Addiction plagues the lives of millions every day. Whether it be the seduction of your smartphone or, on a more serious note, a dependency on an illicit substance, addiction is at the core of the human condition — and it doesn’t discriminate either. While fame and fortune may be an extraordinary touch to any lifestyle, many in Hollywood unwittingly to succumb to alcoholism and substance abuse to alleviate the overwhelming pressures of everyday life.
Below, all the celebrities who have openheartedly discussed the details of their own addictions.
1. Brad Pitt
2. Demi Lovato
Demi Lovato has always been brutally honest with their fans about all aspects of their life, especially their addiction. In their 2017 documentary, Simply Complicated, the 25-year-old singer shed light on the depth of their fight with substance abuse and their multiple health disorders.
“I wasn’t ready to get sober”, Demi says of their 2012 relapse. “I was sneaking [cocaine] on planes, I was sneaking it in bathrooms, sneaking it throughout the night… I went on a bender of like, two months, where I was using it daily.
“I would sneak out and get drugs, I would fake my drug tests with other people’s pee. There was one night when I used a bunch of coke and I popped a few Xanax bars, and I began to choke a little bit. My heart started racing, and I thought to myself, ‘Oh my God, I might be overdosing right now.'”
Earlier this year Lovato celebrated six years of sobriety, however, has relapsed since.
3. The Weeknd
Before finding fame Abel Tesfaye – aka The Weeknd – admits he found comfort in drugs such as Ketamine, cocaine, MDMA, mushrooms and cough syrup as a way to escape the reality of his childhood.
“When I had nothing to do but make music, it was very heavy. Drugs were a crutch for me,” he told The Guardian. “There were songs on my first record that were seven minutes long, rambling – whatever thoughts I was having when I was under the influence at the time. I can’t see myself doing that now.”
4. Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga has never been shy about her drug use, often admitting that she has been “addicted to various things” since she was young. After undergoing surgery in February 2013 to treat damage to her cartilage, the singer admitted she became addicted to marijuana, smoking 15 to 20 cigarettes a day with no tobacco, in order to alleviate the pain from her hip injury.
“I was living on a totally other psychedelic plane, numbing myself completely, and looking back I do see now that some of it had to do with my hip pain”, Gaga told the Elvis Duran and The Z100 Morning Show.
“I didn’t know where the pain was coming from so I was just in a lot of pain and very depressed all the time and not really sure why.”
5. Zac Efron
When Zac Efron was admitted into rehab back in 2013, many of his fans were surprised to learn that he was battling with secret drug addiction. In recent years the High School Musical heartthrob has admitted that he found it difficult to cope with the media intrusion and turned to cocaine and alcohol in order to deal with public life. Efron revealed to Hollywood Reporter in May 2014 that the pressures of fame meant he avoided hobbies that he normally enjoyed for fear of being followed by members of the public.
“I was drinking a lot, way too much. 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. It’s a never-ending struggle, [but] I just started going [to counselling]. And I think it’s changed my life. I’m much more comfortable in my own skin. Things are so much easier now.”
6. Drew Barrymore
In an interview in December 1990, Barrymore revealed she was as young as 10-years-old when she first dabbled in drugs.
“I wanted to try some. Eventually, that got boring, and my addict mind told me, Well if smoking pot is cute, it’ll also be cute to get the heavier stuff like cocaine. It was gradual. What I did kept getting worse and worse, and I didn’t care what anybody else thought.”
7. Nicole Richie
Designer and reality TV star, Nicole Richie, confessed her dependency on drugs as a teenager in an interview with Dianne Sawyer in 2007.
“I kind of took matters into my own hands and was creating drama in a very dangerous way. At 18 I had just been doing a lot of cocaine.”
“I, again, made the decision for myself, this is something I have to do. I have to get off drugs. This isn’t the life … this was heroin.”
8. Fergie
In October 2012, the Black Eyed Peas singer shared the eerie details of her struggle with drugs, revealing it was once so bad she was “hallucinating on a daily basis.”
“From ecstasy it went to crystal meth”, Fergie said on Oprah Winfrey’s Next Chapter. “With any drugs, everything is great at the beginning, and then slowly your life starts to spiral down. [I was] 90 pounds at one point. What got me through it was a lot of therapy, soul searching, discovering why I took the drugs in the first place, because that’s really what it is.”
9. Noah Cyrus
22-year-old Noah Cyrus, (younger sister of Miley Cyrus), recently opened up about her experiences with anxiety, depression and drug use.
Speaking to Rolling Stone, the singer revealed she had been struggling with Xanax addiction after first taking it at age 18, after being offered the drug by her then-boyfriend.
“It became a way for us to bond,” she told the outlet. “I think I wanted to fit in with him. I wanted to be what he wanted and what he thought was cool and what I thought everybody was doing.
“Once I felt that it was possible to silence things out for a second and numb your pain, it was over,” she said, before adding that she soon became addicted to it.
By 2020, Noah’s addiction was at an all-time high, and she passed out during a television interview which understandably didn’t end up airing. Following the death of her grandmother, she realised the extent to which her addiction had robbed her and decided to check herself into rehab.
10. Hayden Panettiere
Hayden Panettiere was one of the most well-known actresses of the early 2000s, but seemingly disappeared from the spotlight after hitting her peak.
Speaking with People, Panettiere revealed that her abusive relationship with Brian Hickerson in 2018 coincided with her addiction to alcohol and opioids.
She told the publication that she was first offered a ‘peppy pill’ at just 15-years-old, and would have no idea of the dangerous doors this would open in later life.
Eventually she couldn’t live without the drugs or alcohol and was taking them almost every time she was off-set. In fact, it was so bad that she would wake up with the shakes if she didn’t have a sip of alcohol.
“I was on top of the world and I ruined it,” she told the publication.
By 2018, she was taken to hospital with jaundice and was told her live would give out if she didn’t get her addiction under control. This prompted her to check into rehab for eight months which helped her to “get over the hump” of her addiction.
