Juice Wrld’s Mother Speaks Out in New Interview: “My Biggest Fear Was Him Overdosing”
Juice Wrld's mother sits down for her very first interview since her son's tragic passing last year due to an accidental drug overdose.
During an interview with ABC 7 Chicago, which was published on Monday (Oct. 26), Carmela Wallace opens up about her son's cause of death in light of launching the LiveFree999.org website to align with World Mental Health Day.
"It was devastating, but one thing I decided early on was, I was not going to hide the fact that he died from a drug overdose," she began.
Wallace, who wants her son's passing to serve as a lesson for others, also said, "I didn't want to keep that secret because a lot of people deal with that every day."
The mother of the beloved rhymer later shares that she and Juice Wrld had open dialogue with another about his struggles with mental health. She says she even advised him to seek professional treatment.
"I said, 'If you have anxiety, then you need to get medicated properly for it instead of medicating yourself," Wallace revealed that she told her son. "I talked to him about it. I told him my biggest fear was him overdosing on the stuff. That's why I made the decision I have to talk about it with other people. I can't keep that as a secret."
Following the Legends Never Die artist's death, his mother launched the Live Free 999 foundation in honor of her son. The mission of the organization is to offer resources to help raise awareness for youth combating mental health challenges. As for the name of the organization, it was inspired by a denim jacket Juice bought from a thrift store, which had the words "Live Free" written on it.
"That's our objective with our foundation. Normalize the conversation, so it has to start with me," she added. "I hope it's what he wanted, was a legacy of healing. To let people know that you don't have to suffer alone."
Elsewhere in the interview, Wallace discussed that although Juice was a superstar to others, to her, he was her son.
"Juice Wrld was an icon but Jarad was my son," she expressed. "I didn't treat him like a celebrity. In fact, the first time I saw him perform, it was in Chicago. I forget where, but I saw the crowd and I saw the girls and 'take a selfie with me.' He was pumped up. He was still living with me at the time and when he came home, I said, 'take out the garbage,' because I just wanted him to stay humble."
Juice Wrld died on Dec. 8, 2019 after suffering a seizure at Chicago's Midway International Airport. He was only 21 years old. The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office ruled his death an accidental overdose from oxycodone and codeine.
See Juice Wrld's mother's full interview with ABC 7 Chicago below.
See 11 of the Best Posthumous Hip-Hop Albums,
Ranked