The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSA) says that only a small percentage of people who abuse alcohol are alcoholics because their circumstances do not fit those of an alcoholic. Today, she does not describe herself as being in recovery, but as of 2019, her life appeared to have stabilized. She admitted to Oprah Winfrey in an interview in 2013 that she is a drug addict and that she used alcohol and cocaine together when partying. Actress Nicole Richie struggled with numerous addictions, including heroin, cocaine, and marijuana, which resulted in three arrests and five car accidents. “Baywatch” star David Hasselhoff began struggling with alcohol in the early 1970s. In 2002, he gained the attention of the media when he fled a rehab center in 2002.
Help for Celebrities That Drink Alcohol Every Day
“I started doing volunteer work after I’d been sober for a while, and through that I met my wife 18 years ago, and we’ve had so many children together. And I had the courage to pursue the career that I really wanted to.” “I started drinking again, because alcohol was never my problem,” he said. “I never liked the feeling of being drunk. I would do coke and I would use alcohol to come down.” He stopped drinking for 10 years while kicking his drug addiction but later got back into alcohol.
Aug 15 Celebrities Who Have Overcome Addiction and Substance Abuse
Last year, Florence Welch of Florence + The Machine revealed in a Spotify Original podcast, The Way We Are with Munroe Bergdorf that she had been sober for eight years. It comes as she recalled her early days with the band, when she realised that – during their rise to fame – she had issues with alcohol. Rapper Eminem had a longstanding addiction to prescription drugs, but it wasn’t until he was rushed to hospital in 2007 that he realized he had a serious problem. After being told that he’d taken an equivalent of four bags of heroin, Eminem decided that he wanted to choose to live and stay clean of any medication.
List of Famous Celebrity Alcoholics
Like many who struggle with addiction, Lovato comes from a family with a history of substance use disorder. Their father had an alcohol and drug addiction, and Lovato witnessed his abuse toward their mother from a young age. Lovato’s mother also opened up about her Xanax misuse in the documentary.
- After leaving the program – 45 pounds lighter – Taylor was quoted saying, “Not being drunk is the only way I’m going to stay alive.” At 79, her failing health contributed to her death from congestive heart failure in 2011.
- The model and actress says turning 40 inspired her to come forward with her story of addiction and recovery in hopes of helping others.
- Rising to fame in an era where drugs were the rave found Elton John battling with an addiction.
- At eleven, Barrymore developed an alcohol addiction that spiraled into years of substance use issues.
- Hale celebrated three years of sobriety with an Instagram post in January 2025.
- As her singing career took off, so did her problems with drugs and alcohol.
Mindful Drinking
The Oscar-winning actor who was at the peak of his career was found unconscious in his apartment at just 28-years-old. Many claim that his fragile state of mind after filming the Batman movie played a large role in his death. Others believe his troubles began when he split from his partner, Michelle Williams a few months earlier. Heath’s father, Kim told News.Com.Au that his son did not have an addiction to opioids. Although celebrities seem like they have it all – fame, money, fortune and friends, the constant scrutiny and public attention often drives them to breaking point. At Georgia Addiction Treatment Center, we understand that every person struggling with addiction is unique.
In 2020, Shepard revealed on his podcast, “Armchair Expert,” that he relapsed after 16 years of sobriety following a motorcycle accident that resulted in him using painkillers. “I have completed treatment for alcohol addiction; something I’ve dealt with in the past and will continue to confront,” he wrote. The star of the Harry Potter franchise is another young actor for whom sudden wealth and fame brought personal problems. He says he drank a lot during filming of the last three Potter films, and finally realized it was something he couldn’t control. He says he quit after the last film wrapped and continues to work on his recovery.
“To come home and not to have the buffer support of a few drinks just to calm the nerves, it was a really amazing thing,” Farrell added. “I mean, we have a winery. I enjoy wine very, very much, but I just ran it to the ground,” he said. “I had to step away for a minute. And truthfully I could drink a Russian under the table with his own vodka. I was a professional. I was Sober House Rules: What You Should Know Before Moving In good.”
Fisher died in 2016 at age 60 after going into cardiac arrest on a trans-Atlantic flight. The actress and children’s book author calls recovery from alcohol and drug addiction the greatest single accomplishment of her life. She says she became addicted to prescription painkillers she was given after a cosmetic procedure.
Dry January: A Positive Start to the New Year
I’ve never had any drugs, and I had a little taste of alcohol when I was 12 years old, but that’s about it,” she wrote. Noticing how badly he struggled with his sobriety, Holland decided to extend his alcohol cleanse for six months to show himself he didn’t actually have a drinking problem. Robert Downey Jr. struggled with drug abuse from a young age and even ended up in the slammer in 1999 after he failed to take court-ordered drug tests for a cocaine possession charge from 1996. Elton John has been sober for more than 30 years following alcohol and drug addiction, which included cocaine. The “Princess Diaries” star clarified a few months later that she didn’t have an alcohol addiction — she just needed to stop drinking because she couldn’t handle her hangovers. In 2016, following his divorce from actress Amber Heard, Johnny Depp says he felt he had reached a new low point in life.
In the book, she writes how she used alcohol as a coping mechanism and how drinking worsened those deep-seated issues. She also opened up about her 45-yearlong fight with bipolar disorder and drug addiction, explaining how she misused opioids in an attempt to self-medicate her manic episodes. Even though the number of famous alcoholics who quit drinking has been growing mostly because rehabilitation facilities and programs have improved significantly, there have also been a lot of unfortunate deaths over the years. Alcoholism is a disease that affects people from all walks of life, regardless of their socioeconomic status, profession, or level of fame.
The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll also had a controversial death that was caused by a heavy mixture of prescription drugs including codeine. To protect his reputation at the time, https://yourhealthmagazine.net/article/addiction/sober-houses-rules-that-you-should-follow/ Elvis Presley’s death was attributed to cardiac arrest, rather than the lethal combination of prescription drugs. After going to rehab for cocaine addiction and joining Alcoholics Anonymous, he’s more comfortable and has avoided any harmful substances since. However, Zac did admit that battling his addictions is a “never-ending struggle”.
Promising actor River Phoenix, known in the ’80s for his role in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, shocked the world when his 1993 death exposed his battle with heroin addiction. “I was drinking a lot, way too much,” he told The Hollywood Reporter about a year after his stint at rehab. “It’s never one specific thing. I mean, you’re in your 20s, single, going through life in Hollywood, you know? Everything is thrown at you.” He said that he’d get sober for some movie roles but then get right back into his drug and alcohol habits. “I just loved to get fucked-up — drinking, cocaine, opiates, marijuana, diet pills, pain pills, everything,” he told Playboy.
Zac Efron, the former teenage star of High School Musical, has spoken recently about his struggle with alcohol and drugs. Following a high-profile trip to rehab, Efron appeared to go on drinking and even injured himself so severely in a fall that doctors had to wire his jaw shut. In 2012, Shepard told Playboy that he struggled with an addiction to drugs and alcohol. He said that from the ages of 18 to 29, he was a “heavy smoker, heavy drinker, drug addict, terrible eater, and philanderer.” The actor says he used drugs before he was a teenager and spent most of his early career under their influence. He had several high-profile arrests in the late 1990s and early 2000s while misusing alcohol, cocaine, and heroin and spent time in a California prison and a state-run rehab facility.
