Entertainment
Over the years, many celebrities have chosen to use their voices and their platforms to speak openly about some of life's biggest issues, from race to gender to mental health. In choosing to share their stories, these people have made it easier to break down stigmas, including the 22 below celebrities whose quotes about sobriety and what abstaining from drugs and/or alcohol means to them have been illuminating.
For some people, sobriety comes after overcoming addiction, while others have always abstained for one reason or another. Through platforms such as social media or interviews, celebs like Jada Pinkett Smith and Lucy Hale have chosen to share their stories with the world and discuss their thoughts around being sober. And through these stars' admittance and advice, the conversation surrounding substance abuse and sobriety has hopefully become at least a little less stigmatized. The more a sensitive subject matter is talked about, the better it is for anyone in need.
From celebrities like Demi Lovato, who has always been open about her struggles with addiction, to Jennifer Hudson, who revealed in the quote below that has never once had a drink in her life, here are 22 celeb quotes about sobriety that are truly eye-opening.
1Sia
In September 2018, the singer tweeted about being eight years sober. During a visit to The Late Late Show two years earlier, she shared, "I was a singer already for like 10 or 11 years to mediocre success, and I was an alcoholic and a drug addict, and I sobered up and decided I didn't want to be an artist any more."
2Bradley Cooper
In a 2013 interview with GQ, Cooper told the publication he became sober after he realized he was going to "sabotage" his life. When asked if his substance use ever had any effect on his work, Cooper replied, "I mean, it has to have. And to this day, of course, because it's a life experience. And all I do is bring life experience. That's all anybody really does. It's inescapable."
3Jada Pinkett Smith
Speaking to Contact Music in 2015, Jada revealed, "I found myself drinking two bottles of wine on the couch, and I said, 'Jada, I think we've got a problem here.' From that day on, I went cold turkey."
4Lucy Hale
Talking to Byrdie in 2017, Hale revealed she had decided to avoid drinking and shared, "I'm just always trying to surround myself with better people and be the best version of myself possible. I know it sounds obnoxious to hear people say that, but why not?"
5Rob Lowe
People reports that back in 2015, Lowe received the Spirit of Sobriety award for being clean for 25 years. During his speech he said, "Being in recovery has given me everything of value that I have in my life. Integrity, honesty, fearlessness, faith, a relationship with God, and most of all gratitude. It's given me a beautiful family and an amazing career. I'm under no illusions where I would be without the gift of alcoholism and the chance to recover from it."
6Kat Von D
Kat Von D decided to stop drinking after it started to interfere with her work, addressing the choice in her 2010 book, The Tattoo Chronicles. Said the artist, "The first six months of getting sober consisted of nothing but accumulative isolation. My phone stopped ringing the minute word got out that I had put the bottle down — and that was pretty painful. I wasn’t hurt by the fact that my “friends” weren’t including me on the action, but it was reality sinking in that I had no real friends that stung the most. I had social pals, relationships based on nothing more than partying. I guess you could say I made myself into a party favor."
7Calvin Harris
Harris told the BBC in 2009 that his drinking was affecting his work, saying, "I wasn't an alcoholic or anything like that, but it was clearly affecting what I do. My live shows are a million times better now. If you drink, you can't even remember if it's a good show or not — and that's probably for the best, because it would have been rubbish because I'd have been drunk and not making any sense."
8Naomi Campbell
Speaking to Vogue in 2010, Campbell revealed, "The time between 1998 and 2005 was especially bad. During that time I avoided looking in the mirror, because I didn't like the person who was looking back at me. To be honest, there were times I thought I wouldn't survive. I used to have a lot of problems. Amongst others I drank too much so I joined Alcoholics Anonymous to get and stay sober."
9Kelly Osbourne
Osbourne shared a post on Instagram in August 2018 that marked one year of sobriety. In one part of the post she wrote, "I still don't know who the f*ck I am or what the f*ck I want but I can wholeheartedly confess that I'm finally at peace with myself and truly starting to understand what true happiness is. I'm sorry if I let anyone down it was just time for me to work on me! I love you guys!"
10Demi Lovato
Lovato has always been open about her struggles with addiction and shared an emotional statement in a 2018 Instagram that has since been deleted. In the post, she wrote, "I have always been transparent about my journey with addiction. What I've learned is that this illness is not something that disappears or fades with time. It is something I must continue to overcome and have not done yet."
She continued, "I now need time to heal and focus on my sobriety and road to recovery. The love you have all shown me will never be forgotten and I look forward to the day where I can say I came out on the other side."
11Joe Manganiello
Like Rob Lowe, Manganiello also received the Spirit of Sobriety award, and while accepting his award in 2018 he said, "16 years ago I crashed and washed ashore on the banks of sobriety. When I was growing up, when I thought of an alcoholic, I thought of some toothless old guy in a trench coat in a basement somewhere. I just never thought that would apply to me. That type of stigma kept me from getting the help that I needed when I knew I needed it."
12Amanda Bynes
In an interview with Paper Magazine in 2018, Bynes stated, "My advice to anyone who is struggling with substance abuse would be to be really careful because drugs can really take a hold of your life. Everybody is different, obviously, but for me, the mixture of marijuana and whatever other drugs and sometimes drinking really messed up my brain. It really made me a completely different person."
13Edie Falco
During an interview with NPR in 2014, Falco revealed, "The addiction piece, I have to say, is a huge part of my life. Not just my own, but that of many people I love. The helplessness around that, and learning to deal with that, and all the various 12-step programs I’ve been a part of over the years, and how much they’ve helped me, and how hard it is to love somebody who is going through that and remain distant enough to not let it crush you each time."
14Jennifer Hudson
While appearing on Chelsea Lately in 2013, Hudson revealed that she was sober and never had a drink, sharing, "I've never been interested. Nobody ever believes it."
15Keith Urban
In 2016, Urban discussed his addiction struggles with Rolling Stone, sharing, "You know, early on in my sobriety, there was a period when I wished I hadn't succumbed to drugs and everything the way I did. It sucked up so much creative time, when I should have been in the studio working. But I don't know what came from that time, other than that I'm where I am because of, or in spite of, nobody knows and never will."
16Kristin Davis
During an interview with Health in 2008, Davis revealed that she has been sober since she was 22, as alcoholism runs in her family and she recognized the signs in herself early on. She said, "I believe alcoholism is a disease. I don’t think you can mess with it. There was a time when people who didn’t know me well would say, ‘Couldn’t you just have one glass of champagne?’ And I would say, ‘No.’ I’m doing well. I still have occasional bad days. Why risk it?"
17Jamie Lee Curtis
Curtis revealed to The Huffington Post in 2009 that she developed a painkiller addiction after cosmetic surgery. Said the actor, "My recovery from drug addiction is the single greatest accomplishment of my life… but it takes work — hard, painful work — but the help is there, in every town and career, drug/drink freed members of society, from every single walk and talk of life to help and guide."
18Robert Downey Jr.
Downey Jr. was arrested multiple times for drug-related charges in years past and in 2014, he told Vanity Fair, "Job one is get out of that cave. A lot of people do get out but don't change. So the thing is to get out and recognize the significance of that aggressive denial of your fate, come through the crucible forged into a stronger metal."
19Kim Kardashian
While appearing on a 2010 episode of The Tonight Show, Kardashian told host Jay Leno that she's "never been a drinker," and joked, "I have such a close family… I think you know my sisters do enough drinking to kind of fill up the whole family."
20Gerard Butler
Opening up to Men's Journal in 2012, Gerard Butler discussed being sober, and how he went to rehab before his addiction to pills got any worse. "Maybe a stronger person wouldn't have needed to go," said the actor. "When you hear the word rehab, you think, 'He's a mess, he's f*cked up.' But I'm glad I did it. I've made a sh*tload of wrong decisions in my life. But I know I've made some right ones as well."
21Tobey Maguire
Talking to Playboy in 2003, Maguire discussed being a recovering alcoholic and his time in Alcoholic's Anonymous, sharing, "It's just all practical. There are no holes in the program. It's so, so simple. I come in, I ask for help. It has totally changed my life."
These celeb quotes will hopefully inspire anyone suffering from substance abuse to reach out and get the help that they need, or reassure people who are sober by choice that they are on a path that's right for them.
If you or someone you know is seeking help for substance use, call the SAMHSA National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP(4357).