Learn more about what these celebrities have shared regarding their battles with drug addiction and the impact it has had on their lives…

Jax Taylor recently opened up about his long-standing struggle with cocaine addiction, candidly discussing it for the first time during an episode of Bravo’s Hot Mic podcast. Jax revealed that he has been battling this issue on and off since the age of 23, and he is proud to share that he has now been sober for nearly three months, marking the longest period in his life without cocaine or alcohol.

“I’m an addict. I’ve had substance issues—primarily with cocaine. It’s challenging to admit. I’ve been dealing with this on and off since I was 23 and now I’m 45,” Jax expressed during the podcast. “There were times when I’d quit, but then there were times when I’d dive back into it heavily.”

He further elaborated, “I’ve never disclosed this before. So to come out and say that I have an addiction [and] that I have a disease I need to work on for the rest of my life is a significant milestone for me. It’s definitely a huge weight lifted off my shoulders.”

Wendy Williams faced her own battle with cocaine addiction early in her career while working in radio. Despite her dependence on the drug, Wendy characterized herself as a “functioning addict,” managing to excel in her job and establish a prominent reputation in both New York and Philadelphia radio. She wrestled with addiction for a decade before meeting her ex-husband, Kevin Hunter, which prompted her decision to seek help.

“I was a functioning addict. I would show up to work on time, and all my co-workers, including my bosses, were aware of my situation, but since I’d wear my headphones and walk into the studio, they wouldn’t fire me because I was delivering ratings,” Wendy recounted in an interview with Entertainment Tonight. “A functioning addict has multiple alarm clocks; you’re organized. It’s a miracle I was able to stop.”

Robert Downey Jr. grappled with a severe drug addiction that began in the late 1980s, leading to numerous challenges including time spent in jail. In 1996, he was arrested for speeding, which revealed his possession of heroin, cocaine, crack, and a firearm in his vehicle. Following a series of parole violations and missing a mandated drug test, he was sentenced to three years at the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison.

“It was just a wild period,” Robert shared in the Netflix documentary Sr. “That entire world gets intertwined with creativity. We were all altering our consciousness with substances. I was merely playing a game of wanting to self-soothe or stay intoxicated instead of confronting the reality that things had gone off the rails a bit.”

Whoopi Goldberg has openly discussed her struggles with drug addiction during her time living in New York and Los Angeles in the 1980s. Although she managed to get clean for a period, she relapsed when she began attending celebrity parties where there were copious amounts of hard drugs available and no risk of being caught.

“I was welcomed at parties with a bowl of Quaaludes where I could choose whatever I wanted,” Whoopi detailed in her memoir Bits and Pieces: My Mother, My Brother, and Me. “Lines of cocaine were laid out across tables and bathroom counters waiting for anyone to partake.”

She continued her heavy usage for about a year until cocaine began to “kick [her] ass,” leading to hallucinations. Her pivotal moment came during a luxurious hotel stay in NYC when she was caught using cocaine in the closet of her hotel room by a housekeeper. Terrified by the encounter, she decided to quit cold turkey.

Alec Baldwin experienced a phase in his life where he was using cocaine every single day after relocating from New York to Los Angeles. Reflecting on that era in the 1980s, Alec remarked that cocaine was “like coffee,” as it was commonplace and everyone was partaking. Ultimately, he achieved sobriety, giving up both alcohol and drugs on February 23, 1985.

“I had a white-hot problem every day for two years. I believe I snorted a line of cocaine from here to Saturn,” he shared during an episode of the Our Way with Paul Anka and Skip Bronson podcast.

Steven Tyler has endured a rocky journey with drug addiction throughout his life, having entered rehab at least nine times. Looking back, he recalled spending an astonishing $5 million on cocaine during the 1970s and 1980s, a time when his band Aerosmith required venues to provide an off-stage cubby for cocaine use.

“I needed blow. I needed that cocaine. I needed it,” he shared during an interview on Dateline in 2011, revealing how it nearly destroyed him. “It took my kids away, it took my marriages away. I was on my knees.”

He went on to explain, “There are three outcomes when drugs take hold of you: death, jail, or madness. I can’t stress that enough. The only reason I ended up in rehab is that I used to the point of falling down. My kids would tell me, ‘Daddy, I don’t know who you are anymore.’ Marriages fall apart, bands break up, and it’s truly a one-way street. I still enjoyed the ride, but it’s a one-way street.”

Demi Lovato has been open about her struggle with drug addiction as a teenager and young adult, which ultimately resulted in a near-fatal overdose. At one point, Demi revealed that she couldn’t go an hour without cocaine and would sneak the drug wherever she went. In 2018, she faced a relapse after several years of sobriety, experimenting with drugs she had never tried before, leading to rapid escalation.

“I had never tried meth before, and when I did, I mixed it with Molly, cocaine, weed, alcohol, and OxyContin. That combination should have killed me,” Demi revealed in her Dancing With The Devil documentary.

Shortly after, Demi suffered an overdose leading to three strokes that caused brain damage, a heart attack, and multiple organ failure. She even experienced temporary legal blindness. Despite such a traumatic experience, she relapsed again before checking herself into rehab for two months. Today, she proudly maintains her sobriety.

At just 14 years old, Jack Black fell into drug addiction while coping with the emotional turmoil of his parents’ divorce. He found himself in the wrong crowd at school, leading to a cocaine addiction. Amid his struggles, his parents enrolled him in a school for “troubled youth” in Los Angeles, where he received support from a non-judgmental therapist.

“I spilled my guts to him, confessing that I felt guilty for stealing from my mother to fund my cocaine habit,” he shared with Parade. “I cried like a child. It was an immense release and a huge relief. I left feeling euphoric, as if an enormous weight had been lifted from me. It completely changed me.”

Nicole Richie faced her own struggles with drug addiction as a teenager, starting with cocaine. In reflecting on her experience, she acknowledges that it stemmed from feelings of boredom and a desire to find excitement. She turned to drugs and partying but eventually made the decision to seek treatment.

“I got so much so quickly that nothing really excited me anymore. I sort of took matters into my own hands and was creating drama in a very dangerous way. I think I was just bored, and I had seen everything — especially at a young age, you just want more,” she shared on 20/20.

Sadly, after overcoming her cocaine habit, she turned to heroin and once again had to enter rehab. Today, she celebrates her sobriety, marking several years free from addiction.

Dennis Quaid battled cocaine addiction for years, explaining that growing up in the ’60s and ’70s shaped a very different perspective on drug use. Reflecting on his past, he acknowledged that he used cocaine on a “daily basis” but managed to maintain functionality whenever he needed to work. However, a pivotal moment in his relationship with Meg Ryan caused him to reevaluate his life and check into rehab.