Hugh Jackman has spoken out after footage of bullied child Quaden Bayles telling his mother he wanted to kill himself went viral earlier this week.
The Les Misérables star, 51, told the nine-year-old schoolboy, who has the most common type of dwarfism called achondroplasia, that he’ll always be his friend.
Hugh also sent a powerful message to Quaden’s bullies, saying that ‘life is hard enough’ without people going out of their way to upset others.
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‘You’re stronger than you know’: Hugh Jackman has spoken out after footage of bullied child Quaden Bayles telling his mother he wanted to kill himself went viral earlier this week
‘Quaden, you are stronger than you know, mate,’ Hugh said in a video shared with his 14 million Twitter followers.
Hugh, who is best known for playing Wolverine in the X-Men film franchise, went on to urge his fans to ‘please be kind to each other’.
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‘Bullying is not okay’: Hugh, 51, told the nine-year-old schoolboy (pictured), who has the most common type of dwarfism called achondroplasia, that he’ll always be his friend
‘Bullying is not okay. Period. Life is hard enough,’ he said.
‘Let’s just remember every person in front of us is facing the same kind of battle. So let’s just be kind.’
Hugh has previously spoken about setting a good example for his children, Oscar, 19, and Ava, 14, whom he shares with his wife, Deborra-lee Furness.
‘My kids have so many advantages. And I want them to know that they have a responsibility to use those advantages to help others,’ he said in June 2018.
‘My kids are constantly reminded about how lucky we are in our family. We’re ridiculously blessed.’
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Heartbreaking: In the distressing viral video, which has been viewed more than three million times, Quaden pleaded with his mother, ‘Give me a rope, I want to kill myself’
Fellow actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who plays villain ‘Negan’ in The Walking Dead, also reached out to Quaden on Twitter.
‘What I want you to know is that you have friends, me included. I am your buddy. You haven’t met me yet, but we’ll see if we can change that. Maybe your mom can DM me,’ he said.
‘You have a bunch of friends out here, out in the world that you haven’t met yet. We’re here, we got your back. You need to know that. It’ll get better.’
Meanwhile, the Indigenous All Stars NRL team has reached out to the Bayles family, inviting Quaden to walk them onto the pitch on Saturday.
‘You have friends, me included’: Fellow actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who plays villain ‘Negan’ in The Walking Dead, also reached out to Quaden on Twitter
In the distressing viral video, which has been viewed more than three million times, Quaden pleaded with his mother: ‘Give me a rope, I want to kill myself.
‘I just want to stab myself in the heart… I want someone to kill me. I want to die… I want to scratch myself.’
His mother, Yarraka Bayles, shared the video publicly on Facebook in a bid to raise awareness of the consequences of bullying.
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Kind gesture: Meanwhile, the Indigenous All Stars NRL team has reached out to the Bayles family, inviting Quaden to walk them onto the pitch on Saturday. Pictured with Latrell Mitchell
She said she normally tries to keep distressing moments such as this private, but felt she had been left with no choice but to go public.
At the start of the five-minute clip, Ms Bayles said: ‘I just picked my son up from school, witnessed a bullying episode, rang the principal and I want people to know this is the effect bullying has. This is what bullying does.
‘So can you please educate your children, your families, your friends because all it takes is one more instance… and you wonder why kids are killing themselves.’
For confidential support call the Lifeline 24-hour crisis support on 13 11 14
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Personal impact: Quaden’s mother, Yarraka Bayles, shared the video publicly on Facebook in a bid to raise awareness of the consequences of bullying
