Drew Barrymore has made several comebacks in her career, most recently with her talk show. On a recent episode, Drew had a heartfelt conversation with Machine Gun Kelly. MGK opened up about feeling vulnerable as he painted Drew’s nails with his new line of nail polish. Drew responded by talking about how she checked herself into rehab in Utah after her divorce in 2019. Drew said that she sought treatment for drinking and that she has not picked up a drink since despite having a wine line. Below are a few more highlights via Yahoo! I also embedded the interview below the post:
“I’m going to say something for the first time in a long time: I have not had a drink of alcohol in two-and-a-half years,” she said. “It was something that I realized just did not serve me and my life.”
A clip from her Friday interview with Machine Gun Kelly saw her revealing that after her “very painful divorce,” she went to a Utah treatment facility to “change my life,” explaining, “I wasn’t doing very well and I just wanted to go talk to some people on how to pull myself out of a hole. I had these two kids I had to fight for and I needed help.”
Barrymore said she’s been “very private” about some of her struggles. With alcohol, she said she didn’t speak about it because she thought, “I just want to figure this out and go about this with … no public [dialogue about it]. Let me do this quietly and privately. Now it’s been long enough where I’m in a lifestyle that I know is really working … for my little journey. And there is so much peace finally being had where there were demons.”
Just before Barrymore got sober in 2019, there were tabloid stories that her friends had become concerned with her drinking. In 2018, she also had one too many drinks during an appearance on Watch What Happens Now Live With Andy Cohen. Two years after that show aired, she admitted she had “never forgiven myself, nor will I ever forgive myself” for getting drunk on TV.
On Friday’s Drew Barrymore Show, Machine Gun Kelly is her guest and the singer opens up about his emotions, saying, “I think I’m new to being vulnerable outside of songs. I see a lot of pictures of me and there’s like, smiles on them. It’s just weird though because I didn’t feel good at all that day and I kind of am sick of smiling on days when I don’t feel like smiling. And I feel like this odd pressure because I don’t want my fans to think that I’m taking something for granted so if I accept an award and I’m super smiley but behind the scenes, there was stuff going on.”
Before I get to Drew, I am cringing as I admit that I sort of fell in love with Machine Gun Kelly in this interview. He was so sweet and tender and it was adorable watching him paint Drew’s nails. I also love how he started the interview explaining that he had had a rough day and didn’t want to come off cold because of his mental state. I also love how Drew let him know that he was in a safe space. The fact that Drew knew she was spiraling and sought help is a testament to her willingness to grow. I love how open and honest Drew has been on her show. The fact that she shares these parts of her life is admirable. I am glad that Drew is happier and healthier now. It was also nice to hear Drew talk about how her children changed her life. Anyways, I am looking forward to more of Drew’s show and hearing about her life. Now I am going to go listen to some Machine Gun Kelly just to make sure my liking him wasn’t a fluke (hides in the bushes).
I am here for every one of these celebrity sobriety stories, lets keep ’em coming people!
YES!
You know…..I also love Drew. I particular loathe manipulative, fake people, and her demeanor seems very genuine, which is rare to find in Hollywood! I may be wrong, but I really think she is who she presents herself as: a bubbly, often candid, good-intentioned person interested in hearing other people’s stories and meeting others.
Drew has always seemed genuine. I remember seeing her on a talk show 100 years ago. She was taking questions from the audience and one of the audience members choked up and got emotional while talking to her. Then Drew choked up and went into the audience to give the young woman a hug. It seemed so real that it made me adore Drew forever.
Everyone is on their own journey and figuring it out. Having money helps because you can access support resources, but even with money, it comes down to making the change BY YOUR SELF. I think current conversations about sobriety or sober-lite or California sober, are positive. For so long, it’s been all or nothing – we need to encourage and demonstrate what moderation looks like and support if it’s not sustainable for people. No shame, just grace.
this! better is better.
Oh my goodness, this made me love them both
Let’s break the stigma that seeking help for substance abuse is a sign of failure or weakness. It’s not. It is a sign of great strength in a person. She fought off that demon to get back to being present for her kids. I think more people would get help if we break this stigma. Rehab, counseling and AA are not bad things, they’re good things!
I know my message is simple but it’s still important.
And let’s add help for mental health issues, also. Taking that first step requires a lot of courage.
FHMOM – absolutely! A lot of times mental health issues and substance abuse can go hand in hand. I’m in recovery and can attest to that. There is help out there and once you start group counseling or AA it’s like, oh this is really common and we can get through this!
Yes to both posts. Asking for help is incredibly brave. As is doing the hard work to get better.
I’m very proud of Drew. She’s had to fight battles like this since she was a child, and her being so open about it is helping others too.
I have often wondered how well she coped with everything that happened to her-from her mom to drug addiction to lack of parenting, boundaries and then working in the predatory Hollywood system, and finally divorcing? It’s a wonder she didn’t end up in scientology or another cult (that I know of).
I really appreciate her comments about how your relationship to substances changes over the course of your life. It can get worse as you age. This is an under-recognized aspect of grey-area drinking. It takes less booze to brown-out; hangovers are worse;drunken mishaps feel far more shameful and embarrassing (not to mention people have less patience for them); and at the same time you have more responsibilities.
This is really nice to see. Good for Drew, and I think it’s awesome that this talk was inspiring to her. She seems like an excellent interviewer — she just allows people to talk without interrupting them and really listens.
And yes, even though I realize MGK has a problematic past, since he’s gotten himself together I think he seems like a really good guy. It’s easy for me to like emo boys (lol) so I try to restrain myself here, but I think he comes across as genuine and sweet. It’s clear he’s battled and is still battling a lot of demons, so good on him for working on himself. It was so cool and emotionally intelligent of him to say “I’m having a weird day and don’t want to come off cold.” How many of us have had bad days and just not said anything and hoped no one noticed?
Wow! What a great interview, she really made him feel comfortable enough to open up. A lot of people don’t “get” people who look “different” but I think first you’re told you’re “different” so you think “ I’ll show you different” and do something else out of what is considered “normal.” Once you’ve been labeled different it’s hard for yourself to shake that label off. For me anyway. I think Drew is perfect for a talk show. I’ve always gotten the impression that she is a very caring loving sensitive person. But sensitivity is seen as weakness by others so sometimes we try to hide that aspect of ourselves.
❤️ Drew Barrymore
This story made me tear up a little. I spent most of the last week helping a loved one get into the hospital and make it through detox from alcohol, which included one terrifying night in the ICU. Addiction is awful and it’s the most horrible thing to watch someone you love succumb to it, knowing there is nothing you yourself can do about it. I’m so grateful my relative had the strength to address it and reach out when they needed a hand. (Simultaneously, I’m feeling really angry and resentful about being put in a situation where I was forced to deal with the aftermath of all of this.) Making a choice to change her path, like Drew did, isn’t easy. I applaud her for it.