Drew Barrymore is recalling how her struggles with alcohol following her 2016 divorce from Will Kopelman affected not only herself, but also her personal relationships and friendships.
While speaking with The Los Angeles Times, the talk show host — who has previously opened up about drinking to “numb the pain” of her divorce — revealed her therapist of 10 years, Barry Michels, quit on her due to her excessive drinking.
“He just said, ‘I can’t do this anymore,'” said Barrymore, 48, recalling her conversation with Michels. “It was really about my drinking. I said, ‘I get it. I’ve never respected you more. You see I’m not getting better. And I hope, one day, that I can earn your trust back.'”
“The Drew Barrymore Show” host and Kopeman called it quits after four years of marriage in 2016. The former pair share daughters Olive, 10, and Frankie, 8.
After the split, Barrymore said she turned to drinking to cope, telling the LA Times that she struggled after she moved from Los Angeles to New York. The move combined with the feeling that she let her daughters down caused her depression — and therefore her drinking — to get worse.
Like her therapist, the actress’ friends became frustrated over Barrymore’s post-divorce drinking, and confronted her.
The star’s longtime friend, Cameron Diaz, recalled watching her friend go through such a dark time, telling the LA Times that it was “difficult to watch.”
“But I knew that if we all stuck with her and gave her the support she needed, she would find her way,” she said. “I have absolute faith in her. You can’t even comprehend how hard it was to be her as a child, and then she shot out the other end with the ability to save herself.”
However, Barrymore didn’t make a real change until 2019, when the “opportunity” for her now-Emmy-nominated daytime talk show, “The Drew Barrymore Show,” came about.
“I think the opportunity at a show like this really hit me,” she recalled. “I was like, ‘I can’t handle this unless I’m in a really clear place.'”
The “Charlie’s Angels” star explained that although she ultimately quit drinking, she doesn’t describe herself as “sober.”
“I kept thinking, ‘I’ll master this. I’ll figure it out.’ And finally, I just realized: ‘You’ve never mastered this, and you never will,'” she said, later adding, “I don’t stay stuck.”
Two years after Michels quit on her, Barrymore reached out to the psychoanalyst, and the two started working together again.
The “Scream” star — who described being a mom as “the role of my life” — said she broke down after her daughters left for summer camp last year, and called Michels, who reminded her that Olive and Frankie were alright.
“This is not me being a bad mom. This is not my childhood,” Barrymore said, reflecting. “There’s a lot of stuff I have to work through.”
Despite her self-work ahead of her, the “Ever After” actress appears to be optimistic — thanks to her job and her daughters.
“My worth has been so wrapped up in this job and this life, because it’s given me so much,
Barrymore told the LA Times. “I realized that just with me and my girls, I am truly happy. I’d always thought I’d be on this hamster wheel for this whole life. But maybe there will be something different before the lights go out.”