More than a year after revealing his previous suicide attempt, Jarren Duran is still dealing with trolls taunting him about it.
Long a target of heckles from home and opposing fans alike, the Red Sox outfielder posted three screenshots Wednesday night on his Instagram story calling out the latest barb he received online.
The first, a July DM from a fan named Jason Milbrandt, said, “Shoulda pulled that trigger.”
The second was a recent comment from the same fan, reading “Shoulda took notes from Kurt cobain at least he was man enough to pull the trigger.”
The third, embellished by Duran with three laughing emojis, was a screenshot of a Google search for the fan’s name.
The search results showed an address, employer name and arrest record. It’s unclear if those results showed the information of the same person.
Duran opened up about his past mental health issues and 2022 suicide attempt in a 2025 Netflix docuseries on the Red Sox’s season. After a particularly brutal two-season stretch in 2021-22, Duran was hearing it from fans, but “I’ve told myself 10 times worse in the mirror.”
“I got to a point where I was sitting in my room, I had my rifle and I had a bullet and I pulled the trigger and the gun clicked, but nothing happened,” Duran detailed in the series. “So, to this day, I think God just didn’t let me take my own life because I seriously don’t know why it didn’t go off.
“I took it as a sign of, ‘I might have to be here for a reason,’ so that’s when I started to look myself in the mirror after the gun didn’t go off. I was like, ‘Do I want to be here or do I not want to be here?’ That happened for a reason and obviously, you’re here for a reason so let’s be the way you want to be and play (the way) you want to play and live the way you want to live.”
This wasn’t the first time Duran has dealt with heckling fans wishing his attempt was successful. In one particularly high profile incident, Duran had to be held back from a fan in Cleveland who was eventually removed from the ballpark.
In April, Duran flipped the bird at a fan in Minnesota who did the same.
“I’m used to it at this point, you know?,” Duran said at the time. “I mean, I’m gonna flip somebody off if they say something to me, but it is what it is. I shouldn’t react like that, but that kind of stuff is still kind of triggering.”
Even prior to 2025, Duran regularly made himself a target of fan backlash.
In 2024, Duran was caught on a hot mic calling a fan a homophobic slur after a comment that he needed a tennis racket while he was batting.
Now in the middle of the worst full season of his career, it’s unclear how long Duran will have a spot in the lineup with the Red Sox. He thought he was going to be released by the trade deadline with Boston poised to be buyers.
But so far, he’s played every game since the team’s stunning move for All-Star catcher Adley Rutschman.
If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts or are experiencing a mental health crisis, you can call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org for free and confidential crisis counseling.
