'Young and The Restless' star Kristoff St. John's ex-wife, Mia St. John, says recent reports of the actor allegedly threatening to shoot himself are "inaccurate."
Young and The Restless star Kristoff St. John's ex-wife, Mia St. John, says recent reports of the 51-year-old actor allegedly threatening to shoot himself are "inaccurate."
On Sunday, multiple reports stated that Kristoff was hospitalized and placed under psychiatric evaluation after allegedly threatening to kill himself with a gun. In an exclusive statement to ET on Monday, Mia called out "fabricated information" in regard to Kristoff, but also acknowledged that his heart is "broken" due to their son Julian's suicide almost three years ago.
"I want the world to know the truth about what is happening with Kristoff, because currently there is inaccurate, and fabricated information being reported by certain online outlets," Mia tells ET. "No parent should ever have to bury their child, and for those who do, it is a nightmare that haunts you forever. The death of our beloved son Julian, has taken a toll on both of us. He is an actor and while he may appear whole on the outside, his heart is broken. As a society we need to start taking mental health seriously and realize that no one is immune."
"Last week, an incident occurred, that pushed him to the breaking point, but was not accurately reported," she continues. "I hope that at this moment we can all wrap our arms around Kristoff and help him in this time of need. Help him heal and move forward. This is not a 'gossip' story, or an interesting headline, this is a man trying to deal with a tragedy, that has torn apart his soul. Right now what he needs is your thoughts and prayers."
ET spoke to both Kristoff and Mia in August, when they candidly talked about still dealing with the pain of Julian's death. Julian was found dead at age 24 in his room at a mental health care facility in Long Beach, California, after suffering from schizophrenia for years. His death was reported as suicide.
Shortly after, Kristoff and Mia filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the La Casa Psychiatric Health Facility, alleging that nurses and staff members regularly skipped mandatory check-ins and observations of Julian, who was supposed to be on suicide watch and checked on every 15 minutes. The St. Johns alleged that on the day that their son died, surveillance footage showed nobody had checked on him for over an hour before they found him with a bag over his head in the bathroom. They claimed nurses and staff doctored documents to cover up the neglect. The facility denied all allegations at the time.
The lawsuit was settled out of court July and all funds were used to set up a foundation in Julian's name to raise mental health awareness.
"I'm still angry," Kristoff told ET when asked what it was like watching the footage that captured Julian's final moments in the facility. "I watched it the first time, I'll never watch it again. It's not something I want to see."
Kristoff and Mia said their son's death has already caused change in how mental health facilities are run.
"Well, we know that they have already taken out the plastic bags and a lot of mental health facilities have taken over that policy since my son's death," Mia said. "I will fight for the rest of my life until something is done. Because there are other kids that are left in these facilities that have no voice and no one to speak out for them."
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