and not just a word.”
That song is what first caught Maron’s attention and allowed Burgess to surprise himself and open up about his past.
“That song is such a personal, heavy story,” Maron said. “And that’s your story?”
“That is a story, and it is true. It is not my story. It happened to me, it is not singularly my story,” Burgess responded. “I have several.”
“My mother was made to raise me by herself. And she would often describe their relationship as toxic and she wasn’t entirely sure that she wanted ‘the act’ to happen, but there I was,” Burgess explained later, alluding to the nature of his mother’s pregnancy. “My mother wrestles with lots of things that I think were passed down to me. And she has just started the road to healing. And so have I.”
Introducing his interview with Burgess in the beginning of the episode, Maron provided a trigger warning for listeners who may have been victims of sexual assault, but emphasized that they had “a powerful and good and engaged talk about a lot of stuff.”
“You’ll listen to this conversation, and it got deep. It got deep. It got heavy. It went to places where I don’t know if both of us were going to be able to hold it together, really … it was very emotional,” Maron said. “And I didn’t expect it, and he didn’t expect it. It may be triggering to people that experienced abuse when they were children, either physical or sexual abuse. But we handle it, the conversation, well. It was pretty great.”
Listen to Burgess’ episode of “WTF With Marc Maron” here.
If you or someone you know has experienced any form of domestic violence or assault, call 911, or the U.S. National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 and TTY 1-800-787-3224, or the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).