Jamie Lee Curtis’ stark revelation about her past as an addict and the danger of fentanyl: “I’d be dead.”
The Oscar winner considers herself “incredibly lucky” that she didn’t end up in jail during her years of use
A few weeks ago we learned that Leandro, the grandson of actor Robert de Niro, died from fentanyl use. In addition, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) revealed that this drug is responsible for the increase in overdose deaths in the United States during the Covid pandemic.
The revelation of all this data made the actress, producer and children’s book writer Jamie Lee Curtis, who confessed to having been an addict in the past, tell a shocking situation: she stated that if she had had access to this drug when she was addicted, she would not be alive today.
“I was addicted, I liked to feel the buzz of opioids,” the Oscar winner expressed to Joe Scarborough on his MSNBC show Morning Joe. “And if fentanyl had been available, as readily available, as it is on the street today, I’d be dead,” she added.
The 64-year-old actress, who has been “clean” for more than 20 years now, confessed that she feels “incredibly lucky” that she didn’t end up in jail during the time she used. “My worst day was almost invisible to others,” she added.
“I was never arrested. I didn’t make terrible decisions under the influence of drugs that I have to regret for the rest of my life,” she said, her countenance noticeably relieved. She also stressed that if she had not acted the way she did, then her future would be totally different.
“There are women in prison whose lives have been shattered by drugs and alcohol, not because they were criminals, not because they were horrible people, but because they were addicts. And I’m incredibly fortunate that that wasn’t my path. I was headed there,” he recalled.
Curtis recalled that in her time of using, she had tragic consequences and spoke of the death of her stepbrother Nicholas Curtis, who died in 1994 from a heroin overdose at age 23, while she was also battling her own addiction.
“He was clean. He went out, used once and died of an overdose. He is one of millions and millions of people whose lives have been extinguished because of addiction,” she said.
Jamie Lee Curtis confessed that she “would be dead” if fentanyl had been easy to get “when I was addicted.” REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni
Reflection on sobriety
Jamie Lee Curtis has been open about her sobriety ever since she managed to express her suffering. Not only has she mentioned the topic in notes and interviews, but she has also taken to her social networks to tell about her experience.
In 2021, the actress posted a photo from when she was young holding an alcoholic beverage. “A long time ago… In a galaxy far, far away… I was a young star at war with myself. I didn’t know it then. I chased everything. I kept it hidden. I was sick as my secrets,” she wrote at the time.
“With God’s grace and the support of many people who could relate to all the ‘feelings’ and a couple of sober angels…. I have been able to stay sober, one day at a time, for 22 years. This rare photo of me proudly drinking at a photo shoot is very helpful in helping me remember. To all those struggling and those on the road… My hand in yours,” she concluded.
But that’s not the only thing the ‘Freaky Friday’ star opened up about, as she also talked about her dependence on painkillers. And, in 2019 she told Variety magazine that once, her friend caught her taking five Vicodin pills with wine.
“I had been nursing a secret addiction to Vicodin for a long time, over 10 years,” she recounted. A couple of months later, she attended a recovery meeting and has been sober ever since.