Regardless of how perfect their lives seem on the pages of a magazine or on screen, celebrities aren’t exempt from battling addictions like the rest of society. They are just as much at risk as any of us, if not more at times due to the exacerbated press and scrutiny on their lives, as well as certain people they are surrounded by who seek to take advantage of their status.
Being a woman can be difficult in general, let alone being a celebrity followed by paparazzi non-stop. And who can blame them from shying away from being so vulnerable about substance addiction under these circumstances?
Until recently, drug or substance addiction was still a taboo topic that no celebrity dared to come clean about in front of the general public. Yet in order to empower other people struggling with addiction, and to show them that with the right treatment you can overcome addiction, these particular female celebrities decided to get vulnerable about their experience with substance abuse and it has become an important part of their inspiring journeys.
Kate Moss
We all know the gorgeous English supermodel Kate Moss who has now turned into a successful businesswoman and a proud mom and seems to have found her way these days. But that wasn’t always the case. Kate Moss become extremely popular after her appearance in the early 1990s in the “heroin chic” movement in the fashion industry. Ironically to her role in this movement, no later than 2005, the model faced allegations of heroin and cocaine use which shocked many of her admirers within the fashion world.
Kate’s career was on the line because of her drug addiction and her name being associated with substance abuse. In 2005, the fashion chain H&M announced it has stopped its forthcoming advertising campaign with the famous model. The same year, the iconic brand Chanel also dropped her as a model.
Although the model initially denied any rumors connecting her to substance abuse, she later that year check into a treatment center for treatment against her addiction. Years later in 2012, when the general public seemed to have forgotten about her drug use, Kate finally found her power to speak out openly about her battle against drugs. The model did an interview with Vanity Fair magazine where she opened up about the difficulties and pressures of the modeling industry, and how she overcame her addiction.
Drew Barrymore
Actress Drew Barrymore is now a very famous businesswoman, producer, and a mother. Yet the former child actress has a dark past when it comes to her struggle with addiction. Drew’s battle started in her childhood and her first visit to rehab occurred right before her thirteenth birthday. The actress found global fame from a very young age when she was cast in the Steven Spielberg film ‘E.T’ at just 7 years old. And only two years later, the headlines in the magazines associated her with her drug use.
The actress places the blame on her bad relationship with her parents and the fame that she achieved at a very young age which became a toxic mix that lead to addiction. At the age of 14, Drew Barrymore made headlines after becoming legally emancipated from her parents. But that didn’t fix the psychological trauma she already gained from the bad relationship with her family. The days of wild partying and cocaine use are long behind her and she has replaced all the negative emotions from the past with the joy of being the mom of two gorgeous daughters. Today she advocates for other women struggling with addiction showing to all of us how fragile young girls and teenagers can be when they don’t get the right support from their parents.
Angelina Jolie
The award-winning actress is known for her on-screen talent as much as her global humanitarian passion in her role as a UN Ambassador. She is also a powerful businesswoman and the proud mom of six children.
Although the talented actress seems to have everything in place now, she is no stranger to what battling addiction means. Her acting career started in
1995, although she had previous appearances in television roles and short films. And as her fame rapidly grew, the actress admitted to having tried every drug possible.
Angelina has also spoke openly about her battle with mental issues such as depression and connected her substance addiction to all the negative feelings she would experience from depression. Although her success has a dark underside, her battle with addiction had a positive ending thanks to the help of supportive people in her life who helped her stay on the right path. Today she shows no signs of slowing down and her humanitarian efforts shows how she is using her platform to advocate for the empowerment of others less fortunate.
Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga is another powerful celebrity who doesn’t hesitate to talk openly about her battle with drug addiction in the hope it will help someone else who is battling the same thing right now. Known for her eccentric
appearances and killer voice, Lady Gaga has built an iconic, award-winning career in music and also in film, having recently starred in her first leading role in the movie “A Star is Born” with Bradley Cooper.
However, Lady Gaga is also no stranger to what drug addiction feels like as she has battled with substance abuse in the past. The singer opened up to her fans about struggling with drug use to cope with the pain of her hip injury after undergoing surgery at the end of her Born This Way
tour. The singer also linked poor mental health and depression with drug use as she admitted that she used drugs to numb herself completely to stop feeling depressed. To inspire her fans who struggle with drug addiction to seek treatment, Lady Gaga wrote the song “Dope” which talks openly about how addiction feels like.
These are just a few notable celebrities who have been open and honest about their addictions. Sharing their stories has helped countless others battling similar addictions, and in turn chipped away at the silent stigma that exists around drug use.
