It’s a strange dichotomy in the world that alcohol is the cause of so much celebration, and is so closely associated with fun, luxury, and power, but also have such intense associations with bad things like underage drinking, drinking and driving, and alcoholism in every segment of society.
And because celebrities are in the limelight anyway, when they have a battle with dark side of alcohol, it becomes a mainstream interest. To illustrate this point, consider the following five celebrities who have dealt with alcoholism, including Michael J. Fox, Russell Brand, Johnny Depp, Kristen Davis, and Alec Baldwin.
Michael J. Fox
High up on the list of celebrities who have dealt with alcoholism during their lifetime is Michael J. Fox. Whereas now his other debilitating struggles are more often the highlight of press releases, there was a time when he did not know how much alcohol is too much, and spent many years working in and around all of the consequences of this particular behavior pattern of his. Luckily he broke those patterns after a certain point in his career, and now is more free to talk about that time period after his recovery.
Russell Brand
Russell Brand definitely cuts a unique figure in pop culture because of his personality and his style, and he’s extremely open about his bouts with addiction and alcoholism, and almost carries around those stories with him as a sort of weapon again the temptation of the present and future. His many activities certainly keep him busy still, but in interviews he regularly says that once those behaviors and patterns set in, they’re never really far away after that.
Johnny Depp
And the world’s favorite pirate has also had his battles with the drink. Even this past year, production on “Pirates 5” was put on hold because Johnny expressed a need to get himself together in order to be functional with the movie set crew. So whereas it’s definitely a drain on people around when an average person fights against booze, it costs millions of dollars in wasted time when celebrities go down that path.
Kristen Davis
And Kristen Davis, the Sex and the City star, is public about her fight and recovery process as well. She’s known for saying that she quit drinking before she got famous, so she didn’t have to go through rehab publicly, but it’s still something that sticks with her to this day.
Alec Baldwin
And actor Alec Baldwin’s story about alcohol is centered around that fact that he found himself drinking and driving a lot when he was younger, and finally had to admit that it was a bad combination, and got himself sober before it was too late.
Originally posted on January 22, 2016 @ 2:23 pm