Celebrities Who Do Drugs: 30 Famous Actors Who Battled Addiction

He instead looks at it as part of his health journey and a battle that you can overcome with professional help. Following an overdose in 2018, Lovato has been working on their recovery, stating that inpatient addiction treatment and meditation have been a massive help with her sobriety. “These are pictures from huge moments in life where my eyes just look… gone. Some are from real work shoots, some just beach days with the family,” she added.

• At the Gainesville hospital addiction unit, more than two-thirds of patients who thought they were buying other drugs were using fentanyl-laced substances, Mathias said.
• However, Tom admitted that after two months, he was still “really struggling” and that it was a challenge for him to attend work and social events and not have a drink.
• Some arrived for treatment thinking they had become addicted to oxycodone when they were actually fentanyl users.
• These celebrities illustrate that alcohol is often used to self-medicate — to alleviate life’s stressors.
• His remarkable resilience shines as a beacon of hope for countless individuals navigating their own paths to recovery.
• Speaking to Entertainment Weekly in May 2023, the actor said that he’s been sober for over a year.

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Drinking had, at one point, disrupted his career and personal relationships. Fellow musician and touring partner Elton John encouraged Joel to get treatment for alcohol addiction, describing in a 2011 issue of Rolling Stone how alcohol had gotten in the way of Joel’s life and career. As mentioned, though, some high profile people in recovery have been outspoken about their experiences, feeling that, as public figures, they can help raise awareness around the issues of drug and alcohol abuse. She originally cut out all drinking and drugs to prepare for a vocal surgery, but then it became a more meaningful journey after she discovered her family has a history of addiction and mental health issues. World-famous horror novelist Stephen King struggled with drugs and alcohol for a considerable period of time.

Here’s how he celebrated his 30th Sobriety Birthday!!!

In an early 2011 issue of Rolling Stone, John is quoted as saying that Joel needed to check into “tough” rehab, and that alcoholism was getting in the way of his life and career. Aside from her fame as Princess Leia in “Star Wars”, Carrie Fisher was also well-known for her public statements about her health and addictions. In 2008 she even published a book about her struggles, called “Wishful Drinking”.In the book, she writes “Happy is one of the many things I’m likely to be over the course of a day and certainly over the course of a lifetime.

The Most Famous High-Functioning Alcoholics in History

He credits his wife, actress Nicole Kidman, with getting him into successful treatment shortly after their marriage in 2006. Urban has won several Grammys and was the Country Music Association’s Entertainer of the Year in 2005. Drew Barrymore is among the many celebrities affected by alcohol addiction, with her substance misuse beginning in early childhood. Over the years, she has discussed her struggles with drinking and how she turned to it as a child actor, attending Hollywood parties with her mother at just nine years old. At eleven, Barrymore developed an alcohol addiction that spiraled into years of substance use issues.

While we may be more accustomed to celebrities dying to heroin and other drugs, many have died due to an addiction to alcohol. Alcoholism is more than simply a lack of self control; today, it is considered an all out addictive disorder. “I have completed treatment for alcohol addiction; something I’ve dealt with in the past and will continue to confront,” he wrote.

Lana del Rey began drinking daily and independently from her extremely young teen years, with her parents resorting to sending her to a boarding school outside of New York City to break her out of her cycle. It didn’t work initially, she ended up using drugs as well, but after some time in an outreach program at just 14 years old, she has maintained consistent sobriety ever since. Matthew Perry was a constant source of concern to his cast members and crew on the set of Friends, where at the height of his substance abuse, he was taking 30 pills a day, washed down with vodka. Although it took him more than one stint in rehab to get clean, he said that ten years ago, something clicked. He then went on to open a sober men’s living house in Malibu. With growing up with a mentally unstable mother serving as one of her underlying factors for substance misuse, Oscar winner Tatum O’Neal turned to cocaine by age 20.

When she finally recovered, she established the Betty Ford Center to help others overcome substance and alcohol abuse. Colt lifted weights and exercised as a way to bring discipline and balance to his life. If you opt into actors that are alcoholics our newsletter, we promise to respect your privacy. Sign up to get info about the science behind addiction, the latest trends in addiction treatment, mental health awareness, inspirational recovery stories, and much more.

• Two British Film Institute polls of directors and critics voted him the greatest film director of all time.
• “I had a very good theatre reputation,” Jackson told The Guardian. “Granted, I was a fucking drug addict and I was out of my mind a lot of the time, but I had a good reputation.
• In 2019, the Game of Thrones actor went to rehab for “mostly alcohol.”
• So, celebrities who struggle with depression are more likely to be women.

Jamie Lee Curtis has been sober for more than 20 years.

“I’m so grateful to be where I am, I’m so grateful to be sober. I’m so grateful to be. Remember, we are all works in progress,” he wrote. Rapper Nicki Minaj has opened up about her relatively newfound sobriety, telling fans on Twitter that she is “loving life”. Following this, he decided to challenge himself to two months being alcohol-free.