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  • Artie Lange Speaks On Addiction, Legal Troubles In Comeback Tour

    Artie Lange Speaks On Addiction, Legal Troubles In Comeback Tour

    In the opening show, Lange touched on past relationships, Todd Bridges, and having a brand of heroin named after him.

    Comedian Artie Lange is on a stand-up comeback tour after completing rehab and being released in September. During a recent show, he opened up about some of his past experiences with drugs and got real when it came to the addiction disorder that has dogged him for decades.

    Lange posted on his Twitter account on September 10 announcing that he was back home and feeling good.

    “Great to be home!” he wrote. “7 months 14 days sober but one day at a time. Lots of new stories to tell. Will announce some new tour dates on Friday. Thanks for the support. Love you all.”

    The First Stop Of The Tour

    Radar Online outlined the most notable moments from the first show of Lange’s tour on October 18, in which the former Howard Stern Show co-host touched on his past relationships, life in prison, and how drugs have affected his life.

    “I had three fiancées who left me because of heroin. Heroin saved me a lot of money,” Lange joked. “Divorce would’ve been way more expensive than the drugs.”

    Lange was in a relationship with Dana Cironi from 2002 to 2006 and was with Adrienne Ockrymiek from 2009 to 2014.

    He also joked about his former use of crack cocaine and “burning bridges.”

    “I burned all the bridges you can burn in show business, that’s why I’m in Bridgeport. I was in the crack house recently, I was trying to light a crack pipe and I burned Todd Bridges.”

    A fellow actor, Bridges struggled with addiction to crack in his 20s. He entered rehab in 1992 and has been sober ever since.

    They Named Heroin After Him

    Later, Lange treated audiences to a story about being sold a bag of heroin that was named after him.

    “Here’s the f—ked up thing, on the marquee where I was performing, they had my name spelled wrong. On the bag, it was spelled perfectly!” he said. As funny as it might have been, Lange didn’t feel all that good about the way he was being admired. “My name was on poison dude. Kids are taking this… I guess I am a famous scumbag!”

    At the end of the show, Lange got serious, advising his audience to avoid the difficult life that he’s had to struggle through thanks largely to addiction while also showing his appreciation to the fans who have stuck with him through the bad times.

    “The fact that you guys come out on a Friday to support me means everything to me. Tell your kids to never touch drugs.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Artie Lange: Out of Rehab & Looking For "Balance" As He Begins Touring

    Artie Lange: Out of Rehab & Looking For "Balance" As He Begins Touring

    “This is when the hard work begins. It’s not one day at a time; it’s really one moment at a time,” Lange said.

    After exiting a three-month stint in rehab on September 10 with seven months of sobriety under his belt, comedian Artie Lange announced his return to the stage with a string of live dates in the Northeastern United States.

    “I’m blessed to be alive,” he told the Times Union in a September 19 interview, where he was also quick to acknowledge that maintaining a sober life and a busy schedule would provide challenges. To counter that, Lange said that one of his priorities was to find what he described as “balance.”

    New Material

    Lange, who spent much of 2019 in rehab facilities and halfway houses, told the Times Union that he used that time to work on both his personal and professional lives. That eventually produced a follow-up to his best-selling 2008 memoir, tentatively titled Rippin’ and Runnin’: Life on Drug Court, as well as 14 hours of new stand-up material.

    “That’s what I do – mine my life for humor, for stories,” he said. Even the darkest moments provided the inspiration for comedy: “There’d be a crazy thing that was happening to me on the road, I would go in my head, ‘Wow, this is a scary situation I’ve got to get out of right now, but it’ll be great for the stage.’”

    Though Lange appeared to be ready to resume his comedy career, he admitted that the challenges are ever-present. “This is when the hard work begins,” he noted. “It’s not one day at a time; it’s really one moment at a time.”

    His Nose Serves As A Reminder

    But as he noted with rueful humor, he had a constant reminder of the dangers inherent to falling back into his old behavior patterns. Every time he looked in a mirror, he saw the wear and tear weathered by his nose from decades of drug use.

    “I will eventually fix it,” Lange told the Times Union. “But now it’s a reminder of what happened to me and the nutty life that I somehow lived through, and hopefully young people will see what can happen. I look like a boxer. I never got a fight in a ring in my life; I fought with drugs and addiction. I want to keep it now as a reminder, to keep me good.”

    For Lange, “good” meant maintaining sobriety and celebrating milestones that he thought impossible to achieve while actively pursuing his addiction. He noted that he will have eight months of sobriety on September 30 and mark his 52nd birthday soon after, on October 11. “I didn’t think I’d make it to 50, that’s for sure,” he said. “I didn’t think I was ever going to be an old person.”

    To assure that those and other milestones are within his grasp, Lange said that his focus for the immediate future was to strike the right balance between all the aspects of his life. “I’ve got to get that,” he said. “Absolutely.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Artie Lange Is Seven Months Sober & Home From Rehab

    Artie Lange Is Seven Months Sober & Home From Rehab

    Lange took to Twitter to announce his return home and his intention to start touring again.

    Comedian Artie Lange is home from rehab, sober and ready to begin touring again, he announced on Twitter. 

    Lange posted a photo on Tuesday (Sept. 10) that showed him looking healthier than he did earlier in the year. 

    “Great to be home!” Lange wrote. “7 months 14 days sober but one day at a time. Lots of new stories to tell.  Will announce some new tour dates on Friday. Thanks for the support. Love you all.”

    Lange, who was a fixture on The Howard Stern Show, has had a long-time battle with addiction. Lange was arrested in February for violating his parole by testing positive for cocaine and morphine. The parole was the result of 2017 possession charges. 

    Sober Living Home

    At the time, Lange’s representative said that he would be entering treatment. “It’s time,” the rep said. In March, it was reported that Lange was in a sober living home in New Jersey. In April, a friend posted a video of Lange working on a garbage truck to Lange’s twitter account. 

    “We heard from Artie this morning, HA! -> “It’s true i’m working to satisfy my drug court program. I work with great people. Nothing wrong with a little hard work. Love you all and can’t wait to be back on stage,” the accompanying post read. 

    In May, Lange posted a video of himself pumping gas at a New Jersey station. 

    “I gotta pump gas for 10 more days and then I’m satisfying the program I think. If this gets back to Howard, tell him I love him. I love him to death and I miss him,” Lange said. “I gotta pump gas! I’ll be back onstage soon, though. I promise.”

    Violating Parole

    However, later that month Lange was arrested for again violating the term of his parole. 

    “Lange is non-compliant. Consequently, he will be taken into custody by officers from the Essex County Sheriff’s Office. He will be returned to the Essex County Correctional Facility in Newark,” an official said at the time. 

    Initial reports were that Lange would be in treatment throughout the summer. However, in late August a source told Radar Online that Lange would be in rehab indefinitely. 

    “Artie is doing well and staying sober,” the source said. 

    Radar reported that Lange could still face charges in relation to drug possession or his parole violations. 

    Lange’s former co-host Howard Stern opened up in May about how difficult it has been to watch his friend grapple with drug addiction. 

    “What’s happening with Artie makes me very sad. We’ve lost touch, and that’s my doing,” he said. “I got my fingers crossed for the guy. And it wasn’t a clean break. It was many years of wanting Artie to get help. I know that a lot of fans want me to talk about Artie and feel it’s a cop-out for me not to. I’ll take that. I don’t want to do anything that would rock his boat.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Artie Lange Facing An Indefinite Stay In Rehab

    Artie Lange Facing An Indefinite Stay In Rehab

    “Artie is doing well and staying sober,” a source close to Lange has stated.

    Troubled comedian Artie Lange is facing an indefinite stay in rehab, according to a report by Radar Online.

    The new report contradicts a previous one that stated Lange would only be in rehab until the end of the summer, and despite all reports that he’s been “doing well and following the rules,” a release date for Lange to actually leave rehab has not been set.

    The comedian had been in rehab for reasons connected to his May arrest where the Essex County Sheriff’s Office found him in non-compliance with the conditions of his probation. His most recent round of legal troubles began in 2017 when he was hit with possession charges, resulting in a court order to attend a six-month addiction treatment program.

    Prior Legal Troubles

    Some people close to him think the arrest was the best thing that could have happened to him at the time. At least one source told Radar Online Lange was raring to go in a “self destruct mode,” doing anything he could to dodge drug court programs and jail time.

    “He knows he won’t survive drug court,” the source said. “So he’s going to party as much as he can until he gets thrown in jail or a year-long rehab.”

    Lange has long struggled with addiction. His troubles have led him to two suicide attempts, fleeing from interventions and relapses. Eventually, his substance abuse got in the way of his 10-year-long stint on The Howard Stern Show. The titular host of the show, Howard Stern, remained silent on the matter for a long time before opening up to Rolling Stone.

    “I’m very dismayed about where he’s at. I do care, but for a whole bunch of reasons that relationship had to stop,” Stern told the magazine. “Artie was on the show for 10 years. He’s a fantastic comedian. There’s nobody who could have sat in like that.”

    Community Service

    Lange seemed to be on an upward track, doing community service through a New Jersey-based treatment facility and passing all his drug tests, until he was arrested for non-compliance with the terms of his probation in May. Though his current rehab stint doesn’t have a set end date, he’s expected to leave some time in September to be transferred to New Jersey’s Hudson County Court to face judgement on his violations.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Artie Lange "Doing Well," Back In Rehab After Probation Violation

    Artie Lange "Doing Well," Back In Rehab After Probation Violation

    Lange will reportedly stay in rehab until the end of summer. 

    Comedian Artie Lange, formerly of The Howard Stern Show, is reportedly “doing well” after being arrested for violating his probation following prosecution for heroin and cocain posession.

    Officials told Radar Online that Lange is “currently doing well and following the rules” and will be staying at a rehabilitation facility in Clinton Hill, New Jersey through the end of the summer.

    Legal Troubles

    Lange was arrested in May by the Essex County Sheriff’s Office, who said that he was “non-compliant” with his probation in spite of reports that the comedian was doing great. His most recent legal troubles started in 2017 with the possession charges, which resulted in him being ordered into an intensive six-month addiction treatment program in March.

    The arrests may be the best thing for him, according to individuals close to Lange who reportedly spoke to Radar Online. One “insider” said that Lange was in “self-destruct mode” and was avoiding a drug court program that could have helped him avoid prison time so that he could continue to use drugs.

    “He knows he won’t survive drug court,” the source said. “So he’s going to party as much as he can until he gets thrown in jail or a year-long rehab.”

    This isn’t the first time Lange has been arrested for drug possession and gone to a rehab program. After developing an addiction to alcohol and cocaine early in his comedy career, he attempted suicide in 1995 after running out of the stimulant and entered rehab and counseling.

    Artie’s History

    He then suffered a relapse in late 1996 and was arrested after fleeing an intervention staged by his fellow Mad TV cast members. He swore off cocaine in 1997, but continued to struggle with alcohol and opioid addiction, relapses, and mental illness, including another suicide attempt in 2010.

    Lange’s continuing struggles with addiction resulted in his leaving The Howard Stern Show after 10 years. In a Rolling Stone interview published in May, Stern finally opened up about his concern for his former co-host and friend’s health and state of mind after so many years of fighting an intense drug problem.

    “I’m very dismayed about where he’s at. I do care, but for a whole bunch of reasons that relationship had to stop,” Stern said. “Artie was on the show for 10 years. He’s a fantastic comedian. There’s nobody who could have sat in like that.”

    After his 2017 arrest, Lange often posted happy videos of himself doing his court-ordered community service work, giving the impression that all was well. However, Radar Online sources have said that the comedian’s health has been in decline due to his diabetes.

    “He’s had to have medical assistance several times already for his diabetes,” a source reported.

    Hopefully, the latest reports that he’s doing well will prove to be true.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Artie Lange Gets Another Chance After Drug Court Violation Arrest

    Artie Lange Gets Another Chance After Drug Court Violation Arrest

    The comedian was arrested in May for being “non-compliant.”

    Comedian Artie Lange will be allowed to continue his drug court probation despite having been arrested for violating its terms.

    According to the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, Lange has been held at the Superior Court in Newark, New Jersey and will be held there for a couple weeks before being transferred to another facility. Where to, exactly, is not clear.

    Lange was arrested on May 21 at Freedom House, the halfway house where he was staying. The Essex County Sheriff’s Office said that Lange was sober and “coherent” at the time of his arrest. The manner in which Lange violated his probation terms is not clear. Some reports stated that Lange was caught with heroin, but the sheriff’s office denied this.

    “Lange is non-compliant. Consequently, he will be taken into custody by officers from the Essex County Sheriff’s Office. He will be returned to the Essex County Correctional Facility in Newark,” officials said. “All the stories gave the impression he was doing great, but that is not the case.”

    Lange was originally arrested on heroin charges. He received four years’ probation, which he has violated twice before this arrest. As part of his probation, he was required to get a local job as part of his work release.

    “I gotta pump gas for 10 more days and then I’m satisfying the program I think. If this gets back to Howard, tell him I love him. I love him to death and I miss him,” Lange said in a video posted last month. “I gotta pump gas! I’ll be back onstage soon, though. I promise.”

    Lange worked on The Howard Stern Show for eight years before parting ways with the host, the titular Howard Stern, due to Lange’s excessive drug use. But according to Lange, there are absolutely no hard feelings:

    “There’s a million times Howard said to me, ‘Go to rehab, take as long as you want, and when you come back, you got a job.’ What else can you expect, and I shit all over that because I was a drug addict. Howard did me right. I love him.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Artie Lange Arrested For Violating Drug Court Terms

    Artie Lange Arrested For Violating Drug Court Terms

    A sheriff’s office spokesman said that Lange “appeared to be sober” when he was arrested.

    Artie Lange, comedian and former co-host of The Howard Stern Show, has been arrested for violating the terms of his probation laid out by a New Jersey drug court. 

    According to the New Jersey Patch, Lange was arrested at about 7:30 on Tuesday morning (May 21) at Freedom House, and is being held in Essex County jail.

    A spokesperson for the Essex County Sheriff’s Office said that Lange appeared sober and “coherent” when he was arrested. It’s not clear how he violated the terms of his release. 

    Kevin Lynch, a spokesman for the Essex County Sheriff’s Office, denied reports that Lange had been found with heroin last week, though he would not expand on this.

    Officials reportedly told Radar Online, “Lange is non-compliant. Consequently, he will be taken into custody by officers from the Essex County Sheriff’s Office. He will be returned to the Essex County Correctional Facility in Newark.”

    They added, “All the stories gave the impression he was doing great, but that is not the case.”

    The day before his arrest, Lange posted a picture of himself at a gas station where he is working, with Howard Stern’s new book, Howard Stern Comes Again. 

    “Pumping gas and reading Howard Sterns new book, which is great by the way,” Lange posted on his Twitter account using a third party. “I read in 2004 Trump interview with me there. I’m reading about the POTUS when a guy yells at me ‘yo fill it with regular’ lol, my crazy life!”

    Lange is on four years’ probation stemming from heroin charges. He violated the probation twice already and was jailed earlier this year. His work release required him to get a local job, which is why he was pumping gas at a New Jersey Exxon. 

    “I gotta pump gas for 10 more days and then I’m satisfying the program I think. If this gets back to Howard, tell him I love him. I love him to death and I miss him,” Lange said in a video posted last week. “I gotta pump gas! I’ll be back onstage soon, though. I promise.”

    In a YouTube video posted by a fan Lange said that his eight years on The Howard Stern Show (until 2009) were a great experience. Although the two have lost touch, Lange said Stern supported him as much as anyone could. 

    “There’s a million times Howard said to me, ‘Go to rehab, take as long as you want, and when you come back, you got a job.’ What else can you expect, and I shit all over that because I was a drug addict. Howard did me right. I love him.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Artie Lange Admits To Using Cocaine Post-Rehab

    Artie Lange Admits To Using Cocaine Post-Rehab

    After being tested in court, Artie Lange revealed that he has relapsed but is currently 10 days clean.

    Troubled comedian Artie Lange has had a well-known and lengthy history with substance abuse. Lange has been very open about his struggles throughout his life, and while he celebrated “18 days clean” on social media last month, he’s now confessing that he’s used cocaine since leaving rehab.

    A year ago, Lange pleaded guilty to possessing 81 bags of heroin, and he received four years probation. (After sentencing, Lange tweeted, “4 yrs [sic] probation is a long time.”)

    On December 14, Lange tweeted, “Today in court they drug tested me. For the last decade or more they’d have found both Heroin and Cocaine. With the help of in my eyes a miracle legal medication called Suboxen [sic] I tested negative for Heroin. I haven’t used Heroin in 41 days. . . . That’s a prison that for now I’m out of. It’s also the reason I’m not in jail.” Yet he added, “10 days ago when I left rehab I had to touch the flame. I used Cocaine. . . .”

    Lange added that the cocaine “should’ve left my system. But a higher power wouldn’t let [it]. I’m a bad addict. I had to see if I could get high. It was awful.”

    While Lange tweeted that “the judge and prosecutor were unbelievably compassionate,” and “they wanna save my life,” he said they are also making him “apply for a very strict rehab type program called Drug Court.”

    As he’s realized before, Lange knows he’s got a long road ahead of him. “I have work to do. I feel now I can also stop Cocaine. But that’s arrogance and addiction. I’m accepting help. If I fail now I will go to jail. Jail is not for addicts. But I’d be giving them no choice. When I use illegal drugs I have to score them. That’s breaking the law.”

    As his tweetstorm started winding down, Lange grew even more serious and asked his fans to “pray for me. So no lies. I have 10 days clean . . . But know that though I made progress & got rid of Heroin I still have not hit a homerun. But guys I got on base. I moved ahead. I wanna help ppl . . . Hopefully I survive to help others . . . But I’m working on me too. It’s the only thing worth while now.”

     

    View the original article at thefix.com