Back when David Arquette and Courteney Cox announced their separation, they did something that no celebrity couple had done before: they went on Howard Stern multiple times and publicly discussed their problems. They went so far as to talk about their (lack of) sex life, the reasons for their split, and the mutual love and respect they still had for each other. It was inspiring to hear a celebrity couple be so open with the press and amicable with each other, and it went far to stem the gossip. (Although there were still the inevitable infidelity rumors, which they also addressed when they came up.)
Around the time of his breakup with Courteney, David started drinking heavily. He was spotted out at the bars drowning his sorrows. Then he got sober, worked on finding himself spiritually, and was honest and open about his struggles with addiction. He even publicly celebrated a year of sobriety, and made it to two years and four months without a drink. In the past few months David fell off the wagon again. Radar Online has been running stories about how he’s partying on set and how he allegedly lost an acting job due to his drinking problem. Instead of staying quiet or denying the problem, David admitted on Howard Stern recently that he’s drinking too much. He owned up to everything basically and asked the press to be kind. When Howard asked David if he was a big drinker (video below) it sounded like he was going to call himself an alcoholic but then he stopped and admitted “I’m a drinker, I drink a lot.” He added that he knew that people “were going to take this information and just be cruel with it” but tried to discourage that by saying “kindness is the new currency.” It was a nice sentiment.
David Arquette didn’t mince words about his sobriety — or lack thereof — speaking with The Howard Stern Show Monday.
“I’m drinking again … I’m a drinker, I drink a lot,” the 41-year-old actor said, adding that he was hesitant to open up because of the negativity generated by others about his addiction issues.
When Stern asked him if he was doing drugs in addition to the drinking, Arquette hesitated before admitting, “Yeah, I’ll smoke a little weed.”
The Dancing with the Stars personality, who’s been to rehab before — and publicly celebrated his sobriety milestones — said he just decided to go back to the bottle upon “feeling like I wasn’t being that true to myself.
“I’m a wild man, I do get out of control, I try to keep a cap on it,” he said, adding that he’s never been one to get behind the wheel after throwing back a few.
When the Private Parts star asked the actor about his girlfriend Christina McClarty, and how she’s handled his relapse, he said, “My girlfriend’s cool, she supports me. She’s cool.”
Asked how his ex Courteney Cox has reacted to his lost sobriety, Arquette said “everybody’s getting along.”
The King of All Media told Arquette, “I’m worried about you, only because I know you got a problem with alcohol.”
Arquette answered him, saying, “Whatever I do, I’m gonna do: I’m gonna go through this journey and figure out my life.
“I’m a responsible person, I have my daughter three days a week … I’m incredibly responsible. I’m living my life and I’m trying not to hurt people…”
Stern asked the star how many drinks he consumed the night he lost his voice; Arquette responded, “I don’t know probably had about four or five drinks … vodka, and I get strong drinks, but it wasn’t like I was stumbling around … I had a driver, I wasn’t like a knucklehead.”
Arquette repeatedly reverted back to stressing how the world was not a nice one these days, saying that he was afraid to be too honest with the radio personality “because people can be so cruel.
“I think everyone’s on their own journey,” he said. “I’m tired of everyone judging others … I shut down all my social media because people were being too mean.”
When an aggressive caller told the actor he was “full of s**t” — and asked him how he thought his drinking would have a trickle-down effect on his daughter Coco — Arquette acknowledged that being a parent ties into his own responsibilities, to how he has to keep things under control.
“I got my own problems, yes, and I will sort them out,” Arquette said, adding that he sees a therapist.
That’s good that his relationship with Entertainment Tonight reporter Christina McLarty is going strong. I was worried that David and Christina had broken up and that’s why he went on this bender, similar to what he went through after he split with Courteney. I do share Howard’s concerns about him. This is not something that David should take lightly. Admitting that he has a problem is the first step, and he’s just done that in a very public way. I hope he can conquer his demons again and embrace sobriety. Moderation does not seem like an option for him at this point. He just makes me want to give him a hug.
David Arquette and Christina McLarty are shown out on 8-16-13. He’s shown alone on 8-8-13. Credit: Fame and WENN.com
