Sarah Shahi Recalls Her 'Drug Addict' Father Holding a Gun to Her Head When She Was 6, Planning to 'Kill Me Then Himself' Julia MooreJanuary 30, 2026 at 4:03 AM 0 Sarah Shahi at the 31st Annual Critics Choice Awards on January 4, 2026 in Santa Monica, California Tommaso Boddi/Variety via Getty In her new book, Life Is Lifey, Sarah Shahi revealed that her father once threatened her life when she was 6 years old A "drug addict," Shahi wrote that her father, who died when she was 35, "was in the middle of a bad episode" when he brought her outside and revealed his "drugfueled plan" to "kill me th...
- - Sarah Shahi Recalls Her 'Drug Addict' Father Holding a Gun to Her Head When She Was 6, Planning to 'Kill Me Then Himself'
Julia MooreJanuary 30, 2026 at 4:03 AM
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Sarah Shahi at the 31st Annual Critics Choice Awards on January 4, 2026 in Santa Monica, California
Tommaso Boddi/Variety via Getty
In her new book, Life Is Lifey, Sarah Shahi revealed that her father once threatened her life when she was 6 years old
A "drug addict," Shahi wrote that her father, who died when she was 35, "was in the middle of a bad episode" when he brought her outside and revealed his "drug-fueled plan" to "kill me then himself"
Shahi told PEOPLE that Life Is Lifey is "my love letter to what it means to be a woman" and described it as "half-memoir, half-lessons learned"
Sarah Shahi opens up about a harrowing childhood experience in her new memoir.
The actress, 46, released Life Is Lifey: The A to Z's on Navigating Life's Messy Middle, on Tuesday, Jan. 27, and in the book, she revealed her tumultuous relationship with her father, a drug addict she claimed once threatened her life.
Her father, who died when she was 35, was "abusive not only to my mother, but one fateful summer afternoon, to me, too," Shahi wrote in the book.
"He was in the middle of a bad episode when he took me outside, held me on his hip, and held a gun to my head. I was 6 and don't remember anything prior to this moment. But I remember what happened after."
She recalled how "cold the metal was against my temple" and how "silent tears ran down" her father's face. "Over and over he whispered that I was too good, too pure, to be living in this world, and it was time for us to 'go home.' "
"His drug-fueled plan was clear: kill me then himself," she wrote. "In his twisted mind, my mother would follow, taking her own life in despair."
Sarah Shahi attends the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sept. 14, 2025
David Fisher/Shutterstock
The Sex/Life star said her mother came home and found her outside with her father, "reached for the gun, her hand open and waiting, and he surrendered it to her, the metal slipping into her palm as he crumbled, collapsing onto her shoulder."
"Alongside my superhero of a mother, my own innocent naiveté shielded me. At such a tender age, I couldn't fully grasp the gravity of what was unfolding, but for reasons I still can't explain, fear never took hold of me," Shahi wrote. "My attention was drawn to him — a certain desperation in his eyes, something so raw that in my 6-year-old heart, all I could do was feel for him, and in that strange, innocent way, I felt empathy."
"Life with an addict is like living on the edge of a cliff — you're always waiting for a shift in the wind. My mother and I drifted through long seasons of uncertainty, each one more unpredictable than the last," Shahi continued of her relationship with her father, which she said was "never simple."
She and her mother moved into a women's shelter at one point, but she said her parents' relationship ebbed and flowed "for years," as her mom would "get pulled back into his orbit by his teary apologies and promises of a fresh start."
Shahi also has a younger sister, Samantha. The actress wrote that things became "even more challenging" after her sister's arrival due to the tumult of her father's behavior.
Sarah Shahi's "Life is Lifey"
Amazon
When Samantha "started to see the troubled man our father truly was" and distanced herself from him as Shahi had, he once again made a threat against The Rookie actress' life. "He was angry and began leaving me messages with words that cut deeper than I was prepared for. His voice was a mixture of desperation and rage, warning me that the next time he saw me, he'd bury me six feet under for turning Samantha against him."
"It was a haunting echo of his earlier threats, of him once holding a gun to my head," she continued. "That dark tale of ending my life — a story he clung to — was too much to bear. I changed my number and never spoke to him again. I was 22."
When her father died 13 years later, Shahi wrote, "I cried for months, not mourning his death but the loss of the hope that things would ever change."
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Shahi told PEOPLE in a statement that her new book is "half-memoir, half-lessons learned."
"I spilled the tea on my own journey, so other women can feel bold enough to tap into their truest, most magical selves. Written in tears, coffee stains and lots of laughter, it is my love letter to what it means to be a woman," she said.
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 or go to suicidepreventionlifeline.org.
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Source: Entertainment
Published: January 29, 2026 at 10:46PM on Source: MARIO MAG
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