19 Celebrities Who've Openly Shared Their Substance Abuse Recovery Stories
In his new book Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, Friends actor, Matthew Perry, opened up about his struggles with addiction and his journey to sobriety.
Like Perry, 21 million Americans struggle with addiction. But for such a prevalent disease, addiction isn't so widely discussed.
But because of the prevalence of substance abuse in our society, only around 10% of those struggling seek treatment.
Here are 19 celebrities who've publicly shared their own sobriety journeys to shine a light on and help those struggling with addiction:
1.Matthew Perry
In his recent memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, Matthew Perry addressed his alcohol and opioid addiction that resulted in a near-death experience four years ago.
The Friends star shared that he first started struggling with alcohol when he was 24 and had just gotten cast in the iconic show: "I could handle it, kind of. But by the time I was 34, I was really entrenched in a lot of trouble," he said. "But there were years that I was sober during that time. Season 9 was the year that I was sober the whole way through. And guess which season I got nominated for Best Actor? I was like, 'That should tell me something.'"
As for his goal in writing this memoir, Perry said: "I had to wait until I was pretty safely sober — and away from the active disease of alcoholism and addiction — to write it all down. And the main thing was, I was pretty certain that it would help people."
2.Jamie Lee Curtis
The Halloween star opened up about her private struggles with alcohol and pill addiction — and 20-year sobriety — in a 2019 feature in Variety: "To call yourself an alcoholic or a drug addict is a badge of honor. It is a way of acknowledging something that is a profound statement and can be, for many people, life-changing," she said. "Because the secret, the shameful secret, is the reason why it is such a pervasive illness in our industry — in every industry, in every socioeconomic stratum, in every country in the world. It is the secret shame that keeps people locked up in their disease."
3.Tom Felton
In October 2022, the Harry Potter star published his debut memoir, Beyond the Wand: The Magic and Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard, in which he reveals his past struggles with substance abuse. "It came to the point where I would think nothing of having a drink while I was working,” he wrote.
Following an intervention from his team and then-girlfriend, Felton went to rehab three times: He left the first, got kicked out the second, and decided to return a third time on his own accord. “It was one of the hardest decisions I ever had to make,” he said about his third stay, but ultimately hopes his story encourages others struggling to seek treatment.
4.Robert Downey Jr.
After emerging onto the scene as a promising young actor, Downey Jr. struggled with addiction and quickly found himself gathering several arrests. With the support of loved ones, the Iron Man star was able to turn his life around and eventually become the world's highest-paid male actor.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Downey Jr. said this about addiction: “Job one is get out of that cave. 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."
5.Elton John
"I wasn’t thinking too much about being an artist. I had reached the lowest ebb in my life — the absolute bottom," the superstar — who's now been sober for 32 years — told Variety in 2019. "I hated myself so much. I was consumed with shame. All I wanted to do was get well. I put all of the energy I had left toward my recovery. For the first time in a very long time, I listened to others intently as I came to understand that I had so much to learn."
In 2020, Elton John shared his 30th sober anniversary with a tweet of a cake and an AA coin: “If I hadn’t finally taken the big step of asking for help 30 years ago, I’d be dead. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all the people who have inspired and supported me along the way,” he wrote.
Here's how he celebrated his 30th Sobriety Birthday!!!
If I hadn’t finally taken the big step of asking for help 30 years ago, I’d be dead. Thank-you from the bottom of my heart to all the people who have inspired and supported me along the way.🙏🏻🙏🏻❤️❤️😇😇
6.Drew Barrymore
Growing up in the spotlight, a young Barrymore turned to drugs to cope with her fame. When she was 13, her mother committed her to a "psychiatric ward" where she stayed for 18 months. Drew later emancipated herself at age 14.
The actor and talk show host has since gone on to have a fruitful career, make amends with her mother, and maintain sobriety. She also quit alcohol in 2021.
When she talked to The Guardian about her past and whether or not she'll hide it from her children, Barrymore said: "I’m not going to pretend I am not who I am. I’m going to show them how it got me to where I am now."
7.Kit Harington
In 2019, the Game of Thrones actor went to rehab for "mostly alcohol."
In an interview with The Guardian, Harington went on to compare his addiction to the high of acting: "This is a very addictive job. In a week’s time, I’m going to go out, stand on stage and get applause and it’s going to be a huge rush and a high," he says. "The trouble is, I never really wanted to come down from that high. Now, I’ve learned how I do that and I’m much happier for it."
With three years of sobriety under his belt, Harington encourages others to get help if they need it, saying: "I’m well on my path to recovery, and all I can say to anyone thinking about it is it’s a wonderful way of living your life. It saved me, for sure.”
8.Daniel Radcliffe
The Harry Potter leading man has been open about his struggles with alcoholism which peaked as the movie franchise came to a close. He said his fame and uncertainty about the future is what led him to drink: "It was panic, a little bit not knowing what to do next — not being comfortable enough in who I was to remain sober."
The actor has been sober since 2010.
“Ultimately, it was my own decision,” he said. “Like I woke up one morning after a night going like, ‘This is probably not good.’”
9.Samuel L. Jackson
The actor got sober in 1991 after a "crack-induced meltdown" that ended in his eight-year-old daughter finding him passed out in the kitchen surrounded by his drug paraphernalia. Apparently, he never set foot onstage without "some kind of substance in his body."
“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. Showed up on time, knew my lines, hit my marks."
He noted how much his life improved after getting sober: "I was doing things the right way, it was just that one thing that was in the way — my addiction. And once that was out of the way, it was — boom! The door blew wide open.”
10.Carrie Fisher
Fisher, who'd always been extremely open about both her drug addiction and bipolar diagnosis, at a time when neither were discussed publicly, was perhaps best summed up in a statement from her daughter, Billie Lourd, following her death: "She was purposefully open in all of her work about the social stigmas surrounding these diseases. She talked about the shame that torments people and their families confronted by these diseases. I know my mom, she’d want her death to encourage people to be open about their struggles. Seek help, fight for government funding for mental health programs. Shame and those social stigmas are the enemies of progress to solutions and ultimately a cure."
11.Zac Efron
Following a 2013 rehab stint to treat his substance abuse, Efron opened up to The Hollywood Reporter about how much therapy, Alcoholics Anonymous, and a more regimented routine have positively impacted him: "I think it’s changed my life. I’m much more comfortable in my own skin. Things are so much easier now.”
12.Naomi Campbell
"The time between 1998 and 2005 was especially bad," the supermodel told Vogue about her cocaine addiction. "During that time, I avoided looking in the mirror, because I didn't like the person who was looking back at me. To be honest, there were times I thought I wouldn't survive."
"I think what is very scary about cocaine is that you start to feel too confident and you start to feel indispensable, although none of us are indispensable," she said. "You become short-tempered...Your little charm goes. The little glow in your face goes."
Thankfully, Campbell said she found help in Alcoholics Anonymous as she also struggled with her drinking.
13.Jane Lynch
In an interview with The Guardian in February 2022, the iconic Glee star, who struggles with alcohol addiction, revealed she had gotten sober for a second time after relapsing several years prior.
"I became a connoisseur of wine in a way that only an alcoholic can," she shared of her relapse. Apparently, she was drinking while starring in Paramount+’s The Good Fight, in which she appeared in from 2017 to 2021. She shared: "I went back into denial, after all those years of sobriety and self-knowledge. I fooled myself — I woke up one day and went: ‘I'm back.'"
Lynch got sober again six months after her relapse. "[It was] like the sober fairy said, ‘OK, I'm giving you one more chance,'" she said. "And it was over. Five o'clock would come and I didn't notice it."
14.Demi Lovato
After a nearly fatal overdose in 2018, Demi Lovato has been very open about her struggles with drug addiction. Post-treatment following her overdose, Lovato decided to be "California sober" — aka still drinking and smoking weed — but in 2021, she announced she was officially "sober sober."
The singer opened up about their decision on The Tonight Show: "After going through even more stuff last year — I came out of treatment again — and I realized I really want to do this for myself, and I want to make the best album possible," they said. "Something that really represents who I am, and I think the best way to do that — and the easiest way to do that, and the most authentic — is to do it clean and sober."
15.Florence Welch
The "Dog Days" singer addressed her alcohol addiction on Munroe Bergdorf's The Way We Are podcast, calling sobriety "the best thing I ever did."
"It took me a long time to come to terms with the fact that I had a problem with drinking because I was one of those drinkers where [it was all or nothing]," she said. "If I enjoy my drinking, I can't control it and if I control my drinking, I don't enjoy it. That was a real wake-up call for me."
Welch got sober in 2012, saying: "I was like, 'This has to be contained. This can't leak out into the public sphere.'"
16.Dave Coulier
“I was a drunk. Yes. An alcoholic," the Full House alum revealed in an Instagram post in 2022, along with a photo of his face all bloodied from a drunken night. "I’ve been alcohol-free since January 1, 2020. When I drank, I was the life of the party. I could make people laugh until they fell down. In this picture, I was the one who fell down. Not because I was playing hockey or doing the things I love — like chopping wood or doing construction, golfing, fishing or flying airplanes. I was hammered and fell, going up some stairs made of stone.”
He then thanked his wife and "friends who had already made the journey" for helping him seek help. He also remarked on how his life has improved since getting sober, writing: “The psychological and physical transformation has been amazing. The sky is more blue, my heart is no longer closed, and I enjoy making people laugh until they fall down more than ever before. Thank you, Melissa, for being by my side. I love you. ❤️”
Here's his Instagram post:
17.Hayden Panettiere
The Heroes star referred to her opioid and alcohol addiction as a "cycle of self-destruction" in an exclusive interview with People in 2022. "This hasn't been easy and there were a lot of ups and downs," she said. "But I don't regret even the ugliest things that have happened to me. I feel incredibly accomplished. And I feel like I have a second chance."
18.Jessica Simpson
The fashion designer got sober in 2017 after turning to alcohol and pills to cope with the sexual abuse she experienced in her childhood. “When I finally said I needed help, it was like I was that little girl that found her calling again in life,” she told People magazine in 2020. “I found direction and that was to walk straight ahead with no fear. Honesty is hard but it’s the most rewarding thing we have. And getting to the other side of fear is beautiful.”
19.And lastly: Jason Biggs
In 2018, the American Pie actor announced on Instagram that he was one year sober. “I first tried to get sober over 5 years ago, when the weight of my obsession with booze and drugs became too heavy for me to handle,” Biggs wrote, captioning a photo of an Alcoholics Anonymous chip. “Turns out this shit is hard. After some fits and starts, I’ve managed to put together one year of sobriety. If you’re struggling, there’s help. Don’t be ashamed. We can do this.”
And here's his AA coin celebrating one year sober!
If you or someone you love is struggling with an addiction, here are some resources that might be of help:Find an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting group near you here.Talk to a representative from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) on their free, confidential, 24/7 national helpline by calling 1-800-662-HELP.Or if you or someone you love is having suicidal thoughts, call or visit the Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.
