1. Demi Lovato
Demi’s struggle with addiction dates back to 2010. She has openly spoken about her journey to recovery time and now. In her documentary TV series titled Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil Demi said, “I wanted to reveal it all for my fans and say this is who I am and this is where I’m at today and this is the journey that got me here, and if it helps you, then I hope that it can because that was ultimately my purpose in putting this out.”
2. Robert Downey Jr.
Robert Downey claims that he used drugs before he was even a teenager and spent most of his early career under its influence. He had several high-profile arrests in the late 1990s and early 2000s while misusing alcohol, cocaine, and heroin and spent time in a California prison and a state-run rehab facility. In 2002, he announced that he was recovered. His trajectory never looked down after Iron Man revived his stalled career in 2008.
3. Danny Trejo
Trejo spent time in and out of jail back when he was just a teen. The cause was his addiction to drug abuse. However, he learned in the jail itself that this was not the path he was meant to be on. This led to 51 years (and counting) of sobriety for Trejo, who has become a beloved actor and business owner. Trejo says that “Everything good that has happened to me has happened as a direct result of helping someone else — everything. That’s the way I live my life.”
4. Drew Barrymore
Drew Barrymore fought with addiction at a very early age. Coming from a well-known celebrity family and having a career herself that began when she was just five took a big toll on her. Barrymore was drinking alcohol by age nine and doing hard drugs at age 14. Even though she’s shed her addiction, she’s always been open about it.
5. Daniel Radcliffe
Daniel Radcliffe has been open about his struggles with alcohol use disorder. He explains that alcoholism is an issue that runs in his family. Faced with incredible challenges as a child star, he used alcohol to cope. Although it took him multiple attempts, he was able to quit with the help of his friends. Today, he is sober and continues to work both on screen and stage.
6. Matthew Perry
Matthew might have been one of America’s best Friends from 1994 to 2004, but our man struggled off-screen with alcohol and prescription drug use disorder. Matthew claims to have gotten addicted to painkillers when he was prescribed them after a personal watercraft accident. He entered rehab twice during the show’s ten-year run and says helping others is an important part of his own recovery.
7. Simon Pegg
Pegg has opened up about his battle with depression and alcoholism, and how rehabilitation helped him recover from the latter. “I’m not ashamed of what happened. And I think if anyone finds any relationship to it, then it might motivate them to get well.” said Pegg in an interview to The Guardian.
8. Justin Bieber
Bieber spoke at length about his drug addictions and mental health journey in Justin Bieber: Seasons and reflected on why he became hooked on drugs. He said that he didn’t grow up in a secure household, so he began “valuing the wrong things in this business” in an endless pursuit to find happiness. Subsequently, his addiction reached the point where he would start his day “popping pills and smoking a blunt.”
9. Elton John
Elton who was heavily involved in drug abuse told Variety in 2019, “When you come out of treatment, it’s like being reborn. You are so stripped down and completely vulnerable. It’s like starting life over with a new rule book for living,” mentioning that AA requires you to live in the moment. He also discussed the fear that he would never be the same “Elton John” again.
10. Zac Efron
Zac Efron is yet another star who grew up under the spotlight. Efron experienced the effects of drug addiction before becoming an adult. In 2013, he was arrested for getting into a fight at a seedy LA bar, then sent to rehab twice for cocaine addiction. Fortunately, Efron was able to kick his drug habit and has since headlined a number of films.
11. Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel L. Jackson has been very vocal about his issues with drug abuse. At one recent movie premiere, Jackson described the way he was saved by his wife and daughter: “[They] put my ass in rehab the next day, and supported me, and pushed me, and gave me a reason to get up and go and chase it day after day.” Fortunately, Jackson was able to recover from being “a f**king drug addict” and has been sober since 1991.
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