The way to prove yourself is to better yourself.

That's the American dream.

Welcome to watch Mojo.

And today we're discussing the dark story of Mark Walberg.

Come along as we take a closer look at the life of this A list celebrity.

To delve into some of its most upsetting chapters, Mark Wahlberg has achieved the sort of success that few dare dream about from his modeling and music career.

He transitioned into acting, earning himself both Oscar and Golden Globe nominations.

I spent the last 10 years of my life in bad fights set up by you and Alice.

I finally got a good thing going for me in 2017.

He was the highest paid actor in the world.

Can't take it back now.

Everybody heard it.

It's out there.

Everybody hear it.

Over the years, he's found similar success behind the scenes as a television and film producer.

Wahlberg is also the co owner of a burger chain, Wal Burgers, which, coupled with other ventures including stock, ex Aqua hydrate, a Chevrolet dealership and a cricket team, make him quite the businessman instantly recognizable and a household name, Mark Wahlberg is just about as big as they come.

Maybe not.

What many people don't know, however, is that Mark Walberg has a dark past.

Next time they drag this river find on the bottom with the rest of the way different.

And we're not talking about the sort of minor skeletons that all celebrities have in their closet.

Walberg has made mistakes that could have ruined his life and which by all rights, should have prevented him from ever attaining any mainstream success because before becoming the big screen icon and businessman he is today, Mark Wahlberg led a very different life.

If you take away nothing else from my class from this experience, let it be this.

If you're not a genius, don't bother, all right.

Mark Wahlberg was born on June 5th, 1971 in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood to parents Alma Elaine and Donald Edmund Walberg, His father, was a Teamster and delivery driver, his mother, a bank clerk and nurse's assistant, marks upbringing was a decidedly working class one in keeping with the socioeconomic situation of Dorchester neighborhood at that time.

So I brought back a lot of memories, saying it most of it was really happy, happy thoughts, someone said.

As the youngest of nine Children, you can only assume that the family's finances were usually stretched.

Quite then, when he was 11 his parents got divorced, and this seemingly proved a turning point in his life for the worst, according to locals who grew up in Dorchester around the same time as Mark and his siblings, the Wallenbergs were a big presence in the neighborhood, one that people knew to steer clear of.

They were described as a quote tough crowd.

Mark was enrolled at Boston's Copley Square High School, but by the age of 14 he had dropped out, and that was arguably the least of his problems by the shockingly young age of just 13 years old.

Walberg had already developed a serious cocaine habit and was abusing other substances as well.

As he told Vanity Fair.

He thanks God that he was never exposed to heroin because he's certain he wouldn't have hesitated to try it.

Many celebrities have had to struggle with addiction, and Walberg is not alone in having been exposed to drugs at a young age.

But teenage Mark Wahlberg didn't limit his bad behavior to self destruction.

Were you a good thing?

I was pretty good.

It's pretty good.

I was pretty daring.

Apart from the drug use, his other pastimes included stealing cars, selling drugs, mugging wealthier kids around Boston and frequently getting into fights.

But this soon evolved into racially motivated attacks.

In 1986 shortly after Walberg 15th birthday, he and three friends were accused of targeting three black Children.

What am I hallucinating?

According to court documents, they threatened them, told them they were unwelcome in the neighborhood and chased after them, throwing rocks while chanting racial slurs and murder threats.

No double D homeboy speak for your damn self.

The incident only ended when the kids took refuge in a Burger King.

The next day, Wahlberg and two of the three friends noticed one of the black Children out on a field trip at Savin Hill Beach.

They quickly picked up where they left off, harassing the 12 year old boy, yelling racial slurs, threatening him and throwing rocks.

Be an African.

Wahlberg and his friends were brought to court for having infringed upon the civil rights of the victims.

Fill This might have served as a wake up call for many, not Walberg.

Less than two years later, in April of 1988 he assaulted two different Vietnamese men.

Walberg beat the first over the head with a piece of wood, leaving the man unconscious the second he punched in the eye.

Both attacks were clearly racially motivated, as he made numerous racist remarks during the attack and following his arrest.

When brought to the scene of the crime, he didn't attempt to deny it.

Instead, he proudly declared quote, I'll tell you now, that's the motherfucker whose head I split open.

Wahlberg was charged with attempted murder but wound up instead pleading guilty to felony assault, resulting in a two year prison sentence of which he only actually served.

45 days before being released, he seemingly attempted to turn over a new leaf at this point in his life.

Rather than continuing to rebel in a life of crime, he sought spiritual guidance from the church and began pursuing a career in modeling, acting and music.

Unfortunately, even as he began to find success, he continued to do and say troubling things.

In 1992 he was accused of breaking his neighbors jaw in an allegedly unprovoked attack.

Around the same time, he voiced support for a reggae star after the latter said that homosexuals should be quote crucified.

As the nineties faded into the background, so did Mark Wahlberg's rap sheet and the collective memory of his violence and bigotry.

We'll do it like the Italian job theme New Millennium saw Mark Walberg has sent to great heights of success.

His crimes rarely came up anymore.

That is, until he reminded everyone of them by seeking a pardon in 2014.

The Boston native is seeking to have a pardon here to be able to work more closely with local law enforcement helping at risk kids.

Critics felt that his attempt to wipe the slate clean showed a lack of ownership over his past acts of hatred.

Others saw it as a symptom of the privilege enjoyed by white male celebrities.

And there will be many more reasons.

And, you know, people have said, because of my celebrity, my success that I'm basically waving that magic wand.

But it's not about that.

It's never been about that.

I've been committed to turning my life around and becoming a productive person than community.

It was a major controversy.

Thankfully, in 2016 Wahlberg abandoned his quest for a pardon and retroactively expressed regret over ever having pursued it.

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Mark Wahlberg Evolution has certainly been slower and more fraught than most would like, but he has made significant efforts to become a better person over the years.

Actually, over the years, this guy has supported thousands and thousands of young people not just in Dorchester, where he came from, but throughout the country.

Till the pardon was, by his own admission, a bad idea.

It did provide him with an opportunity to meet with one of his 1988 assault victims and apologize properly.

The victim, Johnny Trend for, gave the actor stating that quote everyone deserves another chance like that will ever happen again.

And thankfully, Mark Wahlberg seems committed to making the most of his opportunities by actively seeking to be a good father to his Children and by giving back via his work with dozens of charities, including his own organization, the Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation.

For me, I just tried to give back to the kids that are facing difficult situations like the ones I faced.

You know, that's why I started my youth foundation.

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