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Niecy Nash Opens Up About Her Difficult Past
Niecy Nash may be one of the hardest-working women in show business with three TV shows on the air — 'The Soul Man,' 'Getting On' and 'The Mindy Project' — but getting to where she is hasn’t been easy.
“In 1985, I found my mother after she was shot by her boyfriend. In 1993, I buried my brother, and in 2006 I got divorced after 16 years,” Niecy tells 'Closer' in an exclusive interview.
Her mother survived, but after the shooting death of Niecy’s younger brother, she went into a deep depression. “When my brother was killed, my mother was in a severe depression, and one day before my 23rd birthday, I was at a loss and didn’t know what to do,” Niecy recalls to 'Closer.' “What I did know was I had the ability to make my mother laugh.”
Niecy with her mother in March 2010.
And it worked. “She went from lying in the bed to sitting up in the bed. Then one day I came in to do my act and she wasn’t in bed,” she explains. “Turns out she was in the living room and invited the neighbors to see me do stand-up. That is when I knew I had a gift to do comedy. I decided I was going to go out and spread this around as a means to help the other people who are suffering.”
Now, the remarried mother-of-three explains, “All of this rough road I have traveled I may not be able to change, but I can decide how I am going to get up and face today. I choose happiness.”
For the full interview with Niecy, pick up the new issue of 'Closer Weekly,' on newsstands now!
