In October 2018 American Pie the star announced that he was a year sober in a festive and encouraging Instagram post.
“I first tried to get sober over 5 years ago when the weight of my obsession with booze and drugs became too much for me to handle,” he wrote at that time. “It turns out this is hard.”
He continued: “After a few bouts I’ve managed to put together a year of sobriety. I’m as proud of that as anything in my life. If you’re struggling, know there’s help. Don’t be ashamed. We can do this.”
Years later, he reflected on his journey with addiction and the lengths he went to hide his struggle.
“I go to therapy and ‘work on things’ but meanwhile I leave therapy, just had a good session, and I go to the liquor store and buy a fifth of vodka, drink it and then drive home,” he said in a March 2024 episode of his wife. Jenny Mollenpp All failures podcast. “I knew how to get wasted enough where I took myself out of the life equation, took myself out of the moment, didn’t have to connect in a way that made me feel things.”
He added, “I learned that to a T. Not to get too drunk where I couldn’t have a conversation with you. I was changing those bottles at the bar all the time.”
