Cheyenne Jackson said he has relapsed after a decade of being sober.
The 47-year-old actor and Broadway star took to Instagram on Monday with a candid post about his feelings following the misstep in his sobriety journey.
‘VULNERABLE is what I’m feeling today,’ the Spokane, Washington native captioned a post. ‘After nearly a decade of sobriety I fell off the wagon.’
Jackson said that he’s ‘been carrying a lot of shame’ about the relapse and was ‘scared to share it’ publicly, but decided to speak out in hopes of helping someone.
‘I didn’t want to disappoint anyone who has looked up to me as a sober person so I’ve been just burying it away,’ he said. ‘I took my eye off the ball. I stopped doing what I needed to do to keep myself on the path of my personal integrity.’
The latest: Cheyenne Jackson, 47, said he has relapsed after a decade of being sober. The actor and Broadway star took to Instagram on Tuesday with a candid post about his feelings following the misstep in his sobriety journey
The American Horror Story actor said he could blame his slip on a number of factors, including the coronavirus pandemic, the state of the world and country, mass shootings or the death of his Call Me Kat costar Leslie Jordan last year.
‘The truth is, I thought I had it all handled,’ he said. ‘I thought “I got this.” But I don’t. I am a work in progress. Always.’
Jackson said he was grateful for his support system, including Oscar-winner Jamie Lee Curtis and others.
‘It means everything to me,’ he said. ‘If you are out there struggling, you are not alone and there is a solution. I love you. And I love myself today and that feels really good to say.’
In response to the post, Jackson received a number of uplifting responses from notable names including his husband Jason Landau, Curtis, Sophia Bush, Paulina Porizkova, Harvey Fierstein and Nia Vardalos, among others.
‘The truth is anyone in recovery and only has this day sober,’ Curtis said. ‘The past is irrelevant, and the future unknown.’
Porizkova responded, ‘Perfectly said. And bravo on being human and thus fallible,’ while Fierstein replied, ‘If I can do anything for you just let me know. There’s no shame in slipping.’
He continued: ‘Just get the heck back up and be the miracle you were meant to be. And DON’T ever think you have to do it alone. You are surrounded by a community that will raise you up until you are feeling strong. You are not alone.’
The actor and Broadway star took to Instagram on Monday with a candid post about his feelings following the misstep in his sobriety journey
In a follow-up post Tuesday, Jackson was seen in a clip in which he said he feels grateful and loved amid the outpour of more than 2,000 kind messages he received in response
Jackson said that he’s ‘been carrying a lot of shame’ about the relapse and was ‘scared to share it’ publicly, but decided to speak out in hopes of helping someone
The American Horror Story actor said he could blame his slip on a number of factors, including the coronavirus pandemic, the state of the world and country, mass shootings or the death of his Call Me Kat costar Leslie Jordan last year
Jackson said he was grateful for his support system, including Oscar-winner Jamie Lee Curtis and others
In a follow-up post Tuesday, Jackson was seen in a clip in which he said he feels grateful and loved amid the outpour of more than 2,000 kind messages he received in response.
‘Yesterday I put myself on blast and recommitted to my own sobriety and I guess I wasn’t anticipating the outpouring of love that I have received,’ Jackson said.
He continued: ‘I’ve always kind of prided myself on being a lone wolf, somebody who doesn’t really need anybody, I can do it on my own.
‘But as I get older I realize it doesn’t really serve me in a lot of ways, and in my sobriety it definitely doesn’t serve me because I need people and I need support.’
Jackson has been candid about his sobriety battle for years, as he called himself a ‘high-functioning alcoholic’ in a 2014 chat with NBC New York.
Jackson said, ‘Practically nobody knew, not even my parents. I always showed up, I knew my lines, I looked okay. I always felt like I was missing out.
‘That’s why I drank and did drugs. I always felt like there was a party I hadn’t been to, or “Oh, where is everybody going now.”‘
