Lenny Henry speaks out about his mother beating him with her belt and shoes: ‘I was frightened’

Comedian details childhood abuse in new book Who Am I, Again?

Lenny Henry has spoken out about his abusive childhood, revealing that when he was eight years old his mother beat him with her belt and shoes.

The comedian makes the revelations in his new book, Who Am I, Again?, in which he also writes that his late mother – to whom the book is dedicated – once hit him in the face with a frying pan.

“Our way of dealing with it was to joke about it,” Henry told The Times, explaining why he has lots of gags about parenting and discipline in his stand-up.

“There were moments when I was frightened. If you’re eight years old and your mum is hitting you with a belt or a shoe, that’s serious.”

Doing an impression of him and his siblings, Henry added: “‘Haha, remember when mum hit you with a chair? Remember when mum beat you with an army boot?’ That’s a dark humour, almost like we’re survivors talking about it."

He said: “It was considerable and it’s part of me. I feel absolutely able to talk about it. My mum was a serious person, she had work to do and if you did something wrong she had to make you understand you would be punished for it.”

Henry’s book also tackles the racism he suffered both as a child and later when he married fellow comedian Dawn French, including when the National Front smeared “NF” on their front door in excrement and stuffed burning rags through the letterbox.

Who Am I, Again? by Lenny Henry is published by Faber on 3 October.