Anxiety Attacks Caused Jonah Hill To Step Away From Public Appearances

Jonah Hill has had a personal struggle with his weight throughout his professional career. He has also stood up to the press in the past for body shaming him. Jonah Hill recently revealed that he won’t be present to promote the imminent release of his mental health documentary or any of his other upcoming endeavors.

Hill discovered while creating the Netflix movie Stutz that he had spent almost 20 years battling anxiety attacks. The attacks are aggravated by media appearances and public face events. Stutz is named after Hill’s personal therapist Dr. Phil Stutz. According to Deadline, in order to protect himself, he intends to refrain from promoting the documentary or any of his planned movies.

I have finished directing my second film, a documentary about me and my therapist which explores mental health in general called Stutz. The whole purpose of making this film is to give therapy and the tools I’ve learned in therapy to a wide audience for private use through an entertaining film.

Through this journey of self-discovery within the film, I have come to the understanding that I have spent nearly 20 years experiencing anxiety attacks, which are exacerbated by media appearances and public facing events.

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I am so grateful that the film will make its world premiere at a prestigious film festival this fall, and I can’t wait to share it with audiences around the world in the hope that it will help those struggling. However, you won’t see me out there promoting this film, or any of my upcoming films, while I take this important step to protect myself. If I made myself sicker by going out there and promoting it, I wouldn’t be acting true to myself or to the film.

I usually cringe at letters or statements like this but I understand that I am of the privileged few who can afford to take time off. I won’t lose my job while working on my anxiety. With this letter and with Stutz, I’m hoping to make it more normal for people to talk and act on this stuff. So they can take steps towards feeling better and so that the people in their lives might understand their issues more clearly.

I hope the work will speak for itself and I’m grateful to my collaborators, my business partners and to all reading this for your understanding and support.

The decision was made by the actor-director and was revealed before of the documentary’s debut at a renowned autumn festival, but Hill did not identify which one in his lengthy statement, which was originally published by Deadline. His second feature-length directing project, following 2018’s Mid90s, is the doc. Hill most recently helmed a Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty episode for HBO.

Hill, who co-wrote the script for the upcoming Netflix movie You People with Kenya Barris, last did the media and promo rounds late last year in advance of the release of Adam McKay’s star-studded Don’t Look Up, also for Netflix. His Instagram looks to have been deactivated as part of his withdrawal from the public spotlight. Stay tuned to Thirsty for more.

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