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Tag: sober celebs

  • Danny Trejo Celebrates 51 Years Sober

    Danny Trejo Celebrates 51 Years Sober

    “My life is just so beautiful since I took alcohol and drugs out of it,” Trejo said.

    Danny Trejo celebrated over a half-century sober this month. The actor posted a photo on social media of himself holding a cake with the caption, “Celebrating 51 years of being clean and sober with the guys.”

    The actor, who is promoting the new Rob Zombie film 3 From Hell, shared with Entertainment Tonight, “My life is just so beautiful since I took alcohol and drugs out of it.”

    He added, “God has blessed me with great friends, a great support system and great people around me. That’s what a person needs, a great support system.”

    First Encounter With Drugs

    Trejo, 75, has come a long way.

    His uncle introduced him to weed when he was eight years old. And from then on, he would use “whatever drugs were available,” he told Prison Legal News in 2011.

    “I thought that drugs were my answer,” he said in a 2015 AARP documentary. “As long as I stayed loaded, I’m okay. But life would turn into chaos.”

    Trejo spent more than a decade in various maximum-security California state prisons, making a name for himself as a boxing champ “in every institution I was in.”

    When he left prison for the final time, he dedicated himself to serving others and became a drug counselor, connecting with people in juvenile halls, prisons and more.

    His Big Break

    That’s when he got his big break. He found himself on the set of the film Runaway Train (1985) while responding to a call from a production assistant who needed support so he wouldn’t use drugs. While Trejo was on set, he was recruited by a former fellow inmate who recognized him to teach Eric Roberts how to box for the film. The director was so pleased with his work that he put him in the film as a boxer.

    “Everything good that has happened to me has happened as a direct result of helping someone else,” said Trejo. “My passion is talking to young people… My message is, staying away from drugs and alcohol, and education is the key to anything you want to do.”

    Trejo was first introduced to Alcoholics Anonymous in 1959. “Once you know about it, it’s always there, it’s always an alternative,” he told Prison Legal News.

    A Long, Successful Career

    The iconic Hollywood “tough guy” has been in at least 124 films. And he’s managed to stay humble despite his impressive filmography. “I don’t think I am a big Hollywood star,” he told the Hollywood Reporter in 2016. “I won’t let myself. I can’t, because I’ve seen too many actors with the feeling of entitlement, and I want to slap the shit out of them.”

    Having been through so much in his life, Trejo learned the hard way, by being incarcerated, that substance abuse is not the answer.

    “I was an addict, an alcoholic, and I know that road,” he said in the AARP documentary. “That road leads to death, institutions or insanity.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Morgan Spurlock Reveals He's Sober

    Morgan Spurlock Reveals He's Sober

    Spurlock says he’s trying to make amends to the people he hurt in the past.

    Morgan Spurlock directed the famed documentary Super Size Me, which took on the fast food industry. Then several years ago, he came forward about his past sexual misconduct when the #MeToo movement exploded.

    After being out of the public eye for several years, Spurlock has now resurfaced with his next movie, a sequel to Super Size Me, and the announcement that he is now sober.

    As People reports, Spurlock is trying to make amends to the people he hurt in the past. Spurlock says he’s been sober for over 600 days and as he explains, “It’s been a lot of me looking at the choices I’ve made over my life and it’s been a lot of bad and poor behavioral choices. It was really important for me to own up to that and admit that I could do better and be a better person.”

    Making Amends

    Now that he’s sober, Spurlock says, “It has been amazing, and I feel better than I ever have. I’m just continuing to focus on my family and friends, and making amends to everyone I need to. I think my behavior automatically has shifted… I just reached a moment where I realized I had to change my life, I realized things had to be different and everything just kind of came to a head in that moment. And good and bad all around it, at the end of the day it was exactly what needed to happen for me.”

    Spurlock got sober after making his #MeToo Twitter confession entitled, “I Am Part of the Problem.”

    He wrote about being accused of rape in college, as well as settling an allegation of sexual harassment from a former assistant. “And then there’s the infidelity. I have been unfaithful to every wife and girlfriend I have ever had… I hurt them and I hate it. But it didn’t make me stop.”

    “I’ve Talked Enough In My Life… I’m Finally Ready To Listen”

    Spurlock said he suffered sexual abuse when he was a teenager, and added, “I’ve consistently been drinking since the age of 13… I haven’t been sober for more than a week in 30 years… [It] only served to fill the emotional hole in me and the daily depression I coped with.” 

    At the end of his confession, he concluded, “I’ve talked enough in my life… I’m finally ready to listen.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Steve-O Shares Video Of Every Drug He's Ever Done To Celebrate Sober Milestone

    Steve-O Shares Video Of Every Drug He's Ever Done To Celebrate Sober Milestone

    The jarring, NSFW footage offers a no-holds-barred look into the Jackass star’s past drug use. 

    Jackass star Steve-O offered up a catalog of cautionary tales in which he not only detailed every drug he’d ever used, but also shocking and decidedly NSFW footage of his behavior while using those substances.

    A Decade Of Sobriety

    Steve-O (born Stephen Gilchrist Glover), who celebrated a decade of sobriety in 2018, was unsparing in not only detailing but also showcasing how his dependency had impacted his life, which he described as “seriously messed up.”

    Fans reacted with an outpouring of praise for his efforts to remain honest about his path to sobriety.

    “This is probably the most embarrassing video I will ever put out,” Steve-O said as an introduction to the video, which opens with footage of what he described as his last bender in 2008, where he used ketamine shortly after being released from jail on felony drug charges. From there, Steve-O ticked off a staggering list of narcotic and illicit substances, providing recollections and jarring video footage for each.

    His Drug List

    The drug list opened with marijuana, which Steve-O said he brought across international borders—even to countries like Singapore, which imposes the death penalty for drug smuggling—in condoms he swallowed and then passed through his bowels.

    From there, viewers witnessed Steve-O kissing and licking his Jackass co-stars while under the influence of ecstasy, kissing co-star Chris Pontius on the head of his penis while drunk, and recalling to the media about being taken, unresponsive, from his apartment by first responders after ingesting five bars of Xanax.

    “If you gave me a pill, and I didn’t know what it was, I didn’t care,” said Steve-O, shortly before launching into some of the most shocking footage on the video. This included self-shot scenes in a hotel room where, after using PCP, cocaine and marijuana, he became obsessed with sending an email to rapper 50 Cent (despite lacking any means of contacting him); blowing cocaine residue congealed in nasal mucus onto a beer can and then smoking the residue; convulsing after using nitrous oxide, and recalling his experiences with ingesting household products (video head cleaner and aluminum cleaner). 

    After years of what can only be described as self-abuse, Steve-O was committed to a psychiatric ward by Johnny Knoxville and his Jackass co-stars in 2008. In 2018, he celebrated a decade of sobriety. Steve-O has remained active posting videos on his YouTube channel and touring, and has discussed the possibility of a fourth Jackass film.

    Response to the video was overwhelmingly positive, with one follower writing, “Thank you for your honesty and putting this out there. We shouldn’t be ashamed of our past, we should learn from it and celebrate how far we’ve come.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Demi Moore: Sobriety Lets Me Experience Life

    Demi Moore: Sobriety Lets Me Experience Life

    The “Ghost” actress details her journey to sobriety and her mother’s battle with addiction in her new memoir. 

    Actress Demi Moore is able to fully experience life now that she’s sober, according to the cover story of the October issue of Harper’s Bazaar.

    In the interview, she revealed that she has struggled with substance abuse for a long time, first getting sober in her 20s, but found herself struggling again in her 40s. In 2012, a woman called EMS on behalf of Moore, who seemed to be having a seizure after smoking an unknown substance.

    “She smoked… something… It’s not marijuana but it’s similar to incense,” the panicked woman said in the 911 call.

    Now, in her 50s, she is back on the sober train.

    “In retrospect, what I realized is that when I opened the door [again], it was just giving my power away,” Moore explained. “I guess I would think of it like this: It was really important to me to have natural childbirth because I didn’t want to miss a moment. And with that I experienced pain,” she added. “So part of being sober is, I don’t want to miss a moment of life, of that texture, even if that means being in—some pain.”

    Childhood Trauma

    Moore is set to release her memoir, Inside Out, soon. In it, she writes about her traumatizing experiences growing up with her mother who struggled with her own substance abuse problems. In the book, Moore recounted a time in which she was forced into a position where she had to revive her own mother after an overdose.

    “The next thing I remember is using my fingers, the small fingers of a child, to dig the pills my mother had tried to swallow out of her mouth while my father held it open and told me what to do,” Moore wrote. “Something very deep inside me shifted then, and it never shifted back. My childhood was over.”

    Breaking The Cycle

    Now sober, she credits her three children, Rumer, Scout and Tallulah, and their father, ex-husband Bruce Willis, for helping her get her head on straight.

    “My daughters offered me an opportunity to start to change the generational pattern. To be able to break the cycles,” she revealed.

    Last year, she spoke at a Women’s Recovery House event where she was being honored.

    “Early in my career, I was spiraling down a path of real self-destruction, and no matter what successes I had, I just never felt good enough. I had absolutely no value for myself,” she said.

    “And this self-destructive path, it very quickly brought me to a real crisis point… Two people, who I barely knew, stepped up… and they presented me with an opportunity—that was more like an ultimatum—unless I was dead, that I better show up.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Robert Downey Jr: I Was Once Detained At Disneyland For Smoking Pot

    Robert Downey Jr: I Was Once Detained At Disneyland For Smoking Pot

    The “Iron Man” actor described being detained at the park for his pot use at a recent award ceremony. 

    Last month, when actor Robert Downey Jr. received the Disney Legends achievement award at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, it was a very different experience from his first trip to the park, when he was apprehended for smoking pot on the gondola ride. 

    “Here’s a bit of trivia for you. The very first time I went to Disneyland, I was transported to another place—within moments of being arrested,” Downey said, according to Marijuana Moment. “I was brought to a surprisingly friendly processing center, given a stern warning, and returned to, if memory serves, one very disappointed group chaperone.”

    Clearing The Air

    Downey said that the moment had stuck with him for years, and receiving the award was the perfect opportunity to clear the air. 

    He said, “I’ve been sitting on that shame for a while and I‘m just going to release it here tonight.”

    Then he took his moment in the spotlight to say sorry, and to crack a few jokes. 

    “I would like to make amends to whomever had to detain me for smoking pot in a gondola without a license,” he said. “And I don’t wanna further confuse the issue by insinuating that pot smoking licenses for the gondola are in any way obtainable or for any of the other park attractions.” He continued, “Maybe for the Imagineers, but that’s their own business.”

    A Former President Got Caught Smoking There Too

    Downey isn’t the only celebrity who has admitted to getting high in the Happiest Place On Earth. Last year, former President Barack Obama implied that he had also been kicked out of Disney for smoking marijuana during his college years, although he wasn’t as blunt as Downey, later backtracking to say he was smoking cigarettes on the ride. 

    “As we were coming in, these two very large Disneyland police officers… say ‘Sir, come with us,’” Obama recalled. “This is a true story. I was booted from the Magic Kingdom.”

    As for Downey, his marijuana-smoking days are well behind him. Not only has the sober actor been embraced by Disneyland, he also received a full pardon by then-California Governor Jerry Brown in 2015 for charges he faced in 1996 when he was pulled over and found to be in possession of cocaine, heroin and a loaded gun. 

    “Job one is get out of that cave,” he told Vanity Fair in 2014. “A lot of people do get out but don’t change. So the thing is to get out and recognize the significance of that aggressive denial of your fate, come through the crucible forged into a stronger metal… But I don’t even know if that was my experience.” 

    Downey has since watched his own son battle with drug use.

    “Pick a dysfunction and it’s a family problem,” he said. 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Dax Shepard Speaks On 15 Years Of Sobriety: I'm On Fire To Be Alive

    Dax Shepard Speaks On 15 Years Of Sobriety: I'm On Fire To Be Alive

    Shepard says that being sober for so long has allowed him to recapture an energy and a joy for life that he hasn’t felt since he was a child.

    Dax Shepard of Punk’d and various comedy films including Hit and Run and CHiPs sat down with Talib Kweli on a recent episode of People’s Party and talked about his former cocaine use and how he feels after spending 15 years sober.

    After being asked about the subject by Kweli, Shepard began by crediting his sobriety to his current marriage to actress Kristen Bell and their two daughters.

    “I wouldn’t have a family without sobriety first and foremost,” he said. “Bell would’ve never signed up for the old version of me.”

    Beyond that, Shepard says that being sober for so long has allowed him to recapture an energy and a joy for life that he hasn’t felt since he was a child.

    “I just thought if I could ever get back to the point where when I walk out my door I’m thrilled to go on an adventure with nothing in me but oatmeal? That’s the goal, and I can honestly say for about the last seven years, I’m on fire to be alive.”

    In spite of his enthusiasm for sobriety, Shepard believes that everyone should try certain drugs at least once, if they can.

    “I don’t think anyone should leave planet Earth without doing mushrooms and ecstasy. I hope my children do mushrooms when they get older.”

    He stressed that he does not, however, want his children to do cocaine, as he feels that the intense stimulant “will make you not allowed to do all the other things.”

    Moderation & Marriage

    Shepard has expressed support for moderate drug use in the past, hitting back at a tweet from CBS’s The Talk that questioned Kristen Bell’s smoking cannabis around her sober husband. 

    “That would be like a diabetic expecting their partner to never eat dessert,” Shepard replied. “Get real!”

    Shepard first started using drugs in high school, though he maintains that he did not have a problem until after he turned 18. In 2012, he opened up to Us Weekly about his drug use in young adulthood, saying he took “cocaine, opiates, marijuana, diet pills, pain pills, everything,” along with drinking.

    “Mostly my love was Jack Daniel’s and cocaine,” Shepard said. “I lived for going down the rabbit hole of meeting weird people. Of course, come Monday I would be tallying up all the different situations, and each one was progressively more dangerous. I got lucky in that I didn’t go to jail.”

    After fighting frequently with Bell over his substance use, Shepard got sober in 2004 and has been going strong ever since.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Ben Affleck, One Year Sober, Is “In A Great Place”

    Ben Affleck, One Year Sober, Is “In A Great Place”

    The Triple Frontier actor, who completed a 40-day stay in treatment for alcoholism last year, is doing well.

    Actor Ben Affleck is officially one year sober, after a long-time battle with alcoholism. After a successful 40-day stint at a treatment center, the actor-director is now healthy, happy and dedicating himself to his loved ones.

    “Ben is in a great place both in his recovery and life,” someone close to Affleck told People. “He continues to want to be the best father and friend he can be.”

    This is especially true for actress Jennifer Garner, Affleck’s ex-wife, and the three kids they had together: 13-year-old Violet, 10-year-old Seraphina, and 7-year-old Samuel.

    “He and Jen do amazingly well at co-parenting the children,” reveals People’s source. “They have shared a great summer with the kids doing outings, travels, etc. They have a very trusting and special relationship… Ben’s relationship with Jen is strong. She’s really supportive of Ben, and they work very closely on parenting their kids.”

    Self-Care

    The key to his happiness lies in being able to find time to take care of himself.

    “Ben has found balance between his work and home life,” told the source. “He remains committed to a number of treatment and wellness methods that focus on his health.”

    Affleck’s most recent leg of rehab became public knowledge when he was spotted in a car with Garner, who was driving him to a treatment center on August 22 of last year. It would be Affleck’s third time in.

    The actor went public about his struggles the following October in a post on Instagram.

    Going Public

    “This week I completed a forty-day stay at a treatment center for alcohol addiction and remain in outpatient care,” wrote Affleck in the post. “Battling any addiction is a lifelong and difficult struggle. Because of that, one is never really in or out of treatment. It is full-time commitment. I am fighting for myself and my family.”

    He spoke more about his struggles on Today earlier this year, speaking about how he lives with alcoholism but is determined to not let it define him.

    “It doesn’t have to subsume my whole identity and be everything but it is something that you have to work at,” he said.

    Now, he’s clear-minded and spending more time with his children.

    “He is really enjoying his summer with the family,” another source told People. “Ben was just doting over his kids.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Colton Haynes Shares Hospital Photos To Celebrate Recovery 

    Colton Haynes Shares Hospital Photos To Celebrate Recovery 

    “If ur in the middle of the dark times…I promise you it doesn’t have to last forever,” Haynes wrote on Instagram.

    Actor Colton Haynes shared photos of his hospitalization for substance use disorder to celebrate the progress he has made on his mental health and well-being. 

    His Instagram post included photos from when Haynes was hospitalized a year ago following a bender. 

    “Throwback,” wrote the actor, best known for his role in Teen Wolf. “I don’t want worrying about if I look hot or not on Instagram to be my legacy. I don’t want to skirt around the truth to please other people or to gain economic success. I have far more important things to say than what magazine I just shot for or what tv show I’m a part of (Although I’m very thankful I still get to do what I love).”

    Priorities

    Haynes said that his experience with addiction, depression and anxiety helped him define his priorities. 

    “I no longer want to project a curated life,” he wrote. “I get immense joy when someone comes up to me & says that my willingness to open up about depression, anxiety, alcoholism, & addiction has helped them in some way.”

    After being hospitalized last year following his divorce and the death of his mother, Haynes began opening up about his demons. He said in his post that the past year has been about learning to acknowledge his struggles and still live a healthy life. 

    “I’ve struggled the past year with trying to find my voice and where I fit in & that has been the most beautiful struggle I’ve ever had to go through,” Haynes wrote. 

    He realized, through that struggle, that he had a larger purpose than projecting a perfect image. 

    “Worrying about what time to post on social media so I can maximize my likes or being mad at myself that I don’t look the same way I did when I was addicted to pills is a complete waste of why I was put on this earth,” he wrote. “I’m posting these photos to let y’all in on my truth. I’m so grateful to be where I am now ( a year after these photos were taken) but man these times were dark. I’m a human being with flaws just like you.”

    Haynes ended with a positive message for anyone who is still struggling with addiction or mental illness. 

    “If ur in the middle of the dark times…I promise you it doesn’t have to last forever,” he wrote. “Love ya’ll.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Dylan McDermott Celebrates 35 Years Of Sobriety

    Dylan McDermott Celebrates 35 Years Of Sobriety

    The prolific actor took to Instagram to celebrate his sober milestone.

    Actor Dylan McDermott celebrated 35 years sober this week. In a heartfelt Instagram post (Aug. 19), the actor shouted out Alcoholics Anonymous and his adoptive mother, Tony award-winning playwright Eve Ensler, for helping him on his journey.

    “Today is my Sober Birthday. 35 years! Staying sober has been my greatest accomplishment. I say that because I was able to show up for myself in every way possible,” The Practice actor said in the caption accompanying a photo of himself. “In the most turbulent and best of times I had the rock of the 12 steps to guide me. I was able to be a father, son, brother and friend.”

    The Golden Globe winner, whose adoptive mother is Tony Award-winning playwright Eve Ensler, mentioned his birth parents in his post. “Proud of this day because many in my family including my birth mother and father struggled with addiction. It was brutal to witness. I’ve also seen many who didn’t make it and that truly breaks my heart.”

    Childhood Trauma

    In 2012, Today reported that the mystery surrounding McDermott’s mother’s 1967 death had been solved after authorities reopened the case.

    Five-year-old McDermott was outside the apartment when his mother, Diane, was shot dead by her boyfriend John Sponza.

    Sponza claimed at the time that Diane had died by suicide, but upon further investigation after McDermott later inquired about the case with Connecticut police, her death was ruled murder by Sponza.

    According to the Republican-American, McDermott explained to the police the reason he pursued his mother’s case. “In order for me to survive and to get where I am today, I needed to bury that moment in my life deep within myself,” police reported him as saying. “I’ve come to the point in my life where I’m able to begin to process all of this.”

    Recovery Journey

    The trauma of witnessing his mother’s death was no doubt part of McDermott’s healing journey.

    He concluded his Instagram post by giving credit to those who helped him along the way and encouraging treatment for those who need it.

    “If you’re hurting please get help,” he wrote. “The loving hand of #AlcoholicsAnonymous is always available! Without the guidance of my sponsor and @EveEnsler I would not be here today. I will be forever grateful to them!”

    “I look forward to many more years of sobriety, trudging the road of happy destiny…”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Halsey Is “So Happy” She Kicked 10-Year Smoking Habit

    Halsey Is “So Happy” She Kicked 10-Year Smoking Habit

    The singer received tweets of support from fans and fellow stars after her announcement.

    Pop star Halsey, who smoked for about a decade, is now officially nicotine-free. The 24-year-old singer-songwriter joyfully made the announcement on Twitter on Thursday to her fans and followers on the platform.

    “I successfully quit nicotine a few weeks ago after smoking for TEN years,” Halsey wrote on Twitter. “I gained a lot of weight and probably lost some friends forever bc I was being a NUT (lol) but I’m so happy I did it and I feel v goooood. just wanted to share.”

    Her big announcement was met with love, support, and praise from the Twittersphere. And not just from fans either, as fellow singer Kelly Clarkson joined in on the cheer.

    “I don’t even know you and I’m proud of you!” replied Clarkson on Twitter. “That’s amazing! You’re too cool, talented, and inspiring for you to shave years off your beautiful life girl.”

    Halsey has been candid about her personal struggles. In an interview with Rolling Stone in June, Halsey admitted that since becoming famous she’s been admitted to a psychiatric hospital twice.

    Mental Health

    “I’ve been committed twice since [I became] Halsey, and no one’s known about it,” she said in the interview. “But I’m not ashamed of talking about it now. It’s been my choice. I’ve said [to my manager], ‘Hey, I’m not going to do anything bad right now, but I’m getting to the point where I’m scared I might, so I need to go figure this out.’ It’s still happening in my body. I just know when to get in front of it.”

    She was diagnosed with bipolar disorder following a suicide attempt at 17 years old. After a stay at a psychiatric hospital, her music career took off, but that didn’t stop her from staying focused on mental health.

    “The thing about having bipolar disorder, for me, is that I’m really empathetic,” she said. “I feel everything around me so much. I feel when I walk past a homeless person, and I feel when my friend breaks up with someone, or I feel when my mom and my dad get into a fight and my mom’s f—n’ crying over dishes in the sink.”

    Halsey said in the interview that she stays focused and drug-free because so many people rely on her.

    “I just can’t be out getting f—ed up all the time,” she said.

    View the original article at thefix.com