Sometimes the most challenging role sober celebrities have to play is themselves. And society oftentimes forgets that celebs are human beings, since the spotlight isn’t always kind. For all the luxuries celebs can afford, too, anonymity typically isn’t one of them. For celebrities struggling with substance abuse, a TMZ-tempered system that feeds on mugshots, paparazzi photos and secondhand sources isn’t the easiest for anyone to survive—especially where even blurry smartphone snapshots from barrooms and headlines like “Hammered? Gaunt Jon Hamm Spotted Knocking Back Drinks, Despite Rehab Stint” supposedly pass muster as online journalism. And not every sober-celebrity story is as cute as finding blotto Robert Downey, Jr. asleep in your spare bedroom years before he becomes one of the most sought-after movie stars on the planet. Sobriety is very often as hard-fought as it is jealously guarded—many times with carefully crafted statements requesting privacy. A recent spate of features reveal that some sober celebs face renewed speculation and criticism that they’re not as sober as they claim to be, and that their sobriety is nothing more than a Hollywood-backlot façade.
Gibson’s Comeback
It’s almost impossible to remember a time when Mel Gibson was a box-office draw instead of a lightning rod for controversy. After the Braveheart actor-director’s very public DUI in 2006, he’s been something of a persona non grata in Hollywood, appearing in the occasional direct-to-video release (this year’s crime drama Blood Father, for one)—a far cry from his days of his starring roles in the big-budgeted What Women Want and Signs. His former Air America co-star Robert Downey Jr. even implored the Hollywood community to forgive and re-employ him. Still, despite the backlash and his lifelong battle with the bottle, Gibson has forged ahead with rebuilding his career, thanks in large part to a decade’s worth of sobriety. And with the release of his acclaimed new WWII film Hacksaw Ridge, his first directorial effort since 2006’s Mayan adventure Apocalypto, Oscar buzz is following. It’s a major turning point for Gibson. The Hollywood Reporter claims that after having spent a decade “in directors’ jail…the freeze-out is thawing [for Gibson],” with actors and agencies warming up to the idea of working with him again.
Still, one battle Gibson can’t seem to win are persistent rumors about his drinking. On Australia’s Sunday Night Channel 7, Gibson revealed that questions about his sobriety are as discouraging as they are untrue. “I am a member of [the]12-step program and I achieved sobriety like that,” Gibson said, crediting AA for his getting his life and career back on track. The whispers and rumors, however, still manage to eat at him: “It is disheartening when you’ve been 10 years dry, on the wagon—sober—and you have to read every year or so that you’re loaded,” he told Channel 7. “That’s disappointing because it’s like a public notice that you’re loaded, but you’re not. It’s a disingenuous reportage.”
Still a “Lost Boy”?
Another recent casualty of the “Is he actually sober?” questions comes from former child star Corey Feldman—formerly one half of “The Two Coreys” sort-of phenomenon with fellow actor Corey Haim. According to a recent Daily Mail piece, Haim was dogged by a “cruel backlash” following not one, but two confounding musical appearances on NBC’s Today Show. In his first head-scratching appearance, performing the song “Go 4 It,” Haim dressed as a postmodern Grim Reaper, surrounded by three female musicians clad as angels. From curiously odd choreography to questionable musicianship, the whole affair was as bizarre as it was insane morning-cereal entertainment. Naturally, questions quickly emerged online about whether the 45-year-old actor was abusing substances again. “There’s nothing in this world that would ever make me do cocaine or heroin or any of that stuff ever again,” he told the Daily Mail.
Feldman insists that his sobriety is centermost in his life, mainly due to his 12-year-old son Zen, who “is his main motivation to stay on the straight and narrow,” adding “There’s no time to mope around or to be depressed [about the critical backlash], because I have to be a positive influence on him. That’s what most important. I look at his beautiful smiling face and I say, ‘I’ve got to stay strong for him.’ No matter how mean and awful people can be, I can’t let affect me.’” In fact, the criticism is so commonplace for Feldman that he told US Weekly that he would have considered suicide in the wake of all the vitriol aimed at him following his Today Show appearances and the incessant questions about his sobriety. It’s a sad, yet impressive testament to how much he’s endured over the years that he can weather it all.
Lowe is Anything But Low
Actor Rob Lowe recently weighed in on both his own addictions, as well as the ones that still beleaguer friend Charlie Sheen: “I think he trusted that I won’t take advantage of him,” Lowe said of Sheen. “I’ve gotten to know him a lot better. I’ve known Charlie for many years.” During a recent appearance on The Dr. Oz Show, Lowe said that “Charlie and I were running mates in the day,” explaining that he’s known Sheen since the age of 13. Lowe just celebrated 25 years of sobriety, he revealed to Dr. Oz, though sobriety isn’t simple for everyone: “Unfortunately, it’s like being pregnant. You either are or you’re not. And then on top of that [quitting], it’s the stuff underneath it that makes you want to do it in the first place, that you have to address, and that’s a lifelong process.”
Unfortunately for Sheen, Lowe knows his friend isn’t out of the woods yet, despite many claims otherwise. The actor, Lowe argues, needs to come to a reckoning regarding his addictions: “I have had many a conversation with Mr. Sheen. And, this can be a hard issue for some,” Lowe told People. “For me, it was very easy. I mean, when I was done, I was done. And every great thing that’s happened in my life, I can trace back to that decision.” Still, living in a world where one heart-breaking video can be instantly uploaded to refute someone’s claim that they’re sober is a slippery slope. It can be a celebrity’s greatest liability on the road to recovery or the biggest key to keeping them in check. While Sheen doesn’t pretend to be a poster child for sobriety anymore, he can certainly take cues from Lowe, who apparently has it figured it out. If nothing else, reporting on anyone’s sobriety—celebrity or not—is irresponsible at best and devastating at worst. Sobriety among celebrities can be as ephemeral as the roles they play—here one second, gone the next—but it matters. That sobriety, real or not, stands for something in the minds of the audiences they reach, long after all the stage decorations are cleared away.
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