LaKeith Stanfield Sparks Concern With Seemingly Suicidal Late-Night Posts

Actor Lakeith Stanfield set some fans on edge on Monday with late-night social media posts that seemed to imply he was feeling suicidal. The Get Out and Atlanta star returned to Instagram on Tuesday morning to assure followers that he is feeling better and has not self-harmed. He later deleted the concerning posts.

“I’m ok everyone!” Stanfield wrote on Tuesday. “I appreciate everyone checking in on me but I’m good. I’m not harming myself. Much love.” Stanfield punctuated the post with a red rose emoji, and many fans left comments saying they were glad to hear he was alright. According to a report by Newsweek, the original posts that worried fans were videos, where Stanfield made cavalier statements about his own health and safety.

“I like to be by myself because I can hurt myself and no one tells me to stop or fakes like they care,” he said in one video. In another, he added: “Reality is boring and moves too slow and no one is trustworthy.”

Fans were not the only ones put on edge by Stanfield’s posts, as other celebrities began to react as well. On Twitter, comedian Patton Oswalt posted a public call for help in contacting Stanfield to see that he was doing alright.

“I have no way to contact Lakeith Stanfield directly. I’ve reached out to some friends we have in common. But can someone on here who knows him PLEASE reach out to him?” Oswalt tweeted. “Like RIGHT NOW? He’s posting stuff on IG that has me worried for his well-being. Thank you.”

Oswalt deleted this tweet ever getting confirmation that Stanfield was well, but left one up thanking fans for their help. He added: “sorry if I overreacted,” but many fans said that Oswalt had done the right thing in being overly-cautious in a situation like that.

Stanfield, now 28 years old, has had a meteoric rise to fame in recent years, securing massive roles early on including Jimmie Lee Jackson in Selma, Snoop Dogg in Straight Outta Compton and Andre Logan King in Get Out. To many fans, he may be most recognizable as Darius from FX’s Atlanta, but he has also managed to achieve a huge range of roles across various genres so far.

Stanfield played L in the live-action version of the beloved anime Death Note, and last year he took the role of Lieutenant Elliott in the mystery Knives Out. He also played Demany in the acclaimed drama Uncut Gems. His most recent role is in The Photograph — a romantic drama released on Valentine’s Day of this year.

Stanfield’s next upcoming role is as William O’Neal in a movie called Judas and the Black Messiah. The historical drama tells the story of legendary Black Panther Party leader Fred Hampton. Hampton was betrayed by O’Neal, an informant for the FBI, and ultimately assassinated. Hampton will be played by Stanfield’s Get Out co-star Daniel Kaluuya. Filming on Judas and the Black Messiah has already been completed, according to IMDb, and it is slated for release in 2021.