Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew
Encyclopedia
Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew is a reality television
show airing on the cable network VH1
that chronicles a group of celebrities as they are treated for alcohol and drug addiction
by Dr. Drew Pinsky
and his staff at the Pasadena Recovery Center in Pasadena, California
. The first season premiered on January 10, 2008. Pinsky is listed in the show's onscreen credits as the executive producer.
, who was alarmed by tabloid portrayals of addiction as an indulgence of the rich and famous, and a group of independent producers, approached VH1
with a proposal for a reality television series that would authentically depict addiction, as a sort of media intervention
.
According to executive producer John Irwin
, casting for the first season was the most difficult, as the representatives of the celebrities who had been arrested or had publicized bouts with addiction refused to speak with him and the other producers. The process became easier after the first season aired. Actor Tom Sizemore
, for example, who was cast for Season 3, had been sought after since Season 1. Producers have reportedly offered actress Lindsay Lohan
six figures to appear on the show. Pinsky, who focuses on the treatment side of the production, is not usually involved with casting, though he reportedly visited Rachel Uchitel
personally in order to convince her to join the fourth season cast.
A multitude of cameras are employed, which film twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, during the 21-day treatment cycle. Because some dramatic incidents occur early in the morning when the camera crews are not present, automated cameras are mounted all over the clinic to capture them. The exception to this are the bathrooms, which nonetheless are equipped with microphones to monitor unusual sounds, such as patients attempting to use drugs.
In addition to receiving the free treatment (which would normally be worth approximately $50,000–$60,000 USD), the patients receive a salary for their appearance on the series, which is prorated, and distributed once a week as an incentive to stay.
Celebrity Rehab has spun off
two other shows. The first spinoff is Sober House, which depicts Rehab alumni living for 30 days at a sober living facility, as an interim step for recovering addicts between the completion of rehab and their eventual return to their old life. The second spinoff is Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew
, in which Pinsky and his staff treat celebrities for sexual addiction
.
stating, "The problem here is that Dr. Drew benefits from their participation, which must have some powerful effects on his way of relating to them. He also has a vested interest in the outcome of their treatment being interesting to viewers, which is also not in their best interest. Treatment with conflicts of interest isn’t treatment."
Pinsky has responded to such criticism by saying his medical peers "don't understand television. You have to work within the confines of what executives will allow you to put on TV. Otherwise, we've not done anything, we've not really struggled to change the culture at all." Regarding the series airing on a network that broadcasts other reality shows featuring uncritical depictions of sexuality and alcohol as recurring themes, he aid, "The people that need what we have are watching VH1. Not the people watching educational TV, the NPR
crowd. You gotta give 'em what they want so you can give ’em what they need."
Defending the practice of paying addicts to attend rehab, producer John Irwin said, "Whatever it takes to get them through the door so they can start treatment—that's the goal." Pinsky offered a similar response, saying, "My whole thing is bait and switch. Whatever motivates them to come in, that's fine. Then we can get them involved with the process."
Despite the involvement of former Alice in Chains
bassist Mike Starr
as well as an appearance by Nancy McCallum, mother of the original AIC singer Layne Staley
, who died of an overdose in 2002, the remaining original members of AIC, guitarist Jerry Cantrell
and drummer Sean Kinney
, have criticized the show, calling it "disgusting". Kinney said of the program, "It exploits people at their lowest point, when they're not in their right mind, and the sad part is, this is like entertainment for people when it's actually a life and death situation. I don't think it helps anybody and it makes entertainment out of people's possible death, and that's pathetic and it's stupid."
Columnist Drew Grant called for an end to the series because of its "warped sense of priorities", opining that the practice of assembling celebrities with serious drug addictions with others that, according to Grant, either do not suffer from addiction or whose addictions are self-diagnosed, like Rachel Uchitel
and Gary Busey
, for the purpose of creating entertainment, serves to encourage the "celebrity narcissism
" that Pinsky himself has criticized.
Not all substance-abuse specialists have been critical of the show. Dr. Mary Oxford, staff psychologist for the Menninger Clinic
, praised it for removing the stigma surrounding addiction in the general public, and demystifying the process of treatment, and showing the lay public the skill of reflective listening
.
aired a reunion special detailing the patients' lives since filming. Although Conaway was able to maintain sobriety from alcohol and cocaine
, he continued to abuse analgesics for his back pain, and would re-enter treatment in the show's second season. Binzer also appeared in several episodes of the second season for his relapses, as well as the Sober House spin-off series.
Laurer was hospitalized in December 2008 and was reportedly going back to rehab.
Nielsen and Rodriguez have reportedly maintained their sobriety. Pinsky has said on numerous occasions that Nielsen has quit drinking and also gave up smoking. Nielsen has also appeared on his radio shows to talk about her sobriety. In 2009, she appeared as a panel speaker to another group at the Pasadena Recovery Center, in which she anticipated the upcoming two-year mark of her sobriety that July, as seen in a third season episode of the series, which aired in February 2010.
Sierra has tested "clean and sober" for a year and a half following a court-ordered year of treatment at the Pasadena Recovery Center, She also appeared with Nielsen in the aforementioned third season episode, marking her 18 months of sobriety.
The status of Baldwin's sobriety is unknown. As of May 2009, Foxworth is reportedly sober and gave birth to a son.
Carey relapsed and returned to porn, starring in and directing a parody film called Celebrity Pornhab with Dr. Screw
, a decision that Pinsky said saddened him. Regarding her sobriety, Pinsky commented in a January 2010 TV Guide
story, "She puts together, like, six weeks at a time of sobriety, then drifts away. We're trying to get her to stay with it once and for all."
Pinsky saw musician Steven Adler
as this season's "problem child", describing his behavior as "suicidal", and related that Adler had to be put into a psychiatric hospital for two weeks prior to going into rehab. Jeff Conaway
was also a grave concern, according to Pinsky.
Actor and recovering cocaine addict Gary Busey
entered the program, claiming to do so not as a patient, but as a mentor to assist others in their recoveries. This was stated in his contract, and confirmed by VH1's official press release about Season 2. Pinsky disputes this, however, stating, "I was confused too. But that's not my problem. My problem is that I've got a guy who needs help and I've got to figure out a way to get him into treatment. Gary [ends up having] a really inspirational experience. But it's a good 10 days before he comes around.
On October 1, 2008, rock band Alter Bridge
, in conjunction with VH1, released a video for their single "Watch Over You
" containing clips from the upcoming season of Celebrity Rehab.
home which was filmed for Sober House– although Busey expressed interest in attending sober living as a speaker. Conaway was released early from the center during the final episode of Season 2 after kicking his girlfriend in the ribs during an argument. As soon as Conaway returned to his home, he continued abusing pain killers. During the course of Sober House, Adler, Smith and Binzer relapsed. Adler has made repeated appearances on Loveline talking about his success with sobriety and how his life is drastically different for the better. On September 26, 2009, Kitaen was arrested for drinking and driving. Amber Smith
later appeared in the spinoff Sex Rehab.
In 2009 Rodney King
and Amber Smith appeared as panel speakers to a group of addicts at the Pasadena Recovery Center, marking 11 months of sobriety for King, and a year and a half of sobriety for Smith. Nikki McKibbin
marked a year of sobriety on June 10, 2009.
On May 11, 2011 Jeff Conaway
was hospitalized for pneumonia
, for which he was placed in an induced coma. He later died after being taken from life support on May 27, 2011. He was the second Celebrity Rehab cast member to die in 2011, following the death of Mike Starr
two months prior. Pinsky attributed Conaway's death to his addiction, stating, "What happens is, like with most opiate addicts, eventually they take a little too much...and they aspirate, so what's in their mouth gets into their lungs...That's what happened with Jeff."
was being put into production. Sex Rehab premiered on November 1, 2009. Season 3 of Celebrity Rehab premiered on January 7, 2010.
Patient Heidi Fleiss
was shown to be living in solitude in the wilderness of Nevada while caring for 25 parrots. Pinsky did brain scans of her that showed significant frontal lobe
dysfunction, which Pinsky theorized was behind her inability to empathize with people, and her affinity for doing so with birds.
Actor Tom Sizemore
had been approached to appear in Season 1, but declined. He met with Pinsky about appearing in the second season, sitting in Pinsky's office for two hours, as Pinsky tells it, "sweating and completely high on drugs, talking a million miles an hour, acting like he was going to do it then deciding he didn’t want to." He ultimately decided to appear in Season 3, but did not arrive in the season premiere with the others, forcing Pinsky's colleague Bob Forrest
to seek him out. Pinsky adds in the season's fourth episode that he believes Sizemore's girlfriend is also a user, and that their relationship is a threat to his sobriety. Pinsky points to Sizemore's story as emblematic of the difficulty of getting an addict to commit to rehab. Because of the tumultuous prior relationship between patients Sizemore and Fleiss, their consent to being cast together during the same season was obtained prior to filming.
Commenting on Dennis Rodman
's detachment from the rehabilitation process, Pinsky said that Rodman was "hyper-focused in some ways, and in others, completely blank", and observed that Rodman didn't comprehend what the other patients were experiencing, or how they perceived him. Pinsky concluded that Rodman may have Asperger's syndrome, a diagnosis with which a colleague from UCLA Medical Center concurred.
Mackenzie Phillips
had accomplished several months of sobriety before checking into the Pasadena Recovery Center.
Joey Kovar, who previously sought treatment for his addiction to cocaine and alcohol during his stint on 2008's The Real World: Hollywood
, was spurred to return to rehab for his recurring addiction by the impending birth of his and his girlfriend Nikki's child.
Pinsky commented on Lisa D'Amato
by saying, "I would classify her as an addict in denial. This is the only disease you have to convince people they have."
Following her ejection from Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew
, Kari Ann Peniche
was allowed back to the Pasadena Recovery Center after she called Pinsky and asked for help. Pinsky, who explains in this season's fourth episode that treatment for drug addiction must take place before treatment for sex addiction, revealed that her aggressive behavior during Sex Rehab was derived from drugs she smuggled in a teddy bear
, and which were difficult to detect during drug testing because of the medication Peniche took for attention deficit disorder. Irwin says her behavior had changed by her second appearance, though she did punch a camera man at one point.
Since completing treatment, Pinsky says that D'Amato, who declined sober living, but agreed to go to meetings, "seems pretty good to me. My bet is she'll continue to flirt with using, but will have a deeper understanding now of her behavior."
Phillips and McCready appeared with Pinsky in a segment on women and addiction on the March 17, 2010 episode of The View.
Mike Starr was arrested February 18, 2011 on two felony counts of possession of a controlled substance for 6 pills of the painkiller Opana
and 6 pills of Xanax, an anti-anxiety drug. Starr was later found dead on March 8, 2011 in Salt Lake City, Utah
.
Filming on season four ended the week of August 1, 2010. It began airing on December 1, 2010.
On August 31, RadarOnline reported that Rachel Uchitel
, who had been living at a sober living facility in Malibu, California, left the facility with Pinsky's permission in order to visit the World Trade Center site
, where her fiance, James Andrew O'Grady, was killed during the September 11, 2001 attacks
, which Uchitel has explained was when her life began to unravel, culminating in a "massive breakdown" two years later. Uchitel spoke to other 9/11 families at the site, and was moved by her encounter with them.
, Pinsky stated that Dickinson was "doing so well", in stark contrast to her struggles documented during filming.
During the cast reunion show, Jason Davis
claimed that he had relapsed twice but was currently sober. However, on January 27, 2011 he was arrested for drug possession and subsequently charged with felony possession and being under the influence of narcotics.
, Jeremy Jackson
, Bai Ling
, Michael Lohan
and Michaele Salahi were announced as fifth season participants. Subsequent cast members added to the season roster later that month include Season 2 participant Steven Adler
, actress Sean Young
, former Major League Baseball
pitcher Dwight Gooden
and Survivor
second runner-up Jessica "Sugar" Kiper. Michaele Salahi was later removed from the show because, according to TMZ
sources, she harbored "no addiction," and thus had "no reason to be there." Season 5 premiered on June 26, 2011, though a "Sneak Premiere" was made available on Vh1's website as early as June 22.
.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
| Season
| Release date
| Discs
Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew is a reality television
show airing on the cable network VH1
that chronicles a group of celebrities as they are treated for alcohol and drug addiction
by Dr. Drew Pinsky
and his staff at the Pasadena Recovery Center in Pasadena, California
. The first season premiered on January 10, 2008. Pinsky is listed in the show's onscreen credits as the executive producer.
, who was alarmed by tabloid portrayals of addiction as an indulgence of the rich and famous, and a group of independent producers, approached VH1
with a proposal for a reality television series that would authentically depict addiction, as a sort of media intervention
.
According to executive producer John Irwin
, casting for the first season was the most difficult, as the representatives of the celebrities who had been arrested or had publicized bouts with addiction refused to speak with him and the other producers. The process became easier after the first season aired. Actor Tom Sizemore
, for example, who was cast for Season 3, had been sought after since Season 1. Producers have reportedly offered actress Lindsay Lohan
six figures to appear on the show. Pinsky, who focuses on the treatment side of the production, is not usually involved with casting, though he reportedly visited Rachel Uchitel
personally in order to convince her to join the fourth season cast.
A multitude of cameras are employed, which film twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, during the 21-day treatment cycle. Because some dramatic incidents occur early in the morning when the camera crews are not present, automated cameras are mounted all over the clinic to capture them. The exception to this are the bathrooms, which nonetheless are equipped with microphones to monitor unusual sounds, such as patients attempting to use drugs.
In addition to receiving the free treatment (which would normally be worth approximately $50,000–$60,000 USD), the patients receive a salary for their appearance on the series, which is prorated, and distributed once a week as an incentive to stay.
Celebrity Rehab has spun off
two other shows. The first spinoff is Sober House, which depicts Rehab alumni living for 30 days at a sober living facility, as an interim step for recovering addicts between the completion of rehab and their eventual return to their old life. The second spinoff is Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew
, in which Pinsky and his staff treat celebrities for sexual addiction
.
stating, "The problem here is that Dr. Drew benefits from their participation, which must have some powerful effects on his way of relating to them. He also has a vested interest in the outcome of their treatment being interesting to viewers, which is also not in their best interest. Treatment with conflicts of interest isn’t treatment."
Pinsky has responded to such criticism by saying his medical peers "don't understand television. You have to work within the confines of what executives will allow you to put on TV. Otherwise, we've not done anything, we've not really struggled to change the culture at all." Regarding the series airing on a network that broadcasts other reality shows featuring uncritical depictions of sexuality and alcohol as recurring themes, he aid, "The people that need what we have are watching VH1. Not the people watching educational TV, the NPR
crowd. You gotta give 'em what they want so you can give ’em what they need."
Defending the practice of paying addicts to attend rehab, producer John Irwin said, "Whatever it takes to get them through the door so they can start treatment—that's the goal." Pinsky offered a similar response, saying, "My whole thing is bait and switch. Whatever motivates them to come in, that's fine. Then we can get them involved with the process."
Despite the involvement of former Alice in Chains
bassist Mike Starr
as well as an appearance by Nancy McCallum, mother of the original AIC singer Layne Staley
, who died of an overdose in 2002, the remaining original members of AIC, guitarist Jerry Cantrell
and drummer Sean Kinney
, have criticized the show, calling it "disgusting". Kinney said of the program, "It exploits people at their lowest point, when they're not in their right mind, and the sad part is, this is like entertainment for people when it's actually a life and death situation. I don't think it helps anybody and it makes entertainment out of people's possible death, and that's pathetic and it's stupid."
Columnist Drew Grant called for an end to the series because of its "warped sense of priorities", opining that the practice of assembling celebrities with serious drug addictions with others that, according to Grant, either do not suffer from addiction or whose addictions are self-diagnosed, like Rachel Uchitel
and Gary Busey
, for the purpose of creating entertainment, serves to encourage the "celebrity narcissism
" that Pinsky himself has criticized.
Not all substance-abuse specialists have been critical of the show. Dr. Mary Oxford, staff psychologist for the Menninger Clinic
, praised it for removing the stigma surrounding addiction in the general public, and demystifying the process of treatment, and showing the lay public the skill of reflective listening
.
|-
! Cast member
! Notability
! Addiction
|-
| Seth "Shifty Shellshock" Binzer
| Lead singer of rap rock
band Crazy Town
| Cocaine
(powder and crack
)
|-
| Daniel Baldwin
| Actor (Departed the show in episode four)
| Cocaine
|-
| Mary Carey
| Porn actress and former candidate for California Governor
| Alcohol
|-
| Jeff Conaway
| Actor
| Alcohol; cocaine; painkillers (Vicodin
, OxyContin, Xanax, Zoloft, Ambien)
|-
| Jaimee Foxworth
| Former child actress
| Marijuana
|-
| Joanie "Chyna" Laurer
| Actress and former professional wrestler
| Alcohol
|-
| Brigitte Nielsen
| Actress and former model
| Alcohol
|-
| Ricco Rodriguez
| Mixed martial arts
fighter and former UFC Heavyweight Champion
| Cocaine; marijuana; benzodiazepines (Valium)
|-
| Jessica Sierra
| Singer and former American Idol
contestant
| Cocaine; alcohol
|}
aired a reunion special detailing the patients' lives since filming. Although Conaway was able to maintain sobriety from alcohol and cocaine
, he continued to abuse analgesics for his back pain, and would re-enter treatment in the show's second season. Binzer also appeared in several episodes of the second season for his relapses, as well as the Sober House spin-off series.
Laurer was hospitalized in December 2008 and was reportedly going back to rehab.
Nielsen and Rodriguez have reportedly maintained their sobriety. Pinsky has said on numerous occasions that Nielsen has quit drinking and also gave up smoking. Nielsen has also appeared on his radio shows to talk about her sobriety. In 2009, she appeared as a panel speaker to another group at the Pasadena Recovery Center, in which she anticipated the upcoming two-year mark of her sobriety that July, as seen in a third season episode of the series, which aired in February 2010.
Sierra has tested "clean and sober" for a year and a half following a court-ordered year of treatment at the Pasadena Recovery Center, She also appeared with Nielsen in the aforementioned third season episode, marking her 18 months of sobriety.
The status of Baldwin's sobriety is unknown. As of May 2009, Foxworth is reportedly sober and gave birth to a son.
Carey relapsed and returned to porn, starring in and directing a parody film called Celebrity Pornhab with Dr. Screw
, a decision that Pinsky said saddened him. Regarding her sobriety, Pinsky commented in a January 2010 TV Guide
story, "She puts together, like, six weeks at a time of sobriety, then drifts away. We're trying to get her to stay with it once and for all."
Pinsky saw musician Steven Adler
as this season's "problem child", describing his behavior as "suicidal", and related that Adler had to be put into a psychiatric hospital for two weeks prior to going into rehab. Jeff Conaway
was also a grave concern, according to Pinsky.
Actor and recovering cocaine addict Gary Busey
entered the program, claiming to do so not as a patient, but as a mentor to assist others in their recoveries. This was stated in his contract, and confirmed by VH1's official press release about Season 2. Pinsky disputes this, however, stating, "I was confused too. But that's not my problem. My problem is that I've got a guy who needs help and I've got to figure out a way to get him into treatment. Gary [ends up having] a really inspirational experience. But it's a good 10 days before he comes around.
|-
! Cast member
! Notability
! Addiction
|-
| Steven Adler
| Former Guns N' Roses
drummer
| Valium; alcohol
; heroin; cocaine
|-
| Seth Binzer
| Singer, returning from Season 1 after Dr. Drew learned of his relapse
| Stimulant
s (crack cocaine
)
|-
| Gary Busey
| Actor
| Recovering cocaine addict, clean and sober for 13 years, though Pinsky questions his current use of medicinal marijuana
for his asthma. He appears as a counselor to the other patients. (See above)
|-
| Jeff Conaway
| Actor, returning from Season 1 following back surgeries that increased his painkiller addiction
| Opiate
s (Oxycontin); cocaine
|-
| Rodney King
| Became a U.S. civil rights figure when videotaped in 1991 being beaten by L.A.P.D.
officers, whose later acquittal sparked violent riots in L.A.
| Alcohol
|-
| Tawny Kitaen
| Actress and former model
| Painkillers (Demerol and Vicodin
) and cocaine
|-
| Nikki McKibbin
| Singer and former American Idol
contestant
| Cocaine, alcohol, Adderall
, painkillers (Vicodin
); (McKibbin was formerly addicted to ecstasy as well.)
|-
| Amber Smith
| Actress and model
| Depressant
s and opiates (Adderall, Dexadrine, Valium, Xanax, Klonopin, Suboxone)
|-
| Sean Stewart
| Son of singer Rod Stewart
.
| Alcohol; ecstasy; Vicodin; morphine
; Fentanyl; cocaine; heroin
|}
On October 1, 2008, rock band Alter Bridge
, in conjunction with VH1, released a video for their single "Watch Over You
" containing clips from the upcoming season of Celebrity Rehab.
home which was filmed for Sober House– although Busey expressed interest in attending sober living as a speaker. Conaway was released early from the center during the final episode of Season 2 after kicking his girlfriend in the ribs during an argument. As soon as Conaway returned to his home, he continued abusing pain killers. During the course of Sober House, Adler, Smith and Binzer relapsed. Adler has made repeated appearances on Loveline talking about his success with sobriety and how his life is drastically different for the better. On September 26, 2009, Kitaen was arrested for drinking and driving. Amber Smith
later appeared in the spinoff Sex Rehab.
In 2009 Rodney King
and Amber Smith appeared as panel speakers to a group of addicts at the Pasadena Recovery Center, marking 11 months of sobriety for King, and a year and a half of sobriety for Smith. Nikki McKibbin
marked a year of sobriety on June 10, 2009.
On May 11, 2011 Jeff Conaway
was hospitalized for pneumonia
, for which he was placed in an induced coma. He later died after being taken from life support on May 27, 2011. He was the second Celebrity Rehab cast member to die in 2011, following the death of Mike Starr
two months prior. Pinsky attributed Conaway's death to his addiction, stating, "What happens is, like with most opiate addicts, eventually they take a little too much...and they aspirate, so what's in their mouth gets into their lungs...That's what happened with Jeff."
was being put into production. Sex Rehab premiered on November 1, 2009. Season 3 of Celebrity Rehab premiered on January 7, 2010.
Patient Heidi Fleiss
was shown to be living in solitude in the wilderness of Nevada while caring for 25 parrots. Pinsky did brain scans of her that showed significant frontal lobe
dysfunction, which Pinsky theorized was behind her inability to empathize with people, and her affinity for doing so with birds.
Actor Tom Sizemore
had been approached to appear in Season 1, but declined. He met with Pinsky about appearing in the second season, sitting in Pinsky's office for two hours, as Pinsky tells it, "sweating and completely high on drugs, talking a million miles an hour, acting like he was going to do it then deciding he didn’t want to." He ultimately decided to appear in Season 3, but did not arrive in the season premiere with the others, forcing Pinsky's colleague Bob Forrest
to seek him out. Pinsky adds in the season's fourth episode that he believes Sizemore's girlfriend is also a user, and that their relationship is a threat to his sobriety. Pinsky points to Sizemore's story as emblematic of the difficulty of getting an addict to commit to rehab. Because of the tumultuous prior relationship between patients Sizemore and Fleiss, their consent to being cast together during the same season was obtained prior to filming.
Commenting on Dennis Rodman
's detachment from the rehabilitation process, Pinsky said that Rodman was "hyper-focused in some ways, and in others, completely blank", and observed that Rodman didn't comprehend what the other patients were experiencing, or how they perceived him. Pinsky concluded that Rodman may have Asperger's syndrome, a diagnosis with which a colleague from UCLA Medical Center concurred.
Mackenzie Phillips
had accomplished several months of sobriety before checking into the Pasadena Recovery Center.
Joey Kovar, who previously sought treatment for his addiction to cocaine and alcohol during his stint on 2008's The Real World: Hollywood
, was spurred to return to rehab for his recurring addiction by the impending birth of his and his girlfriend Nikki's child.
Pinsky commented on Lisa D'Amato
by saying, "I would classify her as an addict in denial. This is the only disease you have to convince people they have."
Following her ejection from Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew
, Kari Ann Peniche
was allowed back to the Pasadena Recovery Center after she called Pinsky and asked for help. Pinsky, who explains in this season's fourth episode that treatment for drug addiction must take place before treatment for sex addiction, revealed that her aggressive behavior during Sex Rehab was derived from drugs she smuggled in a teddy bear
, and which were difficult to detect during drug testing because of the medication Peniche took for attention deficit disorder. Irwin says her behavior had changed by her second appearance, though she did punch a camera man at one point.
|-
! Cast member
! Notability
! Addiction
|-
| Lisa D'Amato
| Model and electro rock
musician
| Alcohol
; marijuana; amphetamine
s; cocaine
; mushrooms
|-
| Heidi Fleiss
| Former American madam
| Methamphetamine
; Valium; Xanax; Vicodin
(Fleiss states that she is coming off a prescription for Suboxone.)
|-
| Joey Kovar
| Cast member on The Real World: Hollywood
| Alcohol; cocaine; ecstasy; methamphetamine; steroids
|-
| Mindy McCready
| Country music
singer
| OxyContin; alcohol; (McCready states that she takes prescription Xanax for anxiety as needed, and that the painkillers found among her belongings during Intake were for her shoulder, which was dislocated a month prior.)
|-
| Kari Ann Peniche
| Miss Teen USA 2002
and subject of a Playboy
pictorial
| Methamphetamine
|-
| Mackenzie Phillips
| Actress
| Heroin; cocaine (Formerly used marijuana.)
|-
| Dennis Rodman
| Former basketball player
| Alcohol
|-
| Tom Sizemore
| Actor
| Opiate
s; benzodiazepine
s; methamphetamine; marijuana; heroin; Klonopin (formerly used cocaine from 1991-1996)
|-
| Mike Starr
| Former Alice in Chains
bass player
| Heroin; methadone
; methamphetamine; cocaine; marijuana.
|}
Since completing treatment, Pinsky says that D'Amato, who declined sober living, but agreed to go to meetings, "seems pretty good to me. My bet is she'll continue to flirt with using, but will have a deeper understanding now of her behavior."
Phillips and McCready appeared with Pinsky in a segment on women and addiction on the March 17, 2010 episode of The View.
Mike Starr was arrested February 18, 2011 on two felony counts of possession of a controlled substance for 6 pills of the painkiller Opana
and 6 pills of Xanax, an anti-anxiety drug. Starr was later found dead on March 8, 2011 in Salt Lake City, Utah
.
Filming on season four ended the week of August 1, 2010. It began airing on December 1, 2010.
On August 31, RadarOnline reported that Rachel Uchitel
, who had been living at a sober living facility in Malibu, California, left the facility with Pinsky's permission in order to visit the World Trade Center site
, where her fiance, James Andrew O'Grady, was killed during the September 11, 2001 attacks
, which Uchitel has explained was when her life began to unravel, culminating in a "massive breakdown" two years later. Uchitel spoke to other 9/11 families at the site, and was moved by her encounter with them.
|-
! Cast member
! Notability
! Addiction
|-
| Jason Davis
| Actor, socialite
| Heroin; OxyContin; Xanax
|-
| Janice Dickinson
| Model
, fashion photographer
, actress, author
and agent
.
| Alcohol
; cocaine
(Dickinson says she formerly took Ativan, and that she takes one prescription Ambien a night to sleep.)
|-
| Leif Garrett
| Actor, singer, and TV commentator
| Cocaine; heroin
|-
| Jeremy London
| Actor, best known for his regular roles on Party of Five
, 7th Heaven
, and I'll Fly Away
.
| Marijuana; painkillers
|-
| Francine "Frankie" Lons
| Star of the BET
reality show Frankie & Neffe
, and mother of singer Keyshia Cole
.
| Alcohol; crack cocaine
|-
| Eric Roberts
| Actor
, known for his Oscar-nominated performance in Runaway Train
and TV shows such as Less Than Perfect
and Heroes
.
| Marijuana (Formerly used cocaine and a variety of psychotropic drugs such as Prozac.)
|-
| Rachel Uchitel
| Nightclub manager, correspondent for Extra
, and one of Tiger Woods
' mistresses
.
| Alcohol; Opiates including Vicodin
; benzodiazepines including Valium, Klonopin, and Xanax
|-
| Jason Wahler
| Reality television personality known as a second season cast member on Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County
| Alcohol
|}
, Pinsky stated that Dickinson was "doing so well", in stark contrast to her struggles documented during filming.
During the cast reunion show, Jason Davis
claimed that he had relapsed twice but was currently sober. However, on January 27, 2011 he was arrested for drug possession and subsequently charged with felony possession and being under the influence of narcotics.
, Jeremy Jackson
, Bai Ling
, Michael Lohan
and Michaele Salahi were announced as fifth season participants. Subsequent cast members added to the season roster later that month include Season 2 participant Steven Adler
, actress Sean Young
, former Major League Baseball
pitcher Dwight Gooden
and Survivor
second runner-up Jessica "Sugar" Kiper. Michaele Salahi was later removed from the show because, according to TMZ
sources, she harbored "no addiction," and thus had "no reason to be there." Season 5 premiered on June 26, 2011, though a "Sneak Premiere" was made available on Vh1's website as early as June 22.
|-
! Cast member
! Notability
! Addiction
|-
| Steven Adler
| Former Guns N' Roses
drummer, returning from season 2
| Marijuana
|-
| Amy Fisher
| "Long Island Lolita" who shot her then-lover Joey Buttafuoco
's wife, Mary Jo, in the face.
| Alcohol (She was stated in the season premiere to have suffered prior addiction to unspecified pills, but this was indicated to be an ongoing problem in in a season finale bonus clip.)
|-
| Dwight Gooden
| Former Major League Baseball
pitcher.
| Cocaine; alcohol; Ambien
|-
| Jeremy Jackson
| Actor, best known for his role on Baywatch
as Hobie Buchannon
.
| Steroid
s
|-
| Jessica Kiper
| Actress and television personality, best known for appearing twice as a contestant on Survivor
.
| Alcohol; marijuana; cocaine (former user); opiates, particularly Vicodin
; benzodiazepines including Valium and Xanax
|-
| Bai Ling
| Actress.
| Alcohol
|-
| Michael Lohan
| Father of actress Lindsay Lohan
.
| Alcohol (formerly used cocaine, but quit six years prior)
|-
| Sean Young
| Actress.
| Alcohol
|}
.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
| Season
| Release date
| Discs
Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew is a reality television
show airing on the cable network VH1
that chronicles a group of celebrities as they are treated for alcohol and drug addiction
by Dr. Drew Pinsky
and his staff at the Pasadena Recovery Center in Pasadena, California
. The first season premiered on January 10, 2008. Pinsky is listed in the show's onscreen credits as the executive producer.
, who was alarmed by tabloid portrayals of addiction as an indulgence of the rich and famous, and a group of independent producers, approached VH1
with a proposal for a reality television series that would authentically depict addiction, as a sort of media intervention
.
According to executive producer John Irwin
, casting for the first season was the most difficult, as the representatives of the celebrities who had been arrested or had publicized bouts with addiction refused to speak with him and the other producers. The process became easier after the first season aired. Actor Tom Sizemore
, for example, who was cast for Season 3, had been sought after since Season 1. Producers have reportedly offered actress Lindsay Lohan
six figures to appear on the show. Pinsky, who focuses on the treatment side of the production, is not usually involved with casting, though he reportedly visited Rachel Uchitel
personally in order to convince her to join the fourth season cast.
A multitude of cameras are employed, which film twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, during the 21-day treatment cycle. Because some dramatic incidents occur early in the morning when the camera crews are not present, automated cameras are mounted all over the clinic to capture them. The exception to this are the bathrooms, which nonetheless are equipped with microphones to monitor unusual sounds, such as patients attempting to use drugs.
In addition to receiving the free treatment (which would normally be worth approximately $50,000–$60,000 USD), the patients receive a salary for their appearance on the series, which is prorated, and distributed once a week as an incentive to stay.
Celebrity Rehab has spun off
two other shows. The first spinoff is Sober House, which depicts Rehab alumni living for 30 days at a sober living facility, as an interim step for recovering addicts between the completion of rehab and their eventual return to their old life. The second spinoff is Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew
, in which Pinsky and his staff treat celebrities for sexual addiction
.
stating, "The problem here is that Dr. Drew benefits from their participation, which must have some powerful effects on his way of relating to them. He also has a vested interest in the outcome of their treatment being interesting to viewers, which is also not in their best interest. Treatment with conflicts of interest isn’t treatment."
Pinsky has responded to such criticism by saying his medical peers "don't understand television. You have to work within the confines of what executives will allow you to put on TV. Otherwise, we've not done anything, we've not really struggled to change the culture at all." Regarding the series airing on a network that broadcasts other reality shows featuring uncritical depictions of sexuality and alcohol as recurring themes, he aid, "The people that need what we have are watching VH1. Not the people watching educational TV, the NPR
crowd. You gotta give 'em what they want so you can give ’em what they need."
Defending the practice of paying addicts to attend rehab, producer John Irwin said, "Whatever it takes to get them through the door so they can start treatment—that's the goal." Pinsky offered a similar response, saying, "My whole thing is bait and switch. Whatever motivates them to come in, that's fine. Then we can get them involved with the process."
Despite the involvement of former Alice in Chains
bassist Mike Starr
as well as an appearance by Nancy McCallum, mother of the original AIC singer Layne Staley
, who died of an overdose in 2002, the remaining original members of AIC, guitarist Jerry Cantrell
and drummer Sean Kinney
, have criticized the show, calling it "disgusting". Kinney said of the program, "It exploits people at their lowest point, when they're not in their right mind, and the sad part is, this is like entertainment for people when it's actually a life and death situation. I don't think it helps anybody and it makes entertainment out of people's possible death, and that's pathetic and it's stupid."
Columnist Drew Grant called for an end to the series because of its "warped sense of priorities", opining that the practice of assembling celebrities with serious drug addictions with others that, according to Grant, either do not suffer from addiction or whose addictions are self-diagnosed, like Rachel Uchitel
and Gary Busey
, for the purpose of creating entertainment, serves to encourage the "celebrity narcissism
" that Pinsky himself has criticized.
Not all substance-abuse specialists have been critical of the show. Dr. Mary Oxford, staff psychologist for the Menninger Clinic
, praised it for removing the stigma surrounding addiction in the general public, and demystifying the process of treatment, and showing the lay public the skill of reflective listening
.
|-
! Cast member
! Notability
! Addiction
|-
| Seth "Shifty Shellshock" Binzer
| Lead singer of rap rock
band Crazy Town
| Cocaine
(powder and crack
)
|-
| Daniel Baldwin
| Actor (Departed the show in episode four)
| Cocaine
|-
| Mary Carey
| Porn actress and former candidate for California Governor
| Alcohol
|-
| Jeff Conaway
| Actor
| Alcohol; cocaine; painkillers (Vicodin
, OxyContin, Xanax, Zoloft, Ambien)
|-
| Jaimee Foxworth
| Former child actress
| Marijuana
|-
| Joanie "Chyna" Laurer
| Actress and former professional wrestler
| Alcohol
|-
| Brigitte Nielsen
| Actress and former model
| Alcohol
|-
| Ricco Rodriguez
| Mixed martial arts
fighter and former UFC Heavyweight Champion
| Cocaine; marijuana; benzodiazepines (Valium)
|-
| Jessica Sierra
| Singer and former American Idol
contestant
| Cocaine; alcohol
|}
aired a reunion special detailing the patients' lives since filming. Although Conaway was able to maintain sobriety from alcohol and cocaine
, he continued to abuse analgesics for his back pain, and would re-enter treatment in the show's second season. Binzer also appeared in several episodes of the second season for his relapses, as well as the Sober House spin-off series.
Laurer was hospitalized in December 2008 and was reportedly going back to rehab.
Nielsen and Rodriguez have reportedly maintained their sobriety. Pinsky has said on numerous occasions that Nielsen has quit drinking and also gave up smoking. Nielsen has also appeared on his radio shows to talk about her sobriety. In 2009, she appeared as a panel speaker to another group at the Pasadena Recovery Center, in which she anticipated the upcoming two-year mark of her sobriety that July, as seen in a third season episode of the series, which aired in February 2010.
Sierra has tested "clean and sober" for a year and a half following a court-ordered year of treatment at the Pasadena Recovery Center, She also appeared with Nielsen in the aforementioned third season episode, marking her 18 months of sobriety.
The status of Baldwin's sobriety is unknown. As of May 2009, Foxworth is reportedly sober and gave birth to a son.
Carey relapsed and returned to porn, starring in and directing a parody film called Celebrity Pornhab with Dr. Screw
, a decision that Pinsky said saddened him. Regarding her sobriety, Pinsky commented in a January 2010 TV Guide
story, "She puts together, like, six weeks at a time of sobriety, then drifts away. We're trying to get her to stay with it once and for all."
Pinsky saw musician Steven Adler
as this season's "problem child", describing his behavior as "suicidal", and related that Adler had to be put into a psychiatric hospital for two weeks prior to going into rehab. Jeff Conaway
was also a grave concern, according to Pinsky.
Actor and recovering cocaine addict Gary Busey
entered the program, claiming to do so not as a patient, but as a mentor to assist others in their recoveries. This was stated in his contract, and confirmed by VH1's official press release about Season 2. Pinsky disputes this, however, stating, "I was confused too. But that's not my problem. My problem is that I've got a guy who needs help and I've got to figure out a way to get him into treatment. Gary [ends up having] a really inspirational experience. But it's a good 10 days before he comes around.
|-
! Cast member
! Notability
! Addiction
|-
| Steven Adler
| Former Guns N' Roses
drummer
| Valium; alcohol
; heroin; cocaine
|-
| Seth Binzer
| Singer, returning from Season 1 after Dr. Drew learned of his relapse
| Stimulant
s (crack cocaine
)
|-
| Gary Busey
| Actor
| Recovering cocaine addict, clean and sober for 13 years, though Pinsky questions his current use of medicinal marijuana
for his asthma. He appears as a counselor to the other patients. (See above)
|-
| Jeff Conaway
| Actor, returning from Season 1 following back surgeries that increased his painkiller addiction
| Opiate
s (Oxycontin); cocaine
|-
| Rodney King
| Became a U.S. civil rights figure when videotaped in 1991 being beaten by L.A.P.D.
officers, whose later acquittal sparked violent riots in L.A.
| Alcohol
|-
| Tawny Kitaen
| Actress and former model
| Painkillers (Demerol and Vicodin
) and cocaine
|-
| Nikki McKibbin
| Singer and former American Idol
contestant
| Cocaine, alcohol, Adderall
, painkillers (Vicodin
); (McKibbin was formerly addicted to ecstasy as well.)
|-
| Amber Smith
| Actress and model
| Depressant
s and opiates (Adderall, Dexadrine, Valium, Xanax, Klonopin, Suboxone)
|-
| Sean Stewart
| Son of singer Rod Stewart
.
| Alcohol; ecstasy; Vicodin; morphine
; Fentanyl; cocaine; heroin
|}
On October 1, 2008, rock band Alter Bridge
, in conjunction with VH1, released a video for their single "Watch Over You
" containing clips from the upcoming season of Celebrity Rehab.
home which was filmed for Sober House– although Busey expressed interest in attending sober living as a speaker. Conaway was released early from the center during the final episode of Season 2 after kicking his girlfriend in the ribs during an argument. As soon as Conaway returned to his home, he continued abusing pain killers. During the course of Sober House, Adler, Smith and Binzer relapsed. Adler has made repeated appearances on Loveline talking about his success with sobriety and how his life is drastically different for the better. On September 26, 2009, Kitaen was arrested for drinking and driving. Amber Smith
later appeared in the spinoff Sex Rehab.
In 2009 Rodney King
and Amber Smith appeared as panel speakers to a group of addicts at the Pasadena Recovery Center, marking 11 months of sobriety for King, and a year and a half of sobriety for Smith. Nikki McKibbin
marked a year of sobriety on June 10, 2009.
On May 11, 2011 Jeff Conaway
was hospitalized for pneumonia
, for which he was placed in an induced coma. He later died after being taken from life support on May 27, 2011. He was the second Celebrity Rehab cast member to die in 2011, following the death of Mike Starr
two months prior. Pinsky attributed Conaway's death to his addiction, stating, "What happens is, like with most opiate addicts, eventually they take a little too much...and they aspirate, so what's in their mouth gets into their lungs...That's what happened with Jeff."
was being put into production. Sex Rehab premiered on November 1, 2009. Season 3 of Celebrity Rehab premiered on January 7, 2010.
Patient Heidi Fleiss
was shown to be living in solitude in the wilderness of Nevada while caring for 25 parrots. Pinsky did brain scans of her that showed significant frontal lobe
dysfunction, which Pinsky theorized was behind her inability to empathize with people, and her affinity for doing so with birds.
Actor Tom Sizemore
had been approached to appear in Season 1, but declined. He met with Pinsky about appearing in the second season, sitting in Pinsky's office for two hours, as Pinsky tells it, "sweating and completely high on drugs, talking a million miles an hour, acting like he was going to do it then deciding he didn’t want to." He ultimately decided to appear in Season 3, but did not arrive in the season premiere with the others, forcing Pinsky's colleague Bob Forrest
to seek him out. Pinsky adds in the season's fourth episode that he believes Sizemore's girlfriend is also a user, and that their relationship is a threat to his sobriety. Pinsky points to Sizemore's story as emblematic of the difficulty of getting an addict to commit to rehab. Because of the tumultuous prior relationship between patients Sizemore and Fleiss, their consent to being cast together during the same season was obtained prior to filming.
Commenting on Dennis Rodman
's detachment from the rehabilitation process, Pinsky said that Rodman was "hyper-focused in some ways, and in others, completely blank", and observed that Rodman didn't comprehend what the other patients were experiencing, or how they perceived him. Pinsky concluded that Rodman may have Asperger's syndrome, a diagnosis with which a colleague from UCLA Medical Center concurred.
Mackenzie Phillips
had accomplished several months of sobriety before checking into the Pasadena Recovery Center.
Joey Kovar, who previously sought treatment for his addiction to cocaine and alcohol during his stint on 2008's The Real World: Hollywood
, was spurred to return to rehab for his recurring addiction by the impending birth of his and his girlfriend Nikki's child.
Pinsky commented on Lisa D'Amato
by saying, "I would classify her as an addict in denial. This is the only disease you have to convince people they have."
Following her ejection from Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew
, Kari Ann Peniche
was allowed back to the Pasadena Recovery Center after she called Pinsky and asked for help. Pinsky, who explains in this season's fourth episode that treatment for drug addiction must take place before treatment for sex addiction, revealed that her aggressive behavior during Sex Rehab was derived from drugs she smuggled in a teddy bear
, and which were difficult to detect during drug testing because of the medication Peniche took for attention deficit disorder. Irwin says her behavior had changed by her second appearance, though she did punch a camera man at one point.
|-
! Cast member
! Notability
! Addiction
|-
| Lisa D'Amato
| Model and electro rock
musician
| Alcohol
; marijuana; amphetamine
s; cocaine
; mushrooms
|-
| Heidi Fleiss
| Former American madam
| Methamphetamine
; Valium; Xanax; Vicodin
(Fleiss states that she is coming off a prescription for Suboxone.)
|-
| Joey Kovar
| Cast member on The Real World: Hollywood
| Alcohol; cocaine; ecstasy; methamphetamine; steroids
|-
| Mindy McCready
| Country music
singer
| OxyContin; alcohol; (McCready states that she takes prescription Xanax for anxiety as needed, and that the painkillers found among her belongings during Intake were for her shoulder, which was dislocated a month prior.)
|-
| Kari Ann Peniche
| Miss Teen USA 2002
and subject of a Playboy
pictorial
| Methamphetamine
|-
| Mackenzie Phillips
| Actress
| Heroin; cocaine (Formerly used marijuana.)
|-
| Dennis Rodman
| Former basketball player
| Alcohol
|-
| Tom Sizemore
| Actor
| Opiate
s; benzodiazepine
s; methamphetamine; marijuana; heroin; Klonopin (formerly used cocaine from 1991-1996)
|-
| Mike Starr
| Former Alice in Chains
bass player
| Heroin; methadone
; methamphetamine; cocaine; marijuana.
|}
Since completing treatment, Pinsky says that D'Amato, who declined sober living, but agreed to go to meetings, "seems pretty good to me. My bet is she'll continue to flirt with using, but will have a deeper understanding now of her behavior."
Phillips and McCready appeared with Pinsky in a segment on women and addiction on the March 17, 2010 episode of The View.
Mike Starr was arrested February 18, 2011 on two felony counts of possession of a controlled substance for 6 pills of the painkiller Opana
and 6 pills of Xanax, an anti-anxiety drug. Starr was later found dead on March 8, 2011 in Salt Lake City, Utah
.
Filming on season four ended the week of August 1, 2010. It began airing on December 1, 2010.
On August 31, RadarOnline reported that Rachel Uchitel
, who had been living at a sober living facility in Malibu, California, left the facility with Pinsky's permission in order to visit the World Trade Center site
, where her fiance, James Andrew O'Grady, was killed during the September 11, 2001 attacks
, which Uchitel has explained was when her life began to unravel, culminating in a "massive breakdown" two years later. Uchitel spoke to other 9/11 families at the site, and was moved by her encounter with them.
|-
! Cast member
! Notability
! Addiction
|-
| Jason Davis
| Actor, socialite
| Heroin; OxyContin; Xanax
|-
| Janice Dickinson
| Model
, fashion photographer
, actress, author
and agent
.
| Alcohol
; cocaine
(Dickinson says she formerly took Ativan, and that she takes one prescription Ambien a night to sleep.)
|-
| Leif Garrett
| Actor, singer, and TV commentator
| Cocaine; heroin
|-
| Jeremy London
| Actor, best known for his regular roles on Party of Five
, 7th Heaven
, and I'll Fly Away
.
| Marijuana; painkillers
|-
| Francine "Frankie" Lons
| Star of the BET
reality show Frankie & Neffe
, and mother of singer Keyshia Cole
.
| Alcohol; crack cocaine
|-
| Eric Roberts
| Actor
, known for his Oscar-nominated performance in Runaway Train
and TV shows such as Less Than Perfect
and Heroes
.
| Marijuana (Formerly used cocaine and a variety of psychotropic drugs such as Prozac.)
|-
| Rachel Uchitel
| Nightclub manager, correspondent for Extra
, and one of Tiger Woods
' mistresses
.
| Alcohol; Opiates including Vicodin
; benzodiazepines including Valium, Klonopin, and Xanax
|-
| Jason Wahler
| Reality television personality known as a second season cast member on Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County
| Alcohol
|}
, Pinsky stated that Dickinson was "doing so well", in stark contrast to her struggles documented during filming.
During the cast reunion show, Jason Davis
claimed that he had relapsed twice but was currently sober. However, on January 27, 2011 he was arrested for drug possession and subsequently charged with felony possession and being under the influence of narcotics.
, Jeremy Jackson
, Bai Ling
, Michael Lohan
and Michaele Salahi were announced as fifth season participants. Subsequent cast members added to the season roster later that month include Season 2 participant Steven Adler
, actress Sean Young
, former Major League Baseball
pitcher Dwight Gooden
and Survivor
second runner-up Jessica "Sugar" Kiper. Michaele Salahi was later removed from the show because, according to TMZ
sources, she harbored "no addiction," and thus had "no reason to be there." Season 5 premiered on June 26, 2011, though a "Sneak Premiere" was made available on Vh1's website as early as June 22.
|-
! Cast member
! Notability
! Addiction
|-
| Steven Adler
| Former Guns N' Roses
drummer, returning from season 2
| Marijuana
|-
| Amy Fisher
| "Long Island Lolita" who shot her then-lover Joey Buttafuoco
's wife, Mary Jo, in the face.
| Alcohol (She was stated in the season premiere to have suffered prior addiction to unspecified pills, but this was indicated to be an ongoing problem in in a season finale bonus clip.)
|-
| Dwight Gooden
| Former Major League Baseball
pitcher.
| Cocaine; alcohol; Ambien
|-
| Jeremy Jackson
| Actor, best known for his role on Baywatch
as Hobie Buchannon
.
| Steroid
s
|-
| Jessica Kiper
| Actress and television personality, best known for appearing twice as a contestant on Survivor
.
| Alcohol; marijuana; cocaine (former user); opiates, particularly Vicodin
; benzodiazepines including Valium and Xanax
|-
| Bai Ling
| Actress.
| Alcohol
|-
| Michael Lohan
| Father of actress Lindsay Lohan
.
| Alcohol (formerly used cocaine, but quit six years prior)
|-
| Sean Young
| Actress.
| Alcohol
|}
.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
| Season
| Release date
| Discs
|-
! 1
| 21 August 2008
|4
|-
!2
| 4 March 2010
|
|-
! 3
| 29 March 2010
|
|}
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
show airing on the cable network VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
that chronicles a group of celebrities as they are treated for alcohol and drug addiction
Addiction
Historically, addiction has been defined as physical and psychological dependence on psychoactive substances which cross the blood-brain barrier once ingested, temporarily altering the chemical milieu of the brain.Addiction can also be viewed as a continued involvement with a substance or activity...
by Dr. Drew Pinsky
Drew Pinsky
David Drew Pinsky , best known as Dr. Drew, is an American board-certified internist, addiction medicine specialist, and radio and television personality. He has hosted the nationally syndicated radio talk show Loveline since the show's inception in 1984. On television, he hosts the talk show Dr...
and his staff at the Pasadena Recovery Center in Pasadena, California
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
. The first season premiered on January 10, 2008. Pinsky is listed in the show's onscreen credits as the executive producer.
Recurring cast
The following are staff of the Pasadena Recovery Center (PRC), where the series is filmed. Casts for individual seasons are seen in sections for those seasons.- Dr. Drew Pinsky – Pinsky is the star of the show, and the lead specialist who treats the patients. A board-certifiedAmerican Board of Medical SpecialtiesThe American Board of Medical Specialties is a non-profit physician-led umbrella organization for 24 of the 26 approved medical specialty boards in the United States...
internist and addiction medicineAddiction MedicineAddiction medicine is a medical specialty that deals with the treatment of addiction. The specialty often crosses over into other areas, since various aspects of addiction fall within the fields of public health, psychology, social work, psychiatry, and internal medicine, among others...
specialist, he rose to fame as the host of the nationally syndicated radio talk showTalk radioTalk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
, LovelineLovelineLoveline is a syndicated radio call-in program in North America, offering medical and relationship advice to listeners, often with the assistance of guests, typically actors and musicians. Its flagship station is KROQ-FM in Los Angeles....
. In addition to Celebrity Rehab, he also appears in its spinoffs, Sex Rehab with Dr. DrewSex Rehab with Dr. DrewSex Rehab with Dr. Drew is a VH1 reality television show that documents people being treated for sexual addiction by Dr. Drew Pinsky and his staff at the Pasadena Recovery Center in Pasadena, California. Premiering on November 1, 2009, Sex Rehab is a spin-off of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, in...
and Sober House. - Shelly Sprague – The Resident Technician who runs the floor. A recovering addict herself, she has also appeared on Sex Rehab with Dr. DrewSex Rehab with Dr. DrewSex Rehab with Dr. Drew is a VH1 reality television show that documents people being treated for sexual addiction by Dr. Drew Pinsky and his staff at the Pasadena Recovery Center in Pasadena, California. Premiering on November 1, 2009, Sex Rehab is a spin-off of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, in...
. She met Pinsky through Bob ForrestBob ForrestBob Forrest is the lead vocalist and lyricist for Los Angeles bands Thelonious Monster and The Bicycle Thief. In September 2006 he released his first solo album, Modern Folk And Blues Wednesday. He is also a drug counselor, appearing alongside Dr...
, a fellow recovering addict and colleague of Drew's with whom Sprague used to do drugs. She runs a center at Las Encinas Hospital in Pasadena, CaliforniaPasadena, CaliforniaPasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
. Pinsky observes that she becomes more personally involved with the patients than other technicians like Loesha do. - Bob ForrestBob ForrestBob Forrest is the lead vocalist and lyricist for Los Angeles bands Thelonious Monster and The Bicycle Thief. In September 2006 he released his first solo album, Modern Folk And Blues Wednesday. He is also a drug counselor, appearing alongside Dr...
– The Head Counselor, Forrest is the Chemical Dependency Program Director at Las Encinas Hospital. A former addict himself, he appears during group sessions as a counselor. - Loesha Zeviar – A Resident Technician who first appears in the second episode of Season 2. Responding to observations that Loesha receives more abuse than Sprague, Pinsky describes her as more staid than Sprague. Pinsky has referred to her as one of the strongest staff members at the PRC.
- Dr. Charles Sophy – psychiatristPsychiatristA psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
and director of the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services. He is also the author of Side By Side The Revolutionary Mother-Daughter Program for Conflict-Free Communication, and is the lead psychiatrist of the Celebrity Rehab and Sober House production team. Although he only appears occasionally, he was present throughout the filming of the second season of Sober House. - Sasha Kusina – A nurse at the Pasadena Recovery Center. Although seen as early as Season 2, it is in Season 5 that her full name is revealed and she is seen speaking with the other staff, in regards to her rapport with patient Bai LingBai LingBai Ling is a Chinese actress known for her work in films such as The Crow, Red Corner and Wild Wild West, and in TV series such as Entourage and Lost. In 2011 she appeared in the fifth season of the VH1 reality television series Celebrity Rehab with Dr...
, whom Kusina convinces to take her prescribed psychiatric medication. - Jennifer Gimenez – A model and actress and former addict who credits her recovery to Pinsky, Gimenez was the sober living house manager on the Celebrity Rehab spinoff Sober House, and began working as a rehab technician at the Pasadena Recovery Center in Season 5 of Rehab.
Production
According to a December 2009 New York Times article, Drew PinskyDrew Pinsky
David Drew Pinsky , best known as Dr. Drew, is an American board-certified internist, addiction medicine specialist, and radio and television personality. He has hosted the nationally syndicated radio talk show Loveline since the show's inception in 1984. On television, he hosts the talk show Dr...
, who was alarmed by tabloid portrayals of addiction as an indulgence of the rich and famous, and a group of independent producers, approached VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
with a proposal for a reality television series that would authentically depict addiction, as a sort of media intervention
Intervention (counseling)
An intervention is an orchestrated attempt by one, or often many, people to get someone to seek professional help with an addiction or some kind of traumatic event or crisis, or other serious problem. The term intervention is most often used when the traumatic event involves addiction to drugs...
.
According to executive producer John Irwin
John Irwin (producer)
John Irwin is a television producer and president of Irwin Entertainment, Inc., a television production company most well-known for its comedy, reality and live entertainment programming.-Career:...
, casting for the first season was the most difficult, as the representatives of the celebrities who had been arrested or had publicized bouts with addiction refused to speak with him and the other producers. The process became easier after the first season aired. Actor Tom Sizemore
Tom Sizemore
Thomas Edward "Tom" Sizemore, Jr. is an American film and television actor and producer. He is known for his roles in films such as Saving Private Ryan, Strange Days, Pearl Harbor, Heat and Black Hawk Down....
, for example, who was cast for Season 3, had been sought after since Season 1. Producers have reportedly offered actress Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan is an American actress, pop singer and model. She began her career as a child fashion model before making her motion picture debut in Disney's 1998 remake of The Parent Trap at the age of 11...
six figures to appear on the show. Pinsky, who focuses on the treatment side of the production, is not usually involved with casting, though he reportedly visited Rachel Uchitel
Rachel Uchitel
Rachel Uchitel is an American nightclub manager, hostess, sports groupie and TV correspondent. She first encountered publicity when,...
personally in order to convince her to join the fourth season cast.
A multitude of cameras are employed, which film twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, during the 21-day treatment cycle. Because some dramatic incidents occur early in the morning when the camera crews are not present, automated cameras are mounted all over the clinic to capture them. The exception to this are the bathrooms, which nonetheless are equipped with microphones to monitor unusual sounds, such as patients attempting to use drugs.
In addition to receiving the free treatment (which would normally be worth approximately $50,000–$60,000 USD), the patients receive a salary for their appearance on the series, which is prorated, and distributed once a week as an incentive to stay.
Celebrity Rehab has spun off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
two other shows. The first spinoff is Sober House, which depicts Rehab alumni living for 30 days at a sober living facility, as an interim step for recovering addicts between the completion of rehab and their eventual return to their old life. The second spinoff is Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew
Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew
Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew is a VH1 reality television show that documents people being treated for sexual addiction by Dr. Drew Pinsky and his staff at the Pasadena Recovery Center in Pasadena, California. Premiering on November 1, 2009, Sex Rehab is a spin-off of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, in...
, in which Pinsky and his staff treat celebrities for sexual addiction
Sexual addiction
Sexual addiction is a popular model to explain hypersexuality—sexual urges, behaviors, or thoughts that appear extreme in frequency or feel out of one's control...
.
Reception
While Pinsky and the series has won praise from both former addicts and other addiction specialists, many take issue with Pinsky's methods. Jeffrey Foote, a clinical psychologist and substance abuse expert, stated, "The velvet-glove confrontational stuff Pinsky does is what works for TV, but it's not what works for patients." The web site for Foote's Center for Motivation and Change uses a clip from Celebrity Rehab to demonstrate poor techniques. Foote added, "The dramatic confrontations seen on the show are actually more likely to drive less-severe substance abusers, who are by far the majority, away from seeking treatment." Critics also maintain that the patients' needs and the show's needs constitute a conflict of interest, with Dr. John J. Mariani, director of the Substance Treatment and Research Service at Columbia UniversityColumbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
stating, "The problem here is that Dr. Drew benefits from their participation, which must have some powerful effects on his way of relating to them. He also has a vested interest in the outcome of their treatment being interesting to viewers, which is also not in their best interest. Treatment with conflicts of interest isn’t treatment."
Pinsky has responded to such criticism by saying his medical peers "don't understand television. You have to work within the confines of what executives will allow you to put on TV. Otherwise, we've not done anything, we've not really struggled to change the culture at all." Regarding the series airing on a network that broadcasts other reality shows featuring uncritical depictions of sexuality and alcohol as recurring themes, he aid, "The people that need what we have are watching VH1. Not the people watching educational TV, the NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
crowd. You gotta give 'em what they want so you can give ’em what they need."
Defending the practice of paying addicts to attend rehab, producer John Irwin said, "Whatever it takes to get them through the door so they can start treatment—that's the goal." Pinsky offered a similar response, saying, "My whole thing is bait and switch. Whatever motivates them to come in, that's fine. Then we can get them involved with the process."
Despite the involvement of former Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1987 by guitarist and songwriter Jerry Cantrell and original lead vocalist Layne Staley. The initial lineup was rounded out by drummer Sean Kinney, and bassist Mike Starr...
bassist Mike Starr
Mike Starr (musician)
Michael Christopher "Mike" Starr was an American musician, best known as the original bassist in Alice in Chains, with whom he played from the band's formation in 1987 until 1993.- Career :...
as well as an appearance by Nancy McCallum, mother of the original AIC singer Layne Staley
Layne Staley
Layne Thomas Staley was an American musician who served as the lead singer and co-lyricist of the rock group Alice in Chains, which was formed in Seattle, Washington in 1987 by Staley and guitarist Jerry Cantrell. Alice in Chains rose to international fame as part of the grunge movement of the...
, who died of an overdose in 2002, the remaining original members of AIC, guitarist Jerry Cantrell
Jerry Cantrell
Jerry Fulton Cantrell Jr. is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter best known for his work with the grunge/metal band Alice in Chains, as lead guitarist, backing and co-lead vocalist, and co-lyricist. He performs lead vocals on his solo projects, and is part of Alice in Chains' harmonizing...
and drummer Sean Kinney
Sean Kinney
Sean Howard Kinney is an American musician best known for being the drummer of the influential grunge band Alice in Chains....
, have criticized the show, calling it "disgusting". Kinney said of the program, "It exploits people at their lowest point, when they're not in their right mind, and the sad part is, this is like entertainment for people when it's actually a life and death situation. I don't think it helps anybody and it makes entertainment out of people's possible death, and that's pathetic and it's stupid."
Columnist Drew Grant called for an end to the series because of its "warped sense of priorities", opining that the practice of assembling celebrities with serious drug addictions with others that, according to Grant, either do not suffer from addiction or whose addictions are self-diagnosed, like Rachel Uchitel
Rachel Uchitel
Rachel Uchitel is an American nightclub manager, hostess, sports groupie and TV correspondent. She first encountered publicity when,...
and Gary Busey
Gary Busey
William Gary Busey , best known as Gary Busey, is an American film and stage actor and artist. He has appeared in a large variety of films, as well as making regular appearances on Gunsmoke, Walker, Texas Ranger, Law & Order, and Entourage...
, for the purpose of creating entertainment, serves to encourage the "celebrity narcissism
Narcissism
Narcissism is a term with a wide range of meanings, depending on whether it is used to describe a central concept of psychoanalytic theory, a mental illness, a social or cultural problem, or simply a personality trait...
" that Pinsky himself has criticized.
Not all substance-abuse specialists have been critical of the show. Dr. Mary Oxford, staff psychologist for the Menninger Clinic
Menninger Foundation
The Menninger Foundation was founded in 1919 by the Menninger family in Topeka, Kansas, and consists of a clinic, a sanatorium, and a school of psychiatry, all of which bear the Menninger name. In 2003, the Menninger Clinic moved to Houston. The foundation was started by Drs. Karl, Will, and...
, praised it for removing the stigma surrounding addiction in the general public, and demystifying the process of treatment, and showing the lay public the skill of reflective listening
Reflective listening
Reflective listening is a communication strategy involving two key steps: seeking to understand a speaker's idea, then offering the idea back to the speaker, to confirm the idea has been understood correctly. It attempts to "reconstruct what the client is thinking and feeling and to relay this...
.
Cast
| Cast member | Notability | Addiction |
|---|---|---|
| Seth "Shifty Shellshock" Binzer | Lead singer of rap rock Rap rock Rap rock is a cross-genre fusing vocal and instrumental elements of hip hop with various forms of rock. Rap rock is often confused with rap metal and rapcore, subgenres that include heavy metal-oriented and hardcore punk-oriented bands, respectively.... band Crazy Town Crazy Town Crazy Town is a rap rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1995 by Bret Mazur and Seth Binzer. The band is best known for their 2001 single, "Butterfly", which reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart... |
Cocaine Cocaine Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic... (powder and crack Crack cocaine Crack cocaine is the freebase form of cocaine that can be smoked. It may also be termed rock, hard, iron, cavvy, base, or just crack; it is the most addictive form of cocaine. Crack rocks offer a short but intense high to smokers... ) |
| Daniel Baldwin Daniel Baldwin Daniel Leroy Baldwin is an American actor, producer and director. He is the second oldest of the four Baldwin brothers, all of whom are actors. Daniel Baldwin is known for his role as Detective Beau Felton in the popular NBC TV series Homicide: Life on the Street... |
Actor (Departed the show in episode four) | Cocaine |
| Mary Carey | Porn actress and former candidate for California Governor | Alcohol Alcohol In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms.... |
| Jeff Conaway Jeff Conaway Jeffrey Charles William Michael "Jeff" Conaway was an American actor best known for his roles in the movie Grease and the US television series Taxi and Babylon 5. Conaway was featured on the first season of reality series Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew... |
Actor | Alcohol; cocaine; painkillers (Vicodin Vicodin Hydrocodone/paracetamol is a combination of two analgesic products hydrocodone and paracetamol used to relieve moderate to severe pain... , OxyContin, Xanax, Zoloft, Ambien) |
| Jaimee Foxworth Jaimee Foxworth Jaimee Foxworth is an American actress who played the part of Judy Winslow, the youngest daughter, for four seasons on Family Matters. She later briefly transitioned to pornographic films using the name Crave.- Career :... |
Former child actress | Marijuana |
| Joanie "Chyna" Laurer | Actress and former professional wrestler | Alcohol |
| Brigitte Nielsen Brigitte Nielsen Brigitte Nielsen is a Danish model, actress, musician and reality television personality who began her career modelling for Greg Gorman and Helmut Newton and several years later made appearances in the 1985 films Red Sonja and Rocky IV and is also known for her marriage to Sylvester Stallone... |
Actress and former model | Alcohol |
| Ricco Rodriguez Ricco Rodriguez Ricco Rodriguez is an American mixed martial artist and former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight champion. He has also competed in Pride Fighting Championship, EliteXC, International Fight League, BAMMA, World Extreme Cagefighting and King of the Cage.-Early life:Rodriguez grew up in the... |
Mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts Mixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, judo and other styles. The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be... fighter and former UFC Heavyweight Champion |
Cocaine; marijuana; benzodiazepines (Valium) |
| Jessica Sierra Jessica Sierra Jessica Ann Sierra is an American singer and was the tenth-place finalist on the fourth season of American Idol. She was the third finalist eliminated, on March 30, 2005... |
Singer and former American Idol American Idol American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment... contestant |
Cocaine; alcohol |
Outcome
Sierra, Binzer, and Carey agreed to enter a transitional sober living home in the season finale. All three, as well as Laurer and Foxworth, would eventually relapse; some re-entered treatment. VH1VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
aired a reunion special detailing the patients' lives since filming. Although Conaway was able to maintain sobriety from alcohol and cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
, he continued to abuse analgesics for his back pain, and would re-enter treatment in the show's second season. Binzer also appeared in several episodes of the second season for his relapses, as well as the Sober House spin-off series.
Laurer was hospitalized in December 2008 and was reportedly going back to rehab.
Nielsen and Rodriguez have reportedly maintained their sobriety. Pinsky has said on numerous occasions that Nielsen has quit drinking and also gave up smoking. Nielsen has also appeared on his radio shows to talk about her sobriety. In 2009, she appeared as a panel speaker to another group at the Pasadena Recovery Center, in which she anticipated the upcoming two-year mark of her sobriety that July, as seen in a third season episode of the series, which aired in February 2010.
Sierra has tested "clean and sober" for a year and a half following a court-ordered year of treatment at the Pasadena Recovery Center, She also appeared with Nielsen in the aforementioned third season episode, marking her 18 months of sobriety.
The status of Baldwin's sobriety is unknown. As of May 2009, Foxworth is reportedly sober and gave birth to a son.
Carey relapsed and returned to porn, starring in and directing a parody film called Celebrity Pornhab with Dr. Screw
Celebrity Pornhab with Dr. Screw
Celebrity Pornhab with Dr. Screw is a 2009 pornographic film that satirizes the VH1 reality series Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew. The film stars a variety of porn stars including Mary Carey, Mike Horner. This film marks Mary Carey's comeback to adult films...
, a decision that Pinsky said saddened him. Regarding her sobriety, Pinsky commented in a January 2010 TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
story, "She puts together, like, six weeks at a time of sobriety, then drifts away. We're trying to get her to stay with it once and for all."
Season 2
Season 2 of Celebrity Rehab premiered on October 23, 2008.Pinsky saw musician Steven Adler
Steven Adler
Steven Adler is an American musician. He is best known as the former drummer of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s...
as this season's "problem child", describing his behavior as "suicidal", and related that Adler had to be put into a psychiatric hospital for two weeks prior to going into rehab. Jeff Conaway
Jeff Conaway
Jeffrey Charles William Michael "Jeff" Conaway was an American actor best known for his roles in the movie Grease and the US television series Taxi and Babylon 5. Conaway was featured on the first season of reality series Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew...
was also a grave concern, according to Pinsky.
Actor and recovering cocaine addict Gary Busey
Gary Busey
William Gary Busey , best known as Gary Busey, is an American film and stage actor and artist. He has appeared in a large variety of films, as well as making regular appearances on Gunsmoke, Walker, Texas Ranger, Law & Order, and Entourage...
entered the program, claiming to do so not as a patient, but as a mentor to assist others in their recoveries. This was stated in his contract, and confirmed by VH1's official press release about Season 2. Pinsky disputes this, however, stating, "I was confused too. But that's not my problem. My problem is that I've got a guy who needs help and I've got to figure out a way to get him into treatment. Gary [ends up having] a really inspirational experience. But it's a good 10 days before he comes around.
Cast
| Cast member | Notability | Addiction |
|---|---|---|
| Steven Adler Steven Adler Steven Adler is an American musician. He is best known as the former drummer of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s... |
Former Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band, formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, in 1985. The band has released six studio albums, three EPs, and one live album... drummer |
Valium; alcohol Alcohol In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms.... ; heroin; cocaine Cocaine Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic... |
| Seth Binzer | Singer, returning from Season 1 after Dr. Drew learned of his relapse Relapse Relapse, in relation to drug misuse, is resuming the use of a drug or a dependent substance after one or more periods of abstinence. The term is a landmark feature of both substance dependence and substance abuse, which are learned behaviors, and is maintained by neuronal adaptations that mediate... |
Stimulant Stimulant Stimulants are psychoactive drugs which induce temporary improvements in either mental or physical function or both. Examples of these kinds of effects may include enhanced alertness, wakefulness, and locomotion, among others... s (crack cocaine Crack cocaine Crack cocaine is the freebase form of cocaine that can be smoked. It may also be termed rock, hard, iron, cavvy, base, or just crack; it is the most addictive form of cocaine. Crack rocks offer a short but intense high to smokers... ) |
| Gary Busey Gary Busey William Gary Busey , best known as Gary Busey, is an American film and stage actor and artist. He has appeared in a large variety of films, as well as making regular appearances on Gunsmoke, Walker, Texas Ranger, Law & Order, and Entourage... |
Actor | Recovering cocaine addict, clean and sober for 13 years, though Pinsky questions his current use of medicinal marijuana Medical cannabis Medical cannabis refers to the use of parts of the herb cannabis as a physician-recommended form of medicine or herbal therapy, or to synthetic forms of specific cannabinoids such as THC as a physician-recommended form of medicine... for his asthma. He appears as a counselor to the other patients. (See above) |
| Jeff Conaway Jeff Conaway Jeffrey Charles William Michael "Jeff" Conaway was an American actor best known for his roles in the movie Grease and the US television series Taxi and Babylon 5. Conaway was featured on the first season of reality series Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew... |
Actor, returning from Season 1 following back surgeries that increased his painkiller addiction | Opiate Opiate In medicine, the term opiate describes any of the narcotic opioid alkaloids found as natural products in the opium poppy plant.-Overview:Opiates are so named because they are constituents or derivatives of constituents found in opium, which is processed from the latex sap of the opium poppy,... s (Oxycontin); cocaine |
| Rodney King Rodney King Rodney Glen King is an American best known for his involvement in a police brutality case involving the Los Angeles Police Department on March 3, 1991... |
Became a U.S. civil rights figure when videotaped in 1991 being beaten by L.A.P.D. Los Angeles Police Department The Los Angeles Police Department is the police department of the city of Los Angeles, California. With just under 10,000 officers and more than 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 4.1 million people, it is the third largest local law enforcement agency in... officers, whose later acquittal sparked violent riots in L.A. 1992 Los Angeles riots The 1992 Los Angeles Riots or South Central Riots, also known as the 1992 Los Angeles Civil Unrest were sparked on April 29, 1992, when a jury acquitted three white and one hispanic Los Angeles Police Department officers accused in the videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King following a... |
Alcohol |
| Tawny Kitaen Tawny Kitaen Julie "Tawny" Kitaen is an American actress and media personality. She became famous in the 1980s for appearing in several hard rock videos for the band Whitesnake, including the hit "Here I Go Again". Kitaen was married to Whitesnake lead singer David Coverdale from 1989–1991... |
Actress and former model | Painkillers (Demerol and Vicodin Vicodin Hydrocodone/paracetamol is a combination of two analgesic products hydrocodone and paracetamol used to relieve moderate to severe pain... ) and cocaine |
| Nikki McKibbin Nikki McKibbin Katherine Nicole "Nikki" McKibbin is an American rock music singer-songwriter who finished third in the debut season of the reality television series American Idol. Prior to American Idol, McKibbin appeared in the first season of Popstars... |
Singer and former American Idol American Idol American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment... contestant |
Cocaine, alcohol, Adderall Adderall Adderall is a brand name of amphetamine salts–based medication used for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and narcolepsy. It is a brand-name psychostimulant medication composed of racemic amphetamine aspartate monohydrate, racemic amphetamine sulfate, dextroamphetamine saccharide, and... , painkillers (Vicodin Vicodin Hydrocodone/paracetamol is a combination of two analgesic products hydrocodone and paracetamol used to relieve moderate to severe pain... ); (McKibbin was formerly addicted to ecstasy as well.) |
| Amber Smith Amber Smith -Early life:The daughter of professional American football player Russ Smith and Carol Smith, Smith started modeling by age 16. As a teenager she traveled to Paris, France, where she worked as a model throughout Europe for four years... |
Actress and model | Depressant Depressant A depressant, or central depressant, is a drug or endogenous compound that depresses the function or activity of a specific part of the brain... s and opiates (Adderall, Dexadrine, Valium, Xanax, Klonopin, Suboxone) |
| Sean Stewart Sean Stewart (reality TV star) Sean Roderick Stewart is the son of singer Rod Stewart and Alana Hamilton. His A&E biography describes him as "a songwriter, musician, and model".... |
Son of singer Rod Stewart Rod Stewart Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE is a British singer-songwriter and musician, born and raised in North London, England and currently residing in Epping. He is of Scottish and English ancestry.... . |
Alcohol; ecstasy; Vicodin; morphine Morphine Morphine is a potent opiate analgesic medication and is considered to be the prototypical opioid. It was first isolated in 1804 by Friedrich Sertürner, first distributed by same in 1817, and first commercially sold by Merck in 1827, which at the time was a single small chemists' shop. It was more... ; Fentanyl; cocaine; heroin |
On October 1, 2008, rock band Alter Bridge
Alter Bridge
Alter Bridge is an American rock band that was formed in 2004 in Orlando, Florida by lead guitarist Mark Tremonti, bassist Brian Marshall, and drummer Scott Phillips, who are all also members of Creed. Lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Myles Kennedy, formerly of The Mayfield Four and the frontman...
, in conjunction with VH1, released a video for their single "Watch Over You
Watch Over You
"Watch Over You" is a song by the American rock band Alter Bridge, featured on the band's second album Blackbird in 2007. The ballad is one of Alter Bridge's softer songs and has a much lighter tone than other songs on the album...
" containing clips from the upcoming season of Celebrity Rehab.
Outcome
Most of the celebrities (except for Kitaen, Busey and Stewart) agreed to make a transitional move into a sober livingSober living environment
Sober living environments are facilities used by addicts recovering from substance abuse, which serve as an interim environment between rehab and a return to their former lives. SLEs grew out of a need to have safe and supportive place for people to live while they were in recovery...
home which was filmed for Sober House– although Busey expressed interest in attending sober living as a speaker. Conaway was released early from the center during the final episode of Season 2 after kicking his girlfriend in the ribs during an argument. As soon as Conaway returned to his home, he continued abusing pain killers. During the course of Sober House, Adler, Smith and Binzer relapsed. Adler has made repeated appearances on Loveline talking about his success with sobriety and how his life is drastically different for the better. On September 26, 2009, Kitaen was arrested for drinking and driving. Amber Smith
Amber Smith
-Early life:The daughter of professional American football player Russ Smith and Carol Smith, Smith started modeling by age 16. As a teenager she traveled to Paris, France, where she worked as a model throughout Europe for four years...
later appeared in the spinoff Sex Rehab.
In 2009 Rodney King
Rodney King
Rodney Glen King is an American best known for his involvement in a police brutality case involving the Los Angeles Police Department on March 3, 1991...
and Amber Smith appeared as panel speakers to a group of addicts at the Pasadena Recovery Center, marking 11 months of sobriety for King, and a year and a half of sobriety for Smith. Nikki McKibbin
Nikki McKibbin
Katherine Nicole "Nikki" McKibbin is an American rock music singer-songwriter who finished third in the debut season of the reality television series American Idol. Prior to American Idol, McKibbin appeared in the first season of Popstars...
marked a year of sobriety on June 10, 2009.
On May 11, 2011 Jeff Conaway
Jeff Conaway
Jeffrey Charles William Michael "Jeff" Conaway was an American actor best known for his roles in the movie Grease and the US television series Taxi and Babylon 5. Conaway was featured on the first season of reality series Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew...
was hospitalized for pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
, for which he was placed in an induced coma. He later died after being taken from life support on May 27, 2011. He was the second Celebrity Rehab cast member to die in 2011, following the death of Mike Starr
Mike Starr (musician)
Michael Christopher "Mike" Starr was an American musician, best known as the original bassist in Alice in Chains, with whom he played from the band's formation in 1987 until 1993.- Career :...
two months prior. Pinsky attributed Conaway's death to his addiction, stating, "What happens is, like with most opiate addicts, eventually they take a little too much...and they aspirate, so what's in their mouth gets into their lungs...That's what happened with Jeff."
Season 3
On April 22, 2009, it was announced on the Futon Critic that Celebrity Rehab had been renewed for a third season and that a new spinoff titled Sex Rehab with Dr. DrewSex Rehab with Dr. Drew
Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew is a VH1 reality television show that documents people being treated for sexual addiction by Dr. Drew Pinsky and his staff at the Pasadena Recovery Center in Pasadena, California. Premiering on November 1, 2009, Sex Rehab is a spin-off of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, in...
was being put into production. Sex Rehab premiered on November 1, 2009. Season 3 of Celebrity Rehab premiered on January 7, 2010.
Patient Heidi Fleiss
Heidi Fleiss
Heidi Lynne Fleiss is an American former madam, and also a columnist and television personality regularly featured in the 1990s in American media. She is often referred to as the "Hollywood Madam"....
was shown to be living in solitude in the wilderness of Nevada while caring for 25 parrots. Pinsky did brain scans of her that showed significant frontal lobe
Frontal lobe
The frontal lobe is an area in the brain of humans and other mammals, located at the front of each cerebral hemisphere and positioned anterior to the parietal lobe and superior and anterior to the temporal lobes...
dysfunction, which Pinsky theorized was behind her inability to empathize with people, and her affinity for doing so with birds.
Actor Tom Sizemore
Tom Sizemore
Thomas Edward "Tom" Sizemore, Jr. is an American film and television actor and producer. He is known for his roles in films such as Saving Private Ryan, Strange Days, Pearl Harbor, Heat and Black Hawk Down....
had been approached to appear in Season 1, but declined. He met with Pinsky about appearing in the second season, sitting in Pinsky's office for two hours, as Pinsky tells it, "sweating and completely high on drugs, talking a million miles an hour, acting like he was going to do it then deciding he didn’t want to." He ultimately decided to appear in Season 3, but did not arrive in the season premiere with the others, forcing Pinsky's colleague Bob Forrest
Bob Forrest
Bob Forrest is the lead vocalist and lyricist for Los Angeles bands Thelonious Monster and The Bicycle Thief. In September 2006 he released his first solo album, Modern Folk And Blues Wednesday. He is also a drug counselor, appearing alongside Dr...
to seek him out. Pinsky adds in the season's fourth episode that he believes Sizemore's girlfriend is also a user, and that their relationship is a threat to his sobriety. Pinsky points to Sizemore's story as emblematic of the difficulty of getting an addict to commit to rehab. Because of the tumultuous prior relationship between patients Sizemore and Fleiss, their consent to being cast together during the same season was obtained prior to filming.
Commenting on Dennis Rodman
Dennis Rodman
Dennis Keith Rodman is a retired American Hall of Fame professional basketball player of the National Basketball Association's Detroit Pistons, San Antonio Spurs, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks. Born in Trenton, New Jersey, he was nicknamed "Dennis the Menace" and "The...
's detachment from the rehabilitation process, Pinsky said that Rodman was "hyper-focused in some ways, and in others, completely blank", and observed that Rodman didn't comprehend what the other patients were experiencing, or how they perceived him. Pinsky concluded that Rodman may have Asperger's syndrome, a diagnosis with which a colleague from UCLA Medical Center concurred.
Mackenzie Phillips
Mackenzie Phillips
Mackenzie Phillips is an American actress and singer best known for her roles in American Graffiti and as rebellious teenager Julie Cooper Horvath on the sitcom One Day at a Time...
had accomplished several months of sobriety before checking into the Pasadena Recovery Center.
Joey Kovar, who previously sought treatment for his addiction to cocaine and alcohol during his stint on 2008's The Real World: Hollywood
The Real World: Hollywood
The Real World: Hollywood is the twentieth season of MTV's reality television series The Real World, which focuses on a group of diverse strangers living together for several months in a different city each season, as cameras document their lives and interpersonal relationships. It premiered on...
, was spurred to return to rehab for his recurring addiction by the impending birth of his and his girlfriend Nikki's child.
Pinsky commented on Lisa D'Amato
Lisa D'Amato
Lisa Marie D'Amato is an American recording artist, fashion model and television personality from Los Angeles, California...
by saying, "I would classify her as an addict in denial. This is the only disease you have to convince people they have."
Following her ejection from Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew
Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew
Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew is a VH1 reality television show that documents people being treated for sexual addiction by Dr. Drew Pinsky and his staff at the Pasadena Recovery Center in Pasadena, California. Premiering on November 1, 2009, Sex Rehab is a spin-off of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, in...
, Kari Ann Peniche
Kari Ann Peniche
Kari Ann Peniche is a former beauty queen and entertainer from Fairview, Oregon. She has held the Miss Oregon Teen USA and Miss United States Teen titles. She was stripped of the latter title after appearing nude in the November 2004 issue of Playboy magazine.Peniche lived in San Diego before...
was allowed back to the Pasadena Recovery Center after she called Pinsky and asked for help. Pinsky, who explains in this season's fourth episode that treatment for drug addiction must take place before treatment for sex addiction, revealed that her aggressive behavior during Sex Rehab was derived from drugs she smuggled in a teddy bear
Teddy bear
The teddy bear is a stuffed toy bear. They are usually stuffed with soft, white cotton and have smooth and soft fur. It is an enduring form of a stuffed animal in many countries, often serving the purpose of entertaining children. In recent times, some teddy bears have become collector's items...
, and which were difficult to detect during drug testing because of the medication Peniche took for attention deficit disorder. Irwin says her behavior had changed by her second appearance, though she did punch a camera man at one point.
Cast
| Cast member | Notability | Addiction |
|---|---|---|
| Lisa D'Amato Lisa D'Amato Lisa Marie D'Amato is an American recording artist, fashion model and television personality from Los Angeles, California... |
Model and electro rock Electro rock Electronic rock, also commonly referred to as synthrock, electro rock or digital rock, is rock music generated with electronic instruments... musician |
Alcohol Alcohol In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms.... ; marijuana; amphetamine Amphetamine Amphetamine or amfetamine is a psychostimulant drug of the phenethylamine class which produces increased wakefulness and focus in association with decreased fatigue and appetite.Brand names of medications that contain, or metabolize into, amphetamine include Adderall, Dexedrine, Dextrostat,... s; cocaine Cocaine Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic... ; mushrooms |
| Heidi Fleiss Heidi Fleiss Heidi Lynne Fleiss is an American former madam, and also a columnist and television personality regularly featured in the 1990s in American media. She is often referred to as the "Hollywood Madam".... |
Former American madam Madam Madam, or madame, is a polite title used for women which, in English, is the equivalent of Mrs. or Ms., and is often found abbreviated as "ma'am", and less frequently as "ma'm". It is derived from the French madame, which means "my lady", the feminine form of lord; the plural of ma dame in this... |
Methamphetamine Methamphetamine Methamphetamine is a psychostimulant of the phenethylamine and amphetamine class of psychoactive drugs... ; Valium; Xanax; Vicodin Vicodin Hydrocodone/paracetamol is a combination of two analgesic products hydrocodone and paracetamol used to relieve moderate to severe pain... (Fleiss states that she is coming off a prescription for Suboxone.) |
| Joey Kovar | Cast member on The Real World: Hollywood The Real World: Hollywood The Real World: Hollywood is the twentieth season of MTV's reality television series The Real World, which focuses on a group of diverse strangers living together for several months in a different city each season, as cameras document their lives and interpersonal relationships. It premiered on... |
Alcohol; cocaine; ecstasy; methamphetamine; steroids |
| Mindy McCready Mindy McCready Melinda Gayle "Mindy" McCready is an American country music singer. Active since 1996, she has recorded a total of five studio albums. Her debut album, 1996's Ten Thousand Angels, was released on BNA Records and was certified 2× Multi-Platinum by the RIAA, while 1997's If I Don't Stay the... |
Country music Country music Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music... singer |
OxyContin; alcohol; (McCready states that she takes prescription Xanax for anxiety as needed, and that the painkillers found among her belongings during Intake were for her shoulder, which was dislocated a month prior.) |
| Kari Ann Peniche Kari Ann Peniche Kari Ann Peniche is a former beauty queen and entertainer from Fairview, Oregon. She has held the Miss Oregon Teen USA and Miss United States Teen titles. She was stripped of the latter title after appearing nude in the November 2004 issue of Playboy magazine.Peniche lived in San Diego before... |
Miss Teen USA 2002 Miss Teen USA 2002 Miss Teen USA 2002, the 20th Miss Teen USA pageant, was televised live from South Padre Island, Texas on 28 August 2002. At the conclusion of the final competition, Miss Wisconsin Teen USA Vanessa Marie Semrow was crowned by outgoing queen Marissa Whitley of Missouri.This was the second... and subject of a Playboy Playboy Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with... pictorial |
Methamphetamine |
| Mackenzie Phillips Mackenzie Phillips Mackenzie Phillips is an American actress and singer best known for her roles in American Graffiti and as rebellious teenager Julie Cooper Horvath on the sitcom One Day at a Time... |
Actress | Heroin; cocaine (Formerly used marijuana.) |
| Dennis Rodman Dennis Rodman Dennis Keith Rodman is a retired American Hall of Fame professional basketball player of the National Basketball Association's Detroit Pistons, San Antonio Spurs, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks. Born in Trenton, New Jersey, he was nicknamed "Dennis the Menace" and "The... |
Former basketball player | Alcohol |
| Tom Sizemore Tom Sizemore Thomas Edward "Tom" Sizemore, Jr. is an American film and television actor and producer. He is known for his roles in films such as Saving Private Ryan, Strange Days, Pearl Harbor, Heat and Black Hawk Down.... |
Actor | Opiate Opiate In medicine, the term opiate describes any of the narcotic opioid alkaloids found as natural products in the opium poppy plant.-Overview:Opiates are so named because they are constituents or derivatives of constituents found in opium, which is processed from the latex sap of the opium poppy,... s; benzodiazepine Benzodiazepine A benzodiazepine is a psychoactive drug whose core chemical structure is the fusion of a benzene ring and a diazepine ring... s; methamphetamine; marijuana; heroin; Klonopin (formerly used cocaine from 1991-1996) |
| Mike Starr Mike Starr (musician) Michael Christopher "Mike" Starr was an American musician, best known as the original bassist in Alice in Chains, with whom he played from the band's formation in 1987 until 1993.- Career :... |
Former Alice in Chains Alice in Chains Alice in Chains is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1987 by guitarist and songwriter Jerry Cantrell and original lead vocalist Layne Staley. The initial lineup was rounded out by drummer Sean Kinney, and bassist Mike Starr... bass player |
Heroin; methadone Methadone Methadone is a synthetic opioid, used medically as an analgesic and a maintenance anti-addictive for use in patients with opioid dependency. It was developed in Germany in 1937... ; methamphetamine; cocaine; marijuana. |
Outcome
Peniche, Starr, Fleiss, Sizemore and Rodman all agreed to attend a sober living facility after treatment, which was chronicled on the second season of Sober House. Kovar indicated that he would get a sponsor, go to meetings, and go to sober living after his girlfriend moved into their new home. McCready, who cited the need to return to her son, indicated that she would go to Al-Anon.Since completing treatment, Pinsky says that D'Amato, who declined sober living, but agreed to go to meetings, "seems pretty good to me. My bet is she'll continue to flirt with using, but will have a deeper understanding now of her behavior."
Phillips and McCready appeared with Pinsky in a segment on women and addiction on the March 17, 2010 episode of The View.
Mike Starr was arrested February 18, 2011 on two felony counts of possession of a controlled substance for 6 pills of the painkiller Opana
Oxymorphone
Oxymorphone or 14-Hydroxydihydromorphinone is a powerful semi-synthetic opioid analgesic first developed in Germany circa 1914, patented in the USA by Endo Pharmaceuticals in 1955 and introduced to the United States market in January 1959 and other countries around the same time...
and 6 pills of Xanax, an anti-anxiety drug. Starr was later found dead on March 8, 2011 in Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...
.
Season 4
In May 2010, model and reality TV veteran Tila Tequila, who disclosed an addiction to prescription medication, was the first cast member announced for season four. However, on July 12, it was announced that she withdrew from the cast.Filming on season four ended the week of August 1, 2010. It began airing on December 1, 2010.
On August 31, RadarOnline reported that Rachel Uchitel
Rachel Uchitel
Rachel Uchitel is an American nightclub manager, hostess, sports groupie and TV correspondent. She first encountered publicity when,...
, who had been living at a sober living facility in Malibu, California, left the facility with Pinsky's permission in order to visit the World Trade Center site
World Trade Center site
The World Trade Center site , also known as "Ground Zero" after the September 11 attacks, sits on in Lower Manhattan in New York City...
, where her fiance, James Andrew O'Grady, was killed during the September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
, which Uchitel has explained was when her life began to unravel, culminating in a "massive breakdown" two years later. Uchitel spoke to other 9/11 families at the site, and was moved by her encounter with them.
Cast
| Cast member | Notability | Addiction |
|---|---|---|
| Jason Davis Jason Davis (actor) Jason Davis is an actor best known for his voice acting work on the Animated TV series Recess.-Early life:... |
Actor, socialite Socialite A socialite is a person who participates in social activities and spends a significant amount of time entertaining and being entertained at fashionable upper-class events.... |
Heroin; OxyContin; Xanax |
| Janice Dickinson Janice Dickinson Janice Doreen Dickinson is an American actress, author, fashion photographer, model and talent agent.Initially notable as a model, she has described herself as the first supermodel. One of the most successful models throughout the 1970s and 1980s, she expanded her profession to reality television... |
Model Model (person) A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art.... , fashion photographer Fashion photography Fashion photography is a genre of photography devoted to displaying clothing and other fashion items. Fashion photography is most often conducted for advertisements or fashion magazines such as Vogue, Vanity Fair, or Elle... , actress, author Author An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:... and agent Talent agent A talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds jobs for actors, authors, film directors, musicians, models, producers, professional athletes, writers and other people in various entertainment businesses. Having an agent is not required, but does help the artist in getting jobs... . |
Alcohol Alcohol In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms.... ; cocaine Cocaine Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic... (Dickinson says she formerly took Ativan, and that she takes one prescription Ambien a night to sleep.) |
| Leif Garrett Leif Garrett Leif Garrett is an American singer and actor. He became famous in the late 1970s as a teen idol, but received much publicity in later life for his drug abuse and legal troubles.-Early life:... |
Actor, singer, and TV commentator | Cocaine; heroin |
| Jeremy London Jeremy London Jeremy Michael London is an American actor. He is best known for his regular roles on Party of Five, 7th Heaven, and I'll Fly Away, as well as a notable supporting role in the Civil War epic Gods and Generals.... |
Actor, best known for his regular roles on Party of Five Party of Five Party of Five is an American teen drama television series that aired on Fox for six seasons, from September 12, 1994, until May 3, 2000.Critically acclaimed, the show suffered from low ratings and after its first season was slated for cancellation... , 7th Heaven 7th Heaven 7th Heaven is an American family drama television series, created and produced by Brenda Hampton. The series premiered on August 26, 1996, on the WB, the first time that the network aired Monday night programming, and was originally broadcast from August 26, 1996 to May 13, 2007... , and I'll Fly Away I'll Fly Away (TV series) I'll Fly Away is a television series set during the late 1950s and early 1960s, in an unspecified Southern U.S. state. It aired on NBC from 1991 to 1993 and starred Regina Taylor as Lilly Harper, a black housekeeper for district attorney Forrest Bedford and his family... . |
Marijuana; painkillers |
| Francine "Frankie" Lons | Star of the BET Black Entertainment Television Black Entertainment Television is an American, Viacom-owned cable network based in Washington, D.C.. Currently viewed in more than 90 million homes worldwide, it is the most prominent television network targeting young Black-American audiences. The network was launched on January 25, 1980, by its... reality show Frankie & Neffe Frankie & Neffe Frankie & Neffe is a reality show that debuted on August 25, 2009 on BET. The series chronicles the lives of R&B singer Keyshia Cole's biological mother and sister, Frankie Lons and Neffeteria Pugh. The series is preceded by Cole's reality show Keyshia Cole: The Way It Is... , and mother of singer Keyshia Cole Keyshia Cole Keyshia Myeshia Cole Gibson born October 15, 1981) is an American singer–songwriter and actress. She gained nationwide acclaim when her 2005 debut album, The Way It Is went platinum. Her sophomore album Just Like You went into production shortly after that and was released in September 2007... . |
Alcohol; crack cocaine Crack cocaine Crack cocaine is the freebase form of cocaine that can be smoked. It may also be termed rock, hard, iron, cavvy, base, or just crack; it is the most addictive form of cocaine. Crack rocks offer a short but intense high to smokers... |
| Eric Roberts Eric Roberts Eric Anthony Roberts is an American actor. His career began with King of the Gypsies , earning a Golden Globe nomination for best actor debut. He starred as the protagonist in the 1980 dramatisation of Willa Cather's 1905 short story, Paul's Case... |
Actor Actor An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity... , known for his Oscar-nominated performance in Runaway Train Runaway Train (film) Runaway Train is a 1985 film about two escaped convicts and a female train worker who are stuck on a runaway train as it barrels through snowy desolate Alaska. It stars Jon Voight as Oscar "Manny" Manheim, Eric Roberts as Buck, John P. Ryan as Associate Warden Ranken and Rebecca De Mornay as Sara... and TV shows such as Less Than Perfect Less Than Perfect Less Than Perfect is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from October 1, 2002, to June 6, 2006. The show was about a young female office employee and her co-workers... and Heroes Heroes (TV series) Heroes is an American science fiction television drama series created by Tim Kring that appeared on NBC for four seasons from September 25, 2006 through February 8, 2010. The series tells the stories of ordinary people who discover superhuman abilities, and how these abilities take effect in the... . |
Marijuana (Formerly used cocaine and a variety of psychotropic drugs such as Prozac.) |
| Rachel Uchitel Rachel Uchitel Rachel Uchitel is an American nightclub manager, hostess, sports groupie and TV correspondent. She first encountered publicity when,... |
Nightclub manager, correspondent for Extra Extra (TV series) Extra is an American entertainment television news program covering events and celebrities which debuted on September 5, 1994 in syndication. It is produced at Victory Studios in Glendale, California by Telepictures Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television Distribution... , and one of Tiger Woods Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No... ' mistresses Mistress (lover) A mistress is a long-term female lover and companion who is not married to her partner; the term is used especially when her partner is married. The relationship generally is stable and at least semi-permanent; however, the couple does not live together openly. Also the relationship is usually,... . |
Alcohol; Opiates including Vicodin Vicodin Hydrocodone/paracetamol is a combination of two analgesic products hydrocodone and paracetamol used to relieve moderate to severe pain... ; benzodiazepines including Valium, Klonopin, and Xanax |
| Jason Wahler | Reality television personality known as a second season cast member on Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County, often referred to simply as Laguna Beach, is a reality television series which originally aired on MTV from September 28, 2004 until November 16, 2006. It documents the lives of several teenagers living in Laguna Beach, an affluent seaside community located in... |
Alcohol |
Outcome
In a December 2010 interview in TV GuideTV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
, Pinsky stated that Dickinson was "doing so well", in stark contrast to her struggles documented during filming.
During the cast reunion show, Jason Davis
Jason Davis (actor)
Jason Davis is an actor best known for his voice acting work on the Animated TV series Recess.-Early life:...
claimed that he had relapsed twice but was currently sober. However, on January 27, 2011 he was arrested for drug possession and subsequently charged with felony possession and being under the influence of narcotics.
Season 5
On March 3, 2011, Amy FisherAmy Fisher
Amy Elizabeth Fisher is an American woman who became known as "the Long Island Lolita" by the media in 1992, when, at the age of 17, she shot and severely wounded Mary Jo Buttafuoco, the wife of her lover Joey Buttafuoco...
, Jeremy Jackson
Jeremy Jackson
Jeremy Dunn Jackson is an American actor/singer. He is widely known for his role as Hobie Buchannon on the television show Baywatch.-Career:...
, Bai Ling
Bai Ling
Bai Ling is a Chinese actress known for her work in films such as The Crow, Red Corner and Wild Wild West, and in TV series such as Entourage and Lost. In 2011 she appeared in the fifth season of the VH1 reality television series Celebrity Rehab with Dr...
, Michael Lohan
Michael Lohan
Michael Lohan, Sr. is the ex-husband of Dina Lohan and the father of Lindsay, Michael Lohan Jr., Ali, and Cody Lohan.-Early life:...
and Michaele Salahi were announced as fifth season participants. Subsequent cast members added to the season roster later that month include Season 2 participant Steven Adler
Steven Adler
Steven Adler is an American musician. He is best known as the former drummer of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s...
, actress Sean Young
Sean Young
Sean Young is an American actress, best known for her performance in films from the 1980s such as Blade Runner, Dune, and No Way Out.-Early life:...
, former Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
pitcher Dwight Gooden
Dwight Gooden
Dwight Eugene Gooden , nicknamed "Doc Gooden" or "Dr. K", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He was one of the most dominant and feared pitchers in the National League in the middle and late 1980s.-Career:...
and Survivor
Survivor (U.S. TV series)
Survivor is an American version of the Survivor reality television game show, itself derived from the Swedish television series Expedition Robinson originally created in 1997 by Charlie Parsons. The series premiered on May 31, 2000 on CBS...
second runner-up Jessica "Sugar" Kiper. Michaele Salahi was later removed from the show because, according to TMZ
TMZ.com
TMZ.com is a celebrity news website that debuted on November 8, 2005. It was a collaboration between America Online and Telepictures Productions, a division of Warner Bros., until Time Warner divested AOL in 2009. However, it is still affiliated with AOL News and has the AOL News logo affixed in...
sources, she harbored "no addiction," and thus had "no reason to be there." Season 5 premiered on June 26, 2011, though a "Sneak Premiere" was made available on Vh1's website as early as June 22.
Cast
| Cast member | Notability | Addiction |
|---|---|---|
| Steven Adler Steven Adler Steven Adler is an American musician. He is best known as the former drummer of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s... |
Former Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band, formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, in 1985. The band has released six studio albums, three EPs, and one live album... drummer, returning from season 2 |
Marijuana |
| Amy Fisher Amy Fisher Amy Elizabeth Fisher is an American woman who became known as "the Long Island Lolita" by the media in 1992, when, at the age of 17, she shot and severely wounded Mary Jo Buttafuoco, the wife of her lover Joey Buttafuoco... |
"Long Island Lolita" who shot her then-lover Joey Buttafuoco Joey Buttafuoco Joseph A. "Joey" Buttafuoco is an auto body shop owner from the USA, notable for his affair with Amy Fisher , who subsequently shot Joey's wife, Mary Jo Buttafuoco , in the face.-Incident:... 's wife, Mary Jo, in the face. |
Alcohol (She was stated in the season premiere to have suffered prior addiction to unspecified pills, but this was indicated to be an ongoing problem in in a season finale bonus clip.) |
| Dwight Gooden Dwight Gooden Dwight Eugene Gooden , nicknamed "Doc Gooden" or "Dr. K", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He was one of the most dominant and feared pitchers in the National League in the middle and late 1980s.-Career:... |
Former Major League Baseball Major League Baseball Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League... pitcher. |
Cocaine; alcohol; Ambien |
| Jeremy Jackson Jeremy Jackson Jeremy Dunn Jackson is an American actor/singer. He is widely known for his role as Hobie Buchannon on the television show Baywatch.-Career:... |
Actor, best known for his role on Baywatch Baywatch Baywatch is an American action drama series about the Los Angeles County Lifeguards who patrol the beaches of Los Angeles County, California, starring David Hasselhoff. The show ran in its original title and format from 1989 to 1999, sans the 1990-1991 season, of which it was not in production... as Hobie Buchannon Hobie Buchannon Hobie Buchannon is a fictional character from the TV series Baywatch. He was played by Brandon Call in the show's first season on NBC , and by Jeremy Jackson on the syndicated revival from 1991 to 1999 and in the 2003 reunion movie Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding.Hobie was the son of the lifeguard Mitch... . |
Steroid Steroid A steroid is a type of organic compound that contains a characteristic arrangement of four cycloalkane rings that are joined to each other. Examples of steroids include the dietary fat cholesterol, the sex hormones estradiol and testosterone, and the anti-inflammatory drug dexamethasone.The core... s |
| Jessica Kiper Jessica Kiper Jessica Michele Kiper is an American actress and singer. Kiper was also a runner-up contestant on Survivor: Gabon where she placed third. She was more commonly known to the viewing audience during her run on Survivor as Sugar. She returned to Survivor to compete on the show's 20th season:... |
Actress and television personality, best known for appearing twice as a contestant on Survivor Survivor (U.S. TV series) Survivor is an American version of the Survivor reality television game show, itself derived from the Swedish television series Expedition Robinson originally created in 1997 by Charlie Parsons. The series premiered on May 31, 2000 on CBS... . |
Alcohol; marijuana; cocaine (former user); opiates, particularly Vicodin Vicodin Hydrocodone/paracetamol is a combination of two analgesic products hydrocodone and paracetamol used to relieve moderate to severe pain... ; benzodiazepines including Valium and Xanax |
| Bai Ling Bai Ling Bai Ling is a Chinese actress known for her work in films such as The Crow, Red Corner and Wild Wild West, and in TV series such as Entourage and Lost. In 2011 she appeared in the fifth season of the VH1 reality television series Celebrity Rehab with Dr... |
Actress. | Alcohol |
| Michael Lohan Michael Lohan Michael Lohan, Sr. is the ex-husband of Dina Lohan and the father of Lindsay, Michael Lohan Jr., Ali, and Cody Lohan.-Early life:... |
Father of actress Lindsay Lohan Lindsay Lohan Lindsay Lohan is an American actress, pop singer and model. She began her career as a child fashion model before making her motion picture debut in Disney's 1998 remake of The Parent Trap at the age of 11... . |
Alcohol (formerly used cocaine, but quit six years prior) |
| Sean Young Sean Young Sean Young is an American actress, best known for her performance in films from the 1980s such as Blade Runner, Dune, and No Way Out.-Early life:... |
Actress. | Alcohol |
DVD releases
Celebrity Rehab has been released on DVD exclusively through AmazonAmazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
| Season
| Release date
| Discs
Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew is a reality television
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
show airing on the cable network VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
that chronicles a group of celebrities as they are treated for alcohol and drug addiction
Addiction
Historically, addiction has been defined as physical and psychological dependence on psychoactive substances which cross the blood-brain barrier once ingested, temporarily altering the chemical milieu of the brain.Addiction can also be viewed as a continued involvement with a substance or activity...
by Dr. Drew Pinsky
Drew Pinsky
David Drew Pinsky , best known as Dr. Drew, is an American board-certified internist, addiction medicine specialist, and radio and television personality. He has hosted the nationally syndicated radio talk show Loveline since the show's inception in 1984. On television, he hosts the talk show Dr...
and his staff at the Pasadena Recovery Center in Pasadena, California
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
. The first season premiered on January 10, 2008. Pinsky is listed in the show's onscreen credits as the executive producer.
Recurring cast
The following are staff of the Pasadena Recovery Center (PRC), where the series is filmed. Casts for individual seasons are seen in sections for those seasons.- Dr. Drew Pinsky – Pinsky is the star of the show, and the lead specialist who treats the patients. A board-certifiedAmerican Board of Medical SpecialtiesThe American Board of Medical Specialties is a non-profit physician-led umbrella organization for 24 of the 26 approved medical specialty boards in the United States...
internist and addiction medicineAddiction MedicineAddiction medicine is a medical specialty that deals with the treatment of addiction. The specialty often crosses over into other areas, since various aspects of addiction fall within the fields of public health, psychology, social work, psychiatry, and internal medicine, among others...
specialist, he rose to fame as the host of the nationally syndicated radio talk showTalk radioTalk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
, LovelineLovelineLoveline is a syndicated radio call-in program in North America, offering medical and relationship advice to listeners, often with the assistance of guests, typically actors and musicians. Its flagship station is KROQ-FM in Los Angeles....
. In addition to Celebrity Rehab, he also appears in its spinoffs, Sex Rehab with Dr. DrewSex Rehab with Dr. DrewSex Rehab with Dr. Drew is a VH1 reality television show that documents people being treated for sexual addiction by Dr. Drew Pinsky and his staff at the Pasadena Recovery Center in Pasadena, California. Premiering on November 1, 2009, Sex Rehab is a spin-off of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, in...
and Sober House. - Shelly Sprague – The Resident Technician who runs the floor. A recovering addict herself, she has also appeared on Sex Rehab with Dr. DrewSex Rehab with Dr. DrewSex Rehab with Dr. Drew is a VH1 reality television show that documents people being treated for sexual addiction by Dr. Drew Pinsky and his staff at the Pasadena Recovery Center in Pasadena, California. Premiering on November 1, 2009, Sex Rehab is a spin-off of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, in...
. She met Pinsky through Bob ForrestBob ForrestBob Forrest is the lead vocalist and lyricist for Los Angeles bands Thelonious Monster and The Bicycle Thief. In September 2006 he released his first solo album, Modern Folk And Blues Wednesday. He is also a drug counselor, appearing alongside Dr...
, a fellow recovering addict and colleague of Drew's with whom Sprague used to do drugs. She runs a center at Las Encinas Hospital in Pasadena, CaliforniaPasadena, CaliforniaPasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
. Pinsky observes that she becomes more personally involved with the patients than other technicians like Loesha do. - Bob ForrestBob ForrestBob Forrest is the lead vocalist and lyricist for Los Angeles bands Thelonious Monster and The Bicycle Thief. In September 2006 he released his first solo album, Modern Folk And Blues Wednesday. He is also a drug counselor, appearing alongside Dr...
– The Head Counselor, Forrest is the Chemical Dependency Program Director at Las Encinas Hospital. A former addict himself, he appears during group sessions as a counselor. - Loesha Zeviar – A Resident Technician who first appears in the second episode of Season 2. Responding to observations that Loesha receives more abuse than Sprague, Pinsky describes her as more staid than Sprague. Pinsky has referred to her as one of the strongest staff members at the PRC.
- Dr. Charles Sophy – psychiatristPsychiatristA psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
and director of the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services. He is also the author of Side By Side The Revolutionary Mother-Daughter Program for Conflict-Free Communication, and is the lead psychiatrist of the Celebrity Rehab and Sober House production team. Although he only appears occasionally, he was present throughout the filming of the second season of Sober House. - Sasha Kusina – A nurse at the Pasadena Recovery Center. Although seen as early as Season 2, it is in Season 5 that her full name is revealed and she is seen speaking with the other staff, in regards to her rapport with patient Bai LingBai LingBai Ling is a Chinese actress known for her work in films such as The Crow, Red Corner and Wild Wild West, and in TV series such as Entourage and Lost. In 2011 she appeared in the fifth season of the VH1 reality television series Celebrity Rehab with Dr...
, whom Kusina convinces to take her prescribed psychiatric medication. - Jennifer Gimenez – A model and actress and former addict who credits her recovery to Pinsky, Gimenez was the sober living house manager on the Celebrity Rehab spinoff Sober House, and began working as a rehab technician at the Pasadena Recovery Center in Season 5 of Rehab.
Production
According to a December 2009 New York Times article, Drew PinskyDrew Pinsky
David Drew Pinsky , best known as Dr. Drew, is an American board-certified internist, addiction medicine specialist, and radio and television personality. He has hosted the nationally syndicated radio talk show Loveline since the show's inception in 1984. On television, he hosts the talk show Dr...
, who was alarmed by tabloid portrayals of addiction as an indulgence of the rich and famous, and a group of independent producers, approached VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
with a proposal for a reality television series that would authentically depict addiction, as a sort of media intervention
Intervention (counseling)
An intervention is an orchestrated attempt by one, or often many, people to get someone to seek professional help with an addiction or some kind of traumatic event or crisis, or other serious problem. The term intervention is most often used when the traumatic event involves addiction to drugs...
.
According to executive producer John Irwin
John Irwin (producer)
John Irwin is a television producer and president of Irwin Entertainment, Inc., a television production company most well-known for its comedy, reality and live entertainment programming.-Career:...
, casting for the first season was the most difficult, as the representatives of the celebrities who had been arrested or had publicized bouts with addiction refused to speak with him and the other producers. The process became easier after the first season aired. Actor Tom Sizemore
Tom Sizemore
Thomas Edward "Tom" Sizemore, Jr. is an American film and television actor and producer. He is known for his roles in films such as Saving Private Ryan, Strange Days, Pearl Harbor, Heat and Black Hawk Down....
, for example, who was cast for Season 3, had been sought after since Season 1. Producers have reportedly offered actress Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan is an American actress, pop singer and model. She began her career as a child fashion model before making her motion picture debut in Disney's 1998 remake of The Parent Trap at the age of 11...
six figures to appear on the show. Pinsky, who focuses on the treatment side of the production, is not usually involved with casting, though he reportedly visited Rachel Uchitel
Rachel Uchitel
Rachel Uchitel is an American nightclub manager, hostess, sports groupie and TV correspondent. She first encountered publicity when,...
personally in order to convince her to join the fourth season cast.
A multitude of cameras are employed, which film twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, during the 21-day treatment cycle. Because some dramatic incidents occur early in the morning when the camera crews are not present, automated cameras are mounted all over the clinic to capture them. The exception to this are the bathrooms, which nonetheless are equipped with microphones to monitor unusual sounds, such as patients attempting to use drugs.
In addition to receiving the free treatment (which would normally be worth approximately $50,000–$60,000 USD), the patients receive a salary for their appearance on the series, which is prorated, and distributed once a week as an incentive to stay.
Celebrity Rehab has spun off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
two other shows. The first spinoff is Sober House, which depicts Rehab alumni living for 30 days at a sober living facility, as an interim step for recovering addicts between the completion of rehab and their eventual return to their old life. The second spinoff is Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew
Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew
Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew is a VH1 reality television show that documents people being treated for sexual addiction by Dr. Drew Pinsky and his staff at the Pasadena Recovery Center in Pasadena, California. Premiering on November 1, 2009, Sex Rehab is a spin-off of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, in...
, in which Pinsky and his staff treat celebrities for sexual addiction
Sexual addiction
Sexual addiction is a popular model to explain hypersexuality—sexual urges, behaviors, or thoughts that appear extreme in frequency or feel out of one's control...
.
Reception
While Pinsky and the series has won praise from both former addicts and other addiction specialists, many take issue with Pinsky's methods. Jeffrey Foote, a clinical psychologist and substance abuse expert, stated, "The velvet-glove confrontational stuff Pinsky does is what works for TV, but it's not what works for patients." The web site for Foote's Center for Motivation and Change uses a clip from Celebrity Rehab to demonstrate poor techniques. Foote added, "The dramatic confrontations seen on the show are actually more likely to drive less-severe substance abusers, who are by far the majority, away from seeking treatment." Critics also maintain that the patients' needs and the show's needs constitute a conflict of interest, with Dr. John J. Mariani, director of the Substance Treatment and Research Service at Columbia UniversityColumbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
stating, "The problem here is that Dr. Drew benefits from their participation, which must have some powerful effects on his way of relating to them. He also has a vested interest in the outcome of their treatment being interesting to viewers, which is also not in their best interest. Treatment with conflicts of interest isn’t treatment."
Pinsky has responded to such criticism by saying his medical peers "don't understand television. You have to work within the confines of what executives will allow you to put on TV. Otherwise, we've not done anything, we've not really struggled to change the culture at all." Regarding the series airing on a network that broadcasts other reality shows featuring uncritical depictions of sexuality and alcohol as recurring themes, he aid, "The people that need what we have are watching VH1. Not the people watching educational TV, the NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
crowd. You gotta give 'em what they want so you can give ’em what they need."
Defending the practice of paying addicts to attend rehab, producer John Irwin said, "Whatever it takes to get them through the door so they can start treatment—that's the goal." Pinsky offered a similar response, saying, "My whole thing is bait and switch. Whatever motivates them to come in, that's fine. Then we can get them involved with the process."
Despite the involvement of former Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1987 by guitarist and songwriter Jerry Cantrell and original lead vocalist Layne Staley. The initial lineup was rounded out by drummer Sean Kinney, and bassist Mike Starr...
bassist Mike Starr
Mike Starr (musician)
Michael Christopher "Mike" Starr was an American musician, best known as the original bassist in Alice in Chains, with whom he played from the band's formation in 1987 until 1993.- Career :...
as well as an appearance by Nancy McCallum, mother of the original AIC singer Layne Staley
Layne Staley
Layne Thomas Staley was an American musician who served as the lead singer and co-lyricist of the rock group Alice in Chains, which was formed in Seattle, Washington in 1987 by Staley and guitarist Jerry Cantrell. Alice in Chains rose to international fame as part of the grunge movement of the...
, who died of an overdose in 2002, the remaining original members of AIC, guitarist Jerry Cantrell
Jerry Cantrell
Jerry Fulton Cantrell Jr. is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter best known for his work with the grunge/metal band Alice in Chains, as lead guitarist, backing and co-lead vocalist, and co-lyricist. He performs lead vocals on his solo projects, and is part of Alice in Chains' harmonizing...
and drummer Sean Kinney
Sean Kinney
Sean Howard Kinney is an American musician best known for being the drummer of the influential grunge band Alice in Chains....
, have criticized the show, calling it "disgusting". Kinney said of the program, "It exploits people at their lowest point, when they're not in their right mind, and the sad part is, this is like entertainment for people when it's actually a life and death situation. I don't think it helps anybody and it makes entertainment out of people's possible death, and that's pathetic and it's stupid."
Columnist Drew Grant called for an end to the series because of its "warped sense of priorities", opining that the practice of assembling celebrities with serious drug addictions with others that, according to Grant, either do not suffer from addiction or whose addictions are self-diagnosed, like Rachel Uchitel
Rachel Uchitel
Rachel Uchitel is an American nightclub manager, hostess, sports groupie and TV correspondent. She first encountered publicity when,...
and Gary Busey
Gary Busey
William Gary Busey , best known as Gary Busey, is an American film and stage actor and artist. He has appeared in a large variety of films, as well as making regular appearances on Gunsmoke, Walker, Texas Ranger, Law & Order, and Entourage...
, for the purpose of creating entertainment, serves to encourage the "celebrity narcissism
Narcissism
Narcissism is a term with a wide range of meanings, depending on whether it is used to describe a central concept of psychoanalytic theory, a mental illness, a social or cultural problem, or simply a personality trait...
" that Pinsky himself has criticized.
Not all substance-abuse specialists have been critical of the show. Dr. Mary Oxford, staff psychologist for the Menninger Clinic
Menninger Foundation
The Menninger Foundation was founded in 1919 by the Menninger family in Topeka, Kansas, and consists of a clinic, a sanatorium, and a school of psychiatry, all of which bear the Menninger name. In 2003, the Menninger Clinic moved to Houston. The foundation was started by Drs. Karl, Will, and...
, praised it for removing the stigma surrounding addiction in the general public, and demystifying the process of treatment, and showing the lay public the skill of reflective listening
Reflective listening
Reflective listening is a communication strategy involving two key steps: seeking to understand a speaker's idea, then offering the idea back to the speaker, to confirm the idea has been understood correctly. It attempts to "reconstruct what the client is thinking and feeling and to relay this...
.
Cast
{| class="wikitable"|-
! Cast member
! Notability
! Addiction
|-
| Seth "Shifty Shellshock" Binzer
| Lead singer of rap rock
Rap rock
Rap rock is a cross-genre fusing vocal and instrumental elements of hip hop with various forms of rock. Rap rock is often confused with rap metal and rapcore, subgenres that include heavy metal-oriented and hardcore punk-oriented bands, respectively....
band Crazy Town
Crazy Town
Crazy Town is a rap rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1995 by Bret Mazur and Seth Binzer. The band is best known for their 2001 single, "Butterfly", which reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart...
| Cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
(powder and crack
Crack cocaine
Crack cocaine is the freebase form of cocaine that can be smoked. It may also be termed rock, hard, iron, cavvy, base, or just crack; it is the most addictive form of cocaine. Crack rocks offer a short but intense high to smokers...
)
|-
| Daniel Baldwin
Daniel Baldwin
Daniel Leroy Baldwin is an American actor, producer and director. He is the second oldest of the four Baldwin brothers, all of whom are actors. Daniel Baldwin is known for his role as Detective Beau Felton in the popular NBC TV series Homicide: Life on the Street...
| Actor (Departed the show in episode four)
| Cocaine
|-
| Mary Carey
| Porn actress and former candidate for California Governor
| Alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
|-
| Jeff Conaway
Jeff Conaway
Jeffrey Charles William Michael "Jeff" Conaway was an American actor best known for his roles in the movie Grease and the US television series Taxi and Babylon 5. Conaway was featured on the first season of reality series Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew...
| Actor
| Alcohol; cocaine; painkillers (Vicodin
Vicodin
Hydrocodone/paracetamol is a combination of two analgesic products hydrocodone and paracetamol used to relieve moderate to severe pain...
, OxyContin, Xanax, Zoloft, Ambien)
|-
| Jaimee Foxworth
Jaimee Foxworth
Jaimee Foxworth is an American actress who played the part of Judy Winslow, the youngest daughter, for four seasons on Family Matters. She later briefly transitioned to pornographic films using the name Crave.- Career :...
| Former child actress
| Marijuana
|-
| Joanie "Chyna" Laurer
| Actress and former professional wrestler
| Alcohol
|-
| Brigitte Nielsen
Brigitte Nielsen
Brigitte Nielsen is a Danish model, actress, musician and reality television personality who began her career modelling for Greg Gorman and Helmut Newton and several years later made appearances in the 1985 films Red Sonja and Rocky IV and is also known for her marriage to Sylvester Stallone...
| Actress and former model
| Alcohol
|-
| Ricco Rodriguez
Ricco Rodriguez
Ricco Rodriguez is an American mixed martial artist and former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight champion. He has also competed in Pride Fighting Championship, EliteXC, International Fight League, BAMMA, World Extreme Cagefighting and King of the Cage.-Early life:Rodriguez grew up in the...
| Mixed martial arts
Mixed martial arts
Mixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, judo and other styles. The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be...
fighter and former UFC Heavyweight Champion
| Cocaine; marijuana; benzodiazepines (Valium)
|-
| Jessica Sierra
Jessica Sierra
Jessica Ann Sierra is an American singer and was the tenth-place finalist on the fourth season of American Idol. She was the third finalist eliminated, on March 30, 2005...
| Singer and former American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
contestant
| Cocaine; alcohol
|}
Outcome
Sierra, Binzer, and Carey agreed to enter a transitional sober living home in the season finale. All three, as well as Laurer and Foxworth, would eventually relapse; some re-entered treatment. VH1VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
aired a reunion special detailing the patients' lives since filming. Although Conaway was able to maintain sobriety from alcohol and cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
, he continued to abuse analgesics for his back pain, and would re-enter treatment in the show's second season. Binzer also appeared in several episodes of the second season for his relapses, as well as the Sober House spin-off series.
Laurer was hospitalized in December 2008 and was reportedly going back to rehab.
Nielsen and Rodriguez have reportedly maintained their sobriety. Pinsky has said on numerous occasions that Nielsen has quit drinking and also gave up smoking. Nielsen has also appeared on his radio shows to talk about her sobriety. In 2009, she appeared as a panel speaker to another group at the Pasadena Recovery Center, in which she anticipated the upcoming two-year mark of her sobriety that July, as seen in a third season episode of the series, which aired in February 2010.
Sierra has tested "clean and sober" for a year and a half following a court-ordered year of treatment at the Pasadena Recovery Center, She also appeared with Nielsen in the aforementioned third season episode, marking her 18 months of sobriety.
The status of Baldwin's sobriety is unknown. As of May 2009, Foxworth is reportedly sober and gave birth to a son.
Carey relapsed and returned to porn, starring in and directing a parody film called Celebrity Pornhab with Dr. Screw
Celebrity Pornhab with Dr. Screw
Celebrity Pornhab with Dr. Screw is a 2009 pornographic film that satirizes the VH1 reality series Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew. The film stars a variety of porn stars including Mary Carey, Mike Horner. This film marks Mary Carey's comeback to adult films...
, a decision that Pinsky said saddened him. Regarding her sobriety, Pinsky commented in a January 2010 TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
story, "She puts together, like, six weeks at a time of sobriety, then drifts away. We're trying to get her to stay with it once and for all."
Season 2
Season 2 of Celebrity Rehab premiered on October 23, 2008.Pinsky saw musician Steven Adler
Steven Adler
Steven Adler is an American musician. He is best known as the former drummer of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s...
as this season's "problem child", describing his behavior as "suicidal", and related that Adler had to be put into a psychiatric hospital for two weeks prior to going into rehab. Jeff Conaway
Jeff Conaway
Jeffrey Charles William Michael "Jeff" Conaway was an American actor best known for his roles in the movie Grease and the US television series Taxi and Babylon 5. Conaway was featured on the first season of reality series Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew...
was also a grave concern, according to Pinsky.
Actor and recovering cocaine addict Gary Busey
Gary Busey
William Gary Busey , best known as Gary Busey, is an American film and stage actor and artist. He has appeared in a large variety of films, as well as making regular appearances on Gunsmoke, Walker, Texas Ranger, Law & Order, and Entourage...
entered the program, claiming to do so not as a patient, but as a mentor to assist others in their recoveries. This was stated in his contract, and confirmed by VH1's official press release about Season 2. Pinsky disputes this, however, stating, "I was confused too. But that's not my problem. My problem is that I've got a guy who needs help and I've got to figure out a way to get him into treatment. Gary [ends up having] a really inspirational experience. But it's a good 10 days before he comes around.
Cast
{| class="wikitable"|-
! Cast member
! Notability
! Addiction
|-
| Steven Adler
Steven Adler
Steven Adler is an American musician. He is best known as the former drummer of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s...
| Former Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band, formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, in 1985. The band has released six studio albums, three EPs, and one live album...
drummer
| Valium; alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
; heroin; cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
|-
| Seth Binzer
| Singer, returning from Season 1 after Dr. Drew learned of his relapse
Relapse
Relapse, in relation to drug misuse, is resuming the use of a drug or a dependent substance after one or more periods of abstinence. The term is a landmark feature of both substance dependence and substance abuse, which are learned behaviors, and is maintained by neuronal adaptations that mediate...
| Stimulant
Stimulant
Stimulants are psychoactive drugs which induce temporary improvements in either mental or physical function or both. Examples of these kinds of effects may include enhanced alertness, wakefulness, and locomotion, among others...
s (crack cocaine
Crack cocaine
Crack cocaine is the freebase form of cocaine that can be smoked. It may also be termed rock, hard, iron, cavvy, base, or just crack; it is the most addictive form of cocaine. Crack rocks offer a short but intense high to smokers...
)
|-
| Gary Busey
Gary Busey
William Gary Busey , best known as Gary Busey, is an American film and stage actor and artist. He has appeared in a large variety of films, as well as making regular appearances on Gunsmoke, Walker, Texas Ranger, Law & Order, and Entourage...
| Actor
| Recovering cocaine addict, clean and sober for 13 years, though Pinsky questions his current use of medicinal marijuana
Medical cannabis
Medical cannabis refers to the use of parts of the herb cannabis as a physician-recommended form of medicine or herbal therapy, or to synthetic forms of specific cannabinoids such as THC as a physician-recommended form of medicine...
for his asthma. He appears as a counselor to the other patients. (See above)
|-
| Jeff Conaway
Jeff Conaway
Jeffrey Charles William Michael "Jeff" Conaway was an American actor best known for his roles in the movie Grease and the US television series Taxi and Babylon 5. Conaway was featured on the first season of reality series Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew...
| Actor, returning from Season 1 following back surgeries that increased his painkiller addiction
| Opiate
Opiate
In medicine, the term opiate describes any of the narcotic opioid alkaloids found as natural products in the opium poppy plant.-Overview:Opiates are so named because they are constituents or derivatives of constituents found in opium, which is processed from the latex sap of the opium poppy,...
s (Oxycontin); cocaine
|-
| Rodney King
Rodney King
Rodney Glen King is an American best known for his involvement in a police brutality case involving the Los Angeles Police Department on March 3, 1991...
| Became a U.S. civil rights figure when videotaped in 1991 being beaten by L.A.P.D.
Los Angeles Police Department
The Los Angeles Police Department is the police department of the city of Los Angeles, California. With just under 10,000 officers and more than 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 4.1 million people, it is the third largest local law enforcement agency in...
officers, whose later acquittal sparked violent riots in L.A.
1992 Los Angeles riots
The 1992 Los Angeles Riots or South Central Riots, also known as the 1992 Los Angeles Civil Unrest were sparked on April 29, 1992, when a jury acquitted three white and one hispanic Los Angeles Police Department officers accused in the videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King following a...
| Alcohol
|-
| Tawny Kitaen
Tawny Kitaen
Julie "Tawny" Kitaen is an American actress and media personality. She became famous in the 1980s for appearing in several hard rock videos for the band Whitesnake, including the hit "Here I Go Again". Kitaen was married to Whitesnake lead singer David Coverdale from 1989–1991...
| Actress and former model
| Painkillers (Demerol and Vicodin
Vicodin
Hydrocodone/paracetamol is a combination of two analgesic products hydrocodone and paracetamol used to relieve moderate to severe pain...
) and cocaine
|-
| Nikki McKibbin
Nikki McKibbin
Katherine Nicole "Nikki" McKibbin is an American rock music singer-songwriter who finished third in the debut season of the reality television series American Idol. Prior to American Idol, McKibbin appeared in the first season of Popstars...
| Singer and former American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
contestant
| Cocaine, alcohol, Adderall
Adderall
Adderall is a brand name of amphetamine salts–based medication used for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and narcolepsy. It is a brand-name psychostimulant medication composed of racemic amphetamine aspartate monohydrate, racemic amphetamine sulfate, dextroamphetamine saccharide, and...
, painkillers (Vicodin
Vicodin
Hydrocodone/paracetamol is a combination of two analgesic products hydrocodone and paracetamol used to relieve moderate to severe pain...
); (McKibbin was formerly addicted to ecstasy as well.)
|-
| Amber Smith
Amber Smith
-Early life:The daughter of professional American football player Russ Smith and Carol Smith, Smith started modeling by age 16. As a teenager she traveled to Paris, France, where she worked as a model throughout Europe for four years...
| Actress and model
| Depressant
Depressant
A depressant, or central depressant, is a drug or endogenous compound that depresses the function or activity of a specific part of the brain...
s and opiates (Adderall, Dexadrine, Valium, Xanax, Klonopin, Suboxone)
|-
| Sean Stewart
Sean Stewart (reality TV star)
Sean Roderick Stewart is the son of singer Rod Stewart and Alana Hamilton. His A&E biography describes him as "a songwriter, musician, and model"....
| Son of singer Rod Stewart
Rod Stewart
Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE is a British singer-songwriter and musician, born and raised in North London, England and currently residing in Epping. He is of Scottish and English ancestry....
.
| Alcohol; ecstasy; Vicodin; morphine
Morphine
Morphine is a potent opiate analgesic medication and is considered to be the prototypical opioid. It was first isolated in 1804 by Friedrich Sertürner, first distributed by same in 1817, and first commercially sold by Merck in 1827, which at the time was a single small chemists' shop. It was more...
; Fentanyl; cocaine; heroin
|}
On October 1, 2008, rock band Alter Bridge
Alter Bridge
Alter Bridge is an American rock band that was formed in 2004 in Orlando, Florida by lead guitarist Mark Tremonti, bassist Brian Marshall, and drummer Scott Phillips, who are all also members of Creed. Lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Myles Kennedy, formerly of The Mayfield Four and the frontman...
, in conjunction with VH1, released a video for their single "Watch Over You
Watch Over You
"Watch Over You" is a song by the American rock band Alter Bridge, featured on the band's second album Blackbird in 2007. The ballad is one of Alter Bridge's softer songs and has a much lighter tone than other songs on the album...
" containing clips from the upcoming season of Celebrity Rehab.
Outcome
Most of the celebrities (except for Kitaen, Busey and Stewart) agreed to make a transitional move into a sober livingSober living environment
Sober living environments are facilities used by addicts recovering from substance abuse, which serve as an interim environment between rehab and a return to their former lives. SLEs grew out of a need to have safe and supportive place for people to live while they were in recovery...
home which was filmed for Sober House– although Busey expressed interest in attending sober living as a speaker. Conaway was released early from the center during the final episode of Season 2 after kicking his girlfriend in the ribs during an argument. As soon as Conaway returned to his home, he continued abusing pain killers. During the course of Sober House, Adler, Smith and Binzer relapsed. Adler has made repeated appearances on Loveline talking about his success with sobriety and how his life is drastically different for the better. On September 26, 2009, Kitaen was arrested for drinking and driving. Amber Smith
Amber Smith
-Early life:The daughter of professional American football player Russ Smith and Carol Smith, Smith started modeling by age 16. As a teenager she traveled to Paris, France, where she worked as a model throughout Europe for four years...
later appeared in the spinoff Sex Rehab.
In 2009 Rodney King
Rodney King
Rodney Glen King is an American best known for his involvement in a police brutality case involving the Los Angeles Police Department on March 3, 1991...
and Amber Smith appeared as panel speakers to a group of addicts at the Pasadena Recovery Center, marking 11 months of sobriety for King, and a year and a half of sobriety for Smith. Nikki McKibbin
Nikki McKibbin
Katherine Nicole "Nikki" McKibbin is an American rock music singer-songwriter who finished third in the debut season of the reality television series American Idol. Prior to American Idol, McKibbin appeared in the first season of Popstars...
marked a year of sobriety on June 10, 2009.
On May 11, 2011 Jeff Conaway
Jeff Conaway
Jeffrey Charles William Michael "Jeff" Conaway was an American actor best known for his roles in the movie Grease and the US television series Taxi and Babylon 5. Conaway was featured on the first season of reality series Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew...
was hospitalized for pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
, for which he was placed in an induced coma. He later died after being taken from life support on May 27, 2011. He was the second Celebrity Rehab cast member to die in 2011, following the death of Mike Starr
Mike Starr (musician)
Michael Christopher "Mike" Starr was an American musician, best known as the original bassist in Alice in Chains, with whom he played from the band's formation in 1987 until 1993.- Career :...
two months prior. Pinsky attributed Conaway's death to his addiction, stating, "What happens is, like with most opiate addicts, eventually they take a little too much...and they aspirate, so what's in their mouth gets into their lungs...That's what happened with Jeff."
Season 3
On April 22, 2009, it was announced on the Futon Critic that Celebrity Rehab had been renewed for a third season and that a new spinoff titled Sex Rehab with Dr. DrewSex Rehab with Dr. Drew
Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew is a VH1 reality television show that documents people being treated for sexual addiction by Dr. Drew Pinsky and his staff at the Pasadena Recovery Center in Pasadena, California. Premiering on November 1, 2009, Sex Rehab is a spin-off of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, in...
was being put into production. Sex Rehab premiered on November 1, 2009. Season 3 of Celebrity Rehab premiered on January 7, 2010.
Patient Heidi Fleiss
Heidi Fleiss
Heidi Lynne Fleiss is an American former madam, and also a columnist and television personality regularly featured in the 1990s in American media. She is often referred to as the "Hollywood Madam"....
was shown to be living in solitude in the wilderness of Nevada while caring for 25 parrots. Pinsky did brain scans of her that showed significant frontal lobe
Frontal lobe
The frontal lobe is an area in the brain of humans and other mammals, located at the front of each cerebral hemisphere and positioned anterior to the parietal lobe and superior and anterior to the temporal lobes...
dysfunction, which Pinsky theorized was behind her inability to empathize with people, and her affinity for doing so with birds.
Actor Tom Sizemore
Tom Sizemore
Thomas Edward "Tom" Sizemore, Jr. is an American film and television actor and producer. He is known for his roles in films such as Saving Private Ryan, Strange Days, Pearl Harbor, Heat and Black Hawk Down....
had been approached to appear in Season 1, but declined. He met with Pinsky about appearing in the second season, sitting in Pinsky's office for two hours, as Pinsky tells it, "sweating and completely high on drugs, talking a million miles an hour, acting like he was going to do it then deciding he didn’t want to." He ultimately decided to appear in Season 3, but did not arrive in the season premiere with the others, forcing Pinsky's colleague Bob Forrest
Bob Forrest
Bob Forrest is the lead vocalist and lyricist for Los Angeles bands Thelonious Monster and The Bicycle Thief. In September 2006 he released his first solo album, Modern Folk And Blues Wednesday. He is also a drug counselor, appearing alongside Dr...
to seek him out. Pinsky adds in the season's fourth episode that he believes Sizemore's girlfriend is also a user, and that their relationship is a threat to his sobriety. Pinsky points to Sizemore's story as emblematic of the difficulty of getting an addict to commit to rehab. Because of the tumultuous prior relationship between patients Sizemore and Fleiss, their consent to being cast together during the same season was obtained prior to filming.
Commenting on Dennis Rodman
Dennis Rodman
Dennis Keith Rodman is a retired American Hall of Fame professional basketball player of the National Basketball Association's Detroit Pistons, San Antonio Spurs, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks. Born in Trenton, New Jersey, he was nicknamed "Dennis the Menace" and "The...
's detachment from the rehabilitation process, Pinsky said that Rodman was "hyper-focused in some ways, and in others, completely blank", and observed that Rodman didn't comprehend what the other patients were experiencing, or how they perceived him. Pinsky concluded that Rodman may have Asperger's syndrome, a diagnosis with which a colleague from UCLA Medical Center concurred.
Mackenzie Phillips
Mackenzie Phillips
Mackenzie Phillips is an American actress and singer best known for her roles in American Graffiti and as rebellious teenager Julie Cooper Horvath on the sitcom One Day at a Time...
had accomplished several months of sobriety before checking into the Pasadena Recovery Center.
Joey Kovar, who previously sought treatment for his addiction to cocaine and alcohol during his stint on 2008's The Real World: Hollywood
The Real World: Hollywood
The Real World: Hollywood is the twentieth season of MTV's reality television series The Real World, which focuses on a group of diverse strangers living together for several months in a different city each season, as cameras document their lives and interpersonal relationships. It premiered on...
, was spurred to return to rehab for his recurring addiction by the impending birth of his and his girlfriend Nikki's child.
Pinsky commented on Lisa D'Amato
Lisa D'Amato
Lisa Marie D'Amato is an American recording artist, fashion model and television personality from Los Angeles, California...
by saying, "I would classify her as an addict in denial. This is the only disease you have to convince people they have."
Following her ejection from Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew
Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew
Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew is a VH1 reality television show that documents people being treated for sexual addiction by Dr. Drew Pinsky and his staff at the Pasadena Recovery Center in Pasadena, California. Premiering on November 1, 2009, Sex Rehab is a spin-off of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, in...
, Kari Ann Peniche
Kari Ann Peniche
Kari Ann Peniche is a former beauty queen and entertainer from Fairview, Oregon. She has held the Miss Oregon Teen USA and Miss United States Teen titles. She was stripped of the latter title after appearing nude in the November 2004 issue of Playboy magazine.Peniche lived in San Diego before...
was allowed back to the Pasadena Recovery Center after she called Pinsky and asked for help. Pinsky, who explains in this season's fourth episode that treatment for drug addiction must take place before treatment for sex addiction, revealed that her aggressive behavior during Sex Rehab was derived from drugs she smuggled in a teddy bear
Teddy bear
The teddy bear is a stuffed toy bear. They are usually stuffed with soft, white cotton and have smooth and soft fur. It is an enduring form of a stuffed animal in many countries, often serving the purpose of entertaining children. In recent times, some teddy bears have become collector's items...
, and which were difficult to detect during drug testing because of the medication Peniche took for attention deficit disorder. Irwin says her behavior had changed by her second appearance, though she did punch a camera man at one point.
Cast
{| class="wikitable"|-
! Cast member
! Notability
! Addiction
|-
| Lisa D'Amato
Lisa D'Amato
Lisa Marie D'Amato is an American recording artist, fashion model and television personality from Los Angeles, California...
| Model and electro rock
Electro rock
Electronic rock, also commonly referred to as synthrock, electro rock or digital rock, is rock music generated with electronic instruments...
musician
| Alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
; marijuana; amphetamine
Amphetamine
Amphetamine or amfetamine is a psychostimulant drug of the phenethylamine class which produces increased wakefulness and focus in association with decreased fatigue and appetite.Brand names of medications that contain, or metabolize into, amphetamine include Adderall, Dexedrine, Dextrostat,...
s; cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
; mushrooms
|-
| Heidi Fleiss
Heidi Fleiss
Heidi Lynne Fleiss is an American former madam, and also a columnist and television personality regularly featured in the 1990s in American media. She is often referred to as the "Hollywood Madam"....
| Former American madam
Madam
Madam, or madame, is a polite title used for women which, in English, is the equivalent of Mrs. or Ms., and is often found abbreviated as "ma'am", and less frequently as "ma'm". It is derived from the French madame, which means "my lady", the feminine form of lord; the plural of ma dame in this...
| Methamphetamine
Methamphetamine
Methamphetamine is a psychostimulant of the phenethylamine and amphetamine class of psychoactive drugs...
; Valium; Xanax; Vicodin
Vicodin
Hydrocodone/paracetamol is a combination of two analgesic products hydrocodone and paracetamol used to relieve moderate to severe pain...
(Fleiss states that she is coming off a prescription for Suboxone.)
|-
| Joey Kovar
| Cast member on The Real World: Hollywood
The Real World: Hollywood
The Real World: Hollywood is the twentieth season of MTV's reality television series The Real World, which focuses on a group of diverse strangers living together for several months in a different city each season, as cameras document their lives and interpersonal relationships. It premiered on...
| Alcohol; cocaine; ecstasy; methamphetamine; steroids
|-
| Mindy McCready
Mindy McCready
Melinda Gayle "Mindy" McCready is an American country music singer. Active since 1996, she has recorded a total of five studio albums. Her debut album, 1996's Ten Thousand Angels, was released on BNA Records and was certified 2× Multi-Platinum by the RIAA, while 1997's If I Don't Stay the...
| Country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
singer
| OxyContin; alcohol; (McCready states that she takes prescription Xanax for anxiety as needed, and that the painkillers found among her belongings during Intake were for her shoulder, which was dislocated a month prior.)
|-
| Kari Ann Peniche
Kari Ann Peniche
Kari Ann Peniche is a former beauty queen and entertainer from Fairview, Oregon. She has held the Miss Oregon Teen USA and Miss United States Teen titles. She was stripped of the latter title after appearing nude in the November 2004 issue of Playboy magazine.Peniche lived in San Diego before...
| Miss Teen USA 2002
Miss Teen USA 2002
Miss Teen USA 2002, the 20th Miss Teen USA pageant, was televised live from South Padre Island, Texas on 28 August 2002. At the conclusion of the final competition, Miss Wisconsin Teen USA Vanessa Marie Semrow was crowned by outgoing queen Marissa Whitley of Missouri.This was the second...
and subject of a Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
pictorial
| Methamphetamine
|-
| Mackenzie Phillips
Mackenzie Phillips
Mackenzie Phillips is an American actress and singer best known for her roles in American Graffiti and as rebellious teenager Julie Cooper Horvath on the sitcom One Day at a Time...
| Actress
| Heroin; cocaine (Formerly used marijuana.)
|-
| Dennis Rodman
Dennis Rodman
Dennis Keith Rodman is a retired American Hall of Fame professional basketball player of the National Basketball Association's Detroit Pistons, San Antonio Spurs, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks. Born in Trenton, New Jersey, he was nicknamed "Dennis the Menace" and "The...
| Former basketball player
| Alcohol
|-
| Tom Sizemore
Tom Sizemore
Thomas Edward "Tom" Sizemore, Jr. is an American film and television actor and producer. He is known for his roles in films such as Saving Private Ryan, Strange Days, Pearl Harbor, Heat and Black Hawk Down....
| Actor
| Opiate
Opiate
In medicine, the term opiate describes any of the narcotic opioid alkaloids found as natural products in the opium poppy plant.-Overview:Opiates are so named because they are constituents or derivatives of constituents found in opium, which is processed from the latex sap of the opium poppy,...
s; benzodiazepine
Benzodiazepine
A benzodiazepine is a psychoactive drug whose core chemical structure is the fusion of a benzene ring and a diazepine ring...
s; methamphetamine; marijuana; heroin; Klonopin (formerly used cocaine from 1991-1996)
|-
| Mike Starr
Mike Starr (musician)
Michael Christopher "Mike" Starr was an American musician, best known as the original bassist in Alice in Chains, with whom he played from the band's formation in 1987 until 1993.- Career :...
| Former Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1987 by guitarist and songwriter Jerry Cantrell and original lead vocalist Layne Staley. The initial lineup was rounded out by drummer Sean Kinney, and bassist Mike Starr...
bass player
| Heroin; methadone
Methadone
Methadone is a synthetic opioid, used medically as an analgesic and a maintenance anti-addictive for use in patients with opioid dependency. It was developed in Germany in 1937...
; methamphetamine; cocaine; marijuana.
|}
Outcome
Peniche, Starr, Fleiss, Sizemore and Rodman all agreed to attend a sober living facility after treatment, which was chronicled on the second season of Sober House. Kovar indicated that he would get a sponsor, go to meetings, and go to sober living after his girlfriend moved into their new home. McCready, who cited the need to return to her son, indicated that she would go to Al-Anon.Since completing treatment, Pinsky says that D'Amato, who declined sober living, but agreed to go to meetings, "seems pretty good to me. My bet is she'll continue to flirt with using, but will have a deeper understanding now of her behavior."
Phillips and McCready appeared with Pinsky in a segment on women and addiction on the March 17, 2010 episode of The View.
Mike Starr was arrested February 18, 2011 on two felony counts of possession of a controlled substance for 6 pills of the painkiller Opana
Oxymorphone
Oxymorphone or 14-Hydroxydihydromorphinone is a powerful semi-synthetic opioid analgesic first developed in Germany circa 1914, patented in the USA by Endo Pharmaceuticals in 1955 and introduced to the United States market in January 1959 and other countries around the same time...
and 6 pills of Xanax, an anti-anxiety drug. Starr was later found dead on March 8, 2011 in Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...
.
Season 4
In May 2010, model and reality TV veteran Tila Tequila, who disclosed an addiction to prescription medication, was the first cast member announced for season four. However, on July 12, it was announced that she withdrew from the cast.Filming on season four ended the week of August 1, 2010. It began airing on December 1, 2010.
On August 31, RadarOnline reported that Rachel Uchitel
Rachel Uchitel
Rachel Uchitel is an American nightclub manager, hostess, sports groupie and TV correspondent. She first encountered publicity when,...
, who had been living at a sober living facility in Malibu, California, left the facility with Pinsky's permission in order to visit the World Trade Center site
World Trade Center site
The World Trade Center site , also known as "Ground Zero" after the September 11 attacks, sits on in Lower Manhattan in New York City...
, where her fiance, James Andrew O'Grady, was killed during the September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
, which Uchitel has explained was when her life began to unravel, culminating in a "massive breakdown" two years later. Uchitel spoke to other 9/11 families at the site, and was moved by her encounter with them.
Cast
{| class="wikitable"|-
! Cast member
! Notability
! Addiction
|-
| Jason Davis
Jason Davis (actor)
Jason Davis is an actor best known for his voice acting work on the Animated TV series Recess.-Early life:...
| Actor, socialite
Socialite
A socialite is a person who participates in social activities and spends a significant amount of time entertaining and being entertained at fashionable upper-class events....
| Heroin; OxyContin; Xanax
|-
| Janice Dickinson
Janice Dickinson
Janice Doreen Dickinson is an American actress, author, fashion photographer, model and talent agent.Initially notable as a model, she has described herself as the first supermodel. One of the most successful models throughout the 1970s and 1980s, she expanded her profession to reality television...
| Model
Model (person)
A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....
, fashion photographer
Fashion photography
Fashion photography is a genre of photography devoted to displaying clothing and other fashion items. Fashion photography is most often conducted for advertisements or fashion magazines such as Vogue, Vanity Fair, or Elle...
, actress, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
and agent
Talent agent
A talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds jobs for actors, authors, film directors, musicians, models, producers, professional athletes, writers and other people in various entertainment businesses. Having an agent is not required, but does help the artist in getting jobs...
.
| Alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
; cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
(Dickinson says she formerly took Ativan, and that she takes one prescription Ambien a night to sleep.)
|-
| Leif Garrett
Leif Garrett
Leif Garrett is an American singer and actor. He became famous in the late 1970s as a teen idol, but received much publicity in later life for his drug abuse and legal troubles.-Early life:...
| Actor, singer, and TV commentator
| Cocaine; heroin
|-
| Jeremy London
Jeremy London
Jeremy Michael London is an American actor. He is best known for his regular roles on Party of Five, 7th Heaven, and I'll Fly Away, as well as a notable supporting role in the Civil War epic Gods and Generals....
| Actor, best known for his regular roles on Party of Five
Party of Five
Party of Five is an American teen drama television series that aired on Fox for six seasons, from September 12, 1994, until May 3, 2000.Critically acclaimed, the show suffered from low ratings and after its first season was slated for cancellation...
, 7th Heaven
7th Heaven
7th Heaven is an American family drama television series, created and produced by Brenda Hampton. The series premiered on August 26, 1996, on the WB, the first time that the network aired Monday night programming, and was originally broadcast from August 26, 1996 to May 13, 2007...
, and I'll Fly Away
I'll Fly Away (TV series)
I'll Fly Away is a television series set during the late 1950s and early 1960s, in an unspecified Southern U.S. state. It aired on NBC from 1991 to 1993 and starred Regina Taylor as Lilly Harper, a black housekeeper for district attorney Forrest Bedford and his family...
.
| Marijuana; painkillers
|-
| Francine "Frankie" Lons
| Star of the BET
Black Entertainment Television
Black Entertainment Television is an American, Viacom-owned cable network based in Washington, D.C.. Currently viewed in more than 90 million homes worldwide, it is the most prominent television network targeting young Black-American audiences. The network was launched on January 25, 1980, by its...
reality show Frankie & Neffe
Frankie & Neffe
Frankie & Neffe is a reality show that debuted on August 25, 2009 on BET. The series chronicles the lives of R&B singer Keyshia Cole's biological mother and sister, Frankie Lons and Neffeteria Pugh. The series is preceded by Cole's reality show Keyshia Cole: The Way It Is...
, and mother of singer Keyshia Cole
Keyshia Cole
Keyshia Myeshia Cole Gibson born October 15, 1981) is an American singer–songwriter and actress. She gained nationwide acclaim when her 2005 debut album, The Way It Is went platinum. Her sophomore album Just Like You went into production shortly after that and was released in September 2007...
.
| Alcohol; crack cocaine
Crack cocaine
Crack cocaine is the freebase form of cocaine that can be smoked. It may also be termed rock, hard, iron, cavvy, base, or just crack; it is the most addictive form of cocaine. Crack rocks offer a short but intense high to smokers...
|-
| Eric Roberts
Eric Roberts
Eric Anthony Roberts is an American actor. His career began with King of the Gypsies , earning a Golden Globe nomination for best actor debut. He starred as the protagonist in the 1980 dramatisation of Willa Cather's 1905 short story, Paul's Case...
| Actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, known for his Oscar-nominated performance in Runaway Train
Runaway Train (film)
Runaway Train is a 1985 film about two escaped convicts and a female train worker who are stuck on a runaway train as it barrels through snowy desolate Alaska. It stars Jon Voight as Oscar "Manny" Manheim, Eric Roberts as Buck, John P. Ryan as Associate Warden Ranken and Rebecca De Mornay as Sara...
and TV shows such as Less Than Perfect
Less Than Perfect
Less Than Perfect is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from October 1, 2002, to June 6, 2006. The show was about a young female office employee and her co-workers...
and Heroes
Heroes (TV series)
Heroes is an American science fiction television drama series created by Tim Kring that appeared on NBC for four seasons from September 25, 2006 through February 8, 2010. The series tells the stories of ordinary people who discover superhuman abilities, and how these abilities take effect in the...
.
| Marijuana (Formerly used cocaine and a variety of psychotropic drugs such as Prozac.)
|-
| Rachel Uchitel
Rachel Uchitel
Rachel Uchitel is an American nightclub manager, hostess, sports groupie and TV correspondent. She first encountered publicity when,...
| Nightclub manager, correspondent for Extra
Extra (TV series)
Extra is an American entertainment television news program covering events and celebrities which debuted on September 5, 1994 in syndication. It is produced at Victory Studios in Glendale, California by Telepictures Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television Distribution...
, and one of Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
' mistresses
Mistress (lover)
A mistress is a long-term female lover and companion who is not married to her partner; the term is used especially when her partner is married. The relationship generally is stable and at least semi-permanent; however, the couple does not live together openly. Also the relationship is usually,...
.
| Alcohol; Opiates including Vicodin
Vicodin
Hydrocodone/paracetamol is a combination of two analgesic products hydrocodone and paracetamol used to relieve moderate to severe pain...
; benzodiazepines including Valium, Klonopin, and Xanax
|-
| Jason Wahler
| Reality television personality known as a second season cast member on Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County
Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County
Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County, often referred to simply as Laguna Beach, is a reality television series which originally aired on MTV from September 28, 2004 until November 16, 2006. It documents the lives of several teenagers living in Laguna Beach, an affluent seaside community located in...
| Alcohol
|}
Outcome
In a December 2010 interview in TV GuideTV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
, Pinsky stated that Dickinson was "doing so well", in stark contrast to her struggles documented during filming.
During the cast reunion show, Jason Davis
Jason Davis (actor)
Jason Davis is an actor best known for his voice acting work on the Animated TV series Recess.-Early life:...
claimed that he had relapsed twice but was currently sober. However, on January 27, 2011 he was arrested for drug possession and subsequently charged with felony possession and being under the influence of narcotics.
Season 5
On March 3, 2011, Amy FisherAmy Fisher
Amy Elizabeth Fisher is an American woman who became known as "the Long Island Lolita" by the media in 1992, when, at the age of 17, she shot and severely wounded Mary Jo Buttafuoco, the wife of her lover Joey Buttafuoco...
, Jeremy Jackson
Jeremy Jackson
Jeremy Dunn Jackson is an American actor/singer. He is widely known for his role as Hobie Buchannon on the television show Baywatch.-Career:...
, Bai Ling
Bai Ling
Bai Ling is a Chinese actress known for her work in films such as The Crow, Red Corner and Wild Wild West, and in TV series such as Entourage and Lost. In 2011 she appeared in the fifth season of the VH1 reality television series Celebrity Rehab with Dr...
, Michael Lohan
Michael Lohan
Michael Lohan, Sr. is the ex-husband of Dina Lohan and the father of Lindsay, Michael Lohan Jr., Ali, and Cody Lohan.-Early life:...
and Michaele Salahi were announced as fifth season participants. Subsequent cast members added to the season roster later that month include Season 2 participant Steven Adler
Steven Adler
Steven Adler is an American musician. He is best known as the former drummer of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s...
, actress Sean Young
Sean Young
Sean Young is an American actress, best known for her performance in films from the 1980s such as Blade Runner, Dune, and No Way Out.-Early life:...
, former Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
pitcher Dwight Gooden
Dwight Gooden
Dwight Eugene Gooden , nicknamed "Doc Gooden" or "Dr. K", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He was one of the most dominant and feared pitchers in the National League in the middle and late 1980s.-Career:...
and Survivor
Survivor (U.S. TV series)
Survivor is an American version of the Survivor reality television game show, itself derived from the Swedish television series Expedition Robinson originally created in 1997 by Charlie Parsons. The series premiered on May 31, 2000 on CBS...
second runner-up Jessica "Sugar" Kiper. Michaele Salahi was later removed from the show because, according to TMZ
TMZ.com
TMZ.com is a celebrity news website that debuted on November 8, 2005. It was a collaboration between America Online and Telepictures Productions, a division of Warner Bros., until Time Warner divested AOL in 2009. However, it is still affiliated with AOL News and has the AOL News logo affixed in...
sources, she harbored "no addiction," and thus had "no reason to be there." Season 5 premiered on June 26, 2011, though a "Sneak Premiere" was made available on Vh1's website as early as June 22.
Cast
{| class="wikitable"|-
! Cast member
! Notability
! Addiction
|-
| Steven Adler
Steven Adler
Steven Adler is an American musician. He is best known as the former drummer of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s...
| Former Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band, formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, in 1985. The band has released six studio albums, three EPs, and one live album...
drummer, returning from season 2
| Marijuana
|-
| Amy Fisher
Amy Fisher
Amy Elizabeth Fisher is an American woman who became known as "the Long Island Lolita" by the media in 1992, when, at the age of 17, she shot and severely wounded Mary Jo Buttafuoco, the wife of her lover Joey Buttafuoco...
| "Long Island Lolita" who shot her then-lover Joey Buttafuoco
Joey Buttafuoco
Joseph A. "Joey" Buttafuoco is an auto body shop owner from the USA, notable for his affair with Amy Fisher , who subsequently shot Joey's wife, Mary Jo Buttafuoco , in the face.-Incident:...
's wife, Mary Jo, in the face.
| Alcohol (She was stated in the season premiere to have suffered prior addiction to unspecified pills, but this was indicated to be an ongoing problem in in a season finale bonus clip.)
|-
| Dwight Gooden
Dwight Gooden
Dwight Eugene Gooden , nicknamed "Doc Gooden" or "Dr. K", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He was one of the most dominant and feared pitchers in the National League in the middle and late 1980s.-Career:...
| Former Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
pitcher.
| Cocaine; alcohol; Ambien
|-
| Jeremy Jackson
Jeremy Jackson
Jeremy Dunn Jackson is an American actor/singer. He is widely known for his role as Hobie Buchannon on the television show Baywatch.-Career:...
| Actor, best known for his role on Baywatch
Baywatch
Baywatch is an American action drama series about the Los Angeles County Lifeguards who patrol the beaches of Los Angeles County, California, starring David Hasselhoff. The show ran in its original title and format from 1989 to 1999, sans the 1990-1991 season, of which it was not in production...
as Hobie Buchannon
Hobie Buchannon
Hobie Buchannon is a fictional character from the TV series Baywatch. He was played by Brandon Call in the show's first season on NBC , and by Jeremy Jackson on the syndicated revival from 1991 to 1999 and in the 2003 reunion movie Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding.Hobie was the son of the lifeguard Mitch...
.
| Steroid
Steroid
A steroid is a type of organic compound that contains a characteristic arrangement of four cycloalkane rings that are joined to each other. Examples of steroids include the dietary fat cholesterol, the sex hormones estradiol and testosterone, and the anti-inflammatory drug dexamethasone.The core...
s
|-
| Jessica Kiper
Jessica Kiper
Jessica Michele Kiper is an American actress and singer. Kiper was also a runner-up contestant on Survivor: Gabon where she placed third. She was more commonly known to the viewing audience during her run on Survivor as Sugar. She returned to Survivor to compete on the show's 20th season:...
| Actress and television personality, best known for appearing twice as a contestant on Survivor
Survivor (U.S. TV series)
Survivor is an American version of the Survivor reality television game show, itself derived from the Swedish television series Expedition Robinson originally created in 1997 by Charlie Parsons. The series premiered on May 31, 2000 on CBS...
.
| Alcohol; marijuana; cocaine (former user); opiates, particularly Vicodin
Vicodin
Hydrocodone/paracetamol is a combination of two analgesic products hydrocodone and paracetamol used to relieve moderate to severe pain...
; benzodiazepines including Valium and Xanax
|-
| Bai Ling
Bai Ling
Bai Ling is a Chinese actress known for her work in films such as The Crow, Red Corner and Wild Wild West, and in TV series such as Entourage and Lost. In 2011 she appeared in the fifth season of the VH1 reality television series Celebrity Rehab with Dr...
| Actress.
| Alcohol
|-
| Michael Lohan
Michael Lohan
Michael Lohan, Sr. is the ex-husband of Dina Lohan and the father of Lindsay, Michael Lohan Jr., Ali, and Cody Lohan.-Early life:...
| Father of actress Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan is an American actress, pop singer and model. She began her career as a child fashion model before making her motion picture debut in Disney's 1998 remake of The Parent Trap at the age of 11...
.
| Alcohol (formerly used cocaine, but quit six years prior)
|-
| Sean Young
Sean Young
Sean Young is an American actress, best known for her performance in films from the 1980s such as Blade Runner, Dune, and No Way Out.-Early life:...
| Actress.
| Alcohol
|}
DVD releases
Celebrity Rehab has been released on DVD exclusively through AmazonAmazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
| Season
| Release date
| Discs
Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew is a reality television
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
show airing on the cable network VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
that chronicles a group of celebrities as they are treated for alcohol and drug addiction
Addiction
Historically, addiction has been defined as physical and psychological dependence on psychoactive substances which cross the blood-brain barrier once ingested, temporarily altering the chemical milieu of the brain.Addiction can also be viewed as a continued involvement with a substance or activity...
by Dr. Drew Pinsky
Drew Pinsky
David Drew Pinsky , best known as Dr. Drew, is an American board-certified internist, addiction medicine specialist, and radio and television personality. He has hosted the nationally syndicated radio talk show Loveline since the show's inception in 1984. On television, he hosts the talk show Dr...
and his staff at the Pasadena Recovery Center in Pasadena, California
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
. The first season premiered on January 10, 2008. Pinsky is listed in the show's onscreen credits as the executive producer.
Recurring cast
The following are staff of the Pasadena Recovery Center (PRC), where the series is filmed. Casts for individual seasons are seen in sections for those seasons.- Dr. Drew Pinsky – Pinsky is the star of the show, and the lead specialist who treats the patients. A board-certifiedAmerican Board of Medical SpecialtiesThe American Board of Medical Specialties is a non-profit physician-led umbrella organization for 24 of the 26 approved medical specialty boards in the United States...
internist and addiction medicineAddiction MedicineAddiction medicine is a medical specialty that deals with the treatment of addiction. The specialty often crosses over into other areas, since various aspects of addiction fall within the fields of public health, psychology, social work, psychiatry, and internal medicine, among others...
specialist, he rose to fame as the host of the nationally syndicated radio talk showTalk radioTalk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
, LovelineLovelineLoveline is a syndicated radio call-in program in North America, offering medical and relationship advice to listeners, often with the assistance of guests, typically actors and musicians. Its flagship station is KROQ-FM in Los Angeles....
. In addition to Celebrity Rehab, he also appears in its spinoffs, Sex Rehab with Dr. DrewSex Rehab with Dr. DrewSex Rehab with Dr. Drew is a VH1 reality television show that documents people being treated for sexual addiction by Dr. Drew Pinsky and his staff at the Pasadena Recovery Center in Pasadena, California. Premiering on November 1, 2009, Sex Rehab is a spin-off of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, in...
and Sober House. - Shelly Sprague – The Resident Technician who runs the floor. A recovering addict herself, she has also appeared on Sex Rehab with Dr. DrewSex Rehab with Dr. DrewSex Rehab with Dr. Drew is a VH1 reality television show that documents people being treated for sexual addiction by Dr. Drew Pinsky and his staff at the Pasadena Recovery Center in Pasadena, California. Premiering on November 1, 2009, Sex Rehab is a spin-off of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, in...
. She met Pinsky through Bob ForrestBob ForrestBob Forrest is the lead vocalist and lyricist for Los Angeles bands Thelonious Monster and The Bicycle Thief. In September 2006 he released his first solo album, Modern Folk And Blues Wednesday. He is also a drug counselor, appearing alongside Dr...
, a fellow recovering addict and colleague of Drew's with whom Sprague used to do drugs. She runs a center at Las Encinas Hospital in Pasadena, CaliforniaPasadena, CaliforniaPasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
. Pinsky observes that she becomes more personally involved with the patients than other technicians like Loesha do. - Bob ForrestBob ForrestBob Forrest is the lead vocalist and lyricist for Los Angeles bands Thelonious Monster and The Bicycle Thief. In September 2006 he released his first solo album, Modern Folk And Blues Wednesday. He is also a drug counselor, appearing alongside Dr...
– The Head Counselor, Forrest is the Chemical Dependency Program Director at Las Encinas Hospital. A former addict himself, he appears during group sessions as a counselor. - Loesha Zeviar – A Resident Technician who first appears in the second episode of Season 2. Responding to observations that Loesha receives more abuse than Sprague, Pinsky describes her as more staid than Sprague. Pinsky has referred to her as one of the strongest staff members at the PRC.
- Dr. Charles Sophy – psychiatristPsychiatristA psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
and director of the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services. He is also the author of Side By Side The Revolutionary Mother-Daughter Program for Conflict-Free Communication, and is the lead psychiatrist of the Celebrity Rehab and Sober House production team. Although he only appears occasionally, he was present throughout the filming of the second season of Sober House. - Sasha Kusina – A nurse at the Pasadena Recovery Center. Although seen as early as Season 2, it is in Season 5 that her full name is revealed and she is seen speaking with the other staff, in regards to her rapport with patient Bai LingBai LingBai Ling is a Chinese actress known for her work in films such as The Crow, Red Corner and Wild Wild West, and in TV series such as Entourage and Lost. In 2011 she appeared in the fifth season of the VH1 reality television series Celebrity Rehab with Dr...
, whom Kusina convinces to take her prescribed psychiatric medication. - Jennifer Gimenez – A model and actress and former addict who credits her recovery to Pinsky, Gimenez was the sober living house manager on the Celebrity Rehab spinoff Sober House, and began working as a rehab technician at the Pasadena Recovery Center in Season 5 of Rehab.
Production
According to a December 2009 New York Times article, Drew PinskyDrew Pinsky
David Drew Pinsky , best known as Dr. Drew, is an American board-certified internist, addiction medicine specialist, and radio and television personality. He has hosted the nationally syndicated radio talk show Loveline since the show's inception in 1984. On television, he hosts the talk show Dr...
, who was alarmed by tabloid portrayals of addiction as an indulgence of the rich and famous, and a group of independent producers, approached VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
with a proposal for a reality television series that would authentically depict addiction, as a sort of media intervention
Intervention (counseling)
An intervention is an orchestrated attempt by one, or often many, people to get someone to seek professional help with an addiction or some kind of traumatic event or crisis, or other serious problem. The term intervention is most often used when the traumatic event involves addiction to drugs...
.
According to executive producer John Irwin
John Irwin (producer)
John Irwin is a television producer and president of Irwin Entertainment, Inc., a television production company most well-known for its comedy, reality and live entertainment programming.-Career:...
, casting for the first season was the most difficult, as the representatives of the celebrities who had been arrested or had publicized bouts with addiction refused to speak with him and the other producers. The process became easier after the first season aired. Actor Tom Sizemore
Tom Sizemore
Thomas Edward "Tom" Sizemore, Jr. is an American film and television actor and producer. He is known for his roles in films such as Saving Private Ryan, Strange Days, Pearl Harbor, Heat and Black Hawk Down....
, for example, who was cast for Season 3, had been sought after since Season 1. Producers have reportedly offered actress Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan is an American actress, pop singer and model. She began her career as a child fashion model before making her motion picture debut in Disney's 1998 remake of The Parent Trap at the age of 11...
six figures to appear on the show. Pinsky, who focuses on the treatment side of the production, is not usually involved with casting, though he reportedly visited Rachel Uchitel
Rachel Uchitel
Rachel Uchitel is an American nightclub manager, hostess, sports groupie and TV correspondent. She first encountered publicity when,...
personally in order to convince her to join the fourth season cast.
A multitude of cameras are employed, which film twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, during the 21-day treatment cycle. Because some dramatic incidents occur early in the morning when the camera crews are not present, automated cameras are mounted all over the clinic to capture them. The exception to this are the bathrooms, which nonetheless are equipped with microphones to monitor unusual sounds, such as patients attempting to use drugs.
In addition to receiving the free treatment (which would normally be worth approximately $50,000–$60,000 USD), the patients receive a salary for their appearance on the series, which is prorated, and distributed once a week as an incentive to stay.
Celebrity Rehab has spun off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
two other shows. The first spinoff is Sober House, which depicts Rehab alumni living for 30 days at a sober living facility, as an interim step for recovering addicts between the completion of rehab and their eventual return to their old life. The second spinoff is Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew
Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew
Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew is a VH1 reality television show that documents people being treated for sexual addiction by Dr. Drew Pinsky and his staff at the Pasadena Recovery Center in Pasadena, California. Premiering on November 1, 2009, Sex Rehab is a spin-off of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, in...
, in which Pinsky and his staff treat celebrities for sexual addiction
Sexual addiction
Sexual addiction is a popular model to explain hypersexuality—sexual urges, behaviors, or thoughts that appear extreme in frequency or feel out of one's control...
.
Reception
While Pinsky and the series has won praise from both former addicts and other addiction specialists, many take issue with Pinsky's methods. Jeffrey Foote, a clinical psychologist and substance abuse expert, stated, "The velvet-glove confrontational stuff Pinsky does is what works for TV, but it's not what works for patients." The web site for Foote's Center for Motivation and Change uses a clip from Celebrity Rehab to demonstrate poor techniques. Foote added, "The dramatic confrontations seen on the show are actually more likely to drive less-severe substance abusers, who are by far the majority, away from seeking treatment." Critics also maintain that the patients' needs and the show's needs constitute a conflict of interest, with Dr. John J. Mariani, director of the Substance Treatment and Research Service at Columbia UniversityColumbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
stating, "The problem here is that Dr. Drew benefits from their participation, which must have some powerful effects on his way of relating to them. He also has a vested interest in the outcome of their treatment being interesting to viewers, which is also not in their best interest. Treatment with conflicts of interest isn’t treatment."
Pinsky has responded to such criticism by saying his medical peers "don't understand television. You have to work within the confines of what executives will allow you to put on TV. Otherwise, we've not done anything, we've not really struggled to change the culture at all." Regarding the series airing on a network that broadcasts other reality shows featuring uncritical depictions of sexuality and alcohol as recurring themes, he aid, "The people that need what we have are watching VH1. Not the people watching educational TV, the NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
crowd. You gotta give 'em what they want so you can give ’em what they need."
Defending the practice of paying addicts to attend rehab, producer John Irwin said, "Whatever it takes to get them through the door so they can start treatment—that's the goal." Pinsky offered a similar response, saying, "My whole thing is bait and switch. Whatever motivates them to come in, that's fine. Then we can get them involved with the process."
Despite the involvement of former Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1987 by guitarist and songwriter Jerry Cantrell and original lead vocalist Layne Staley. The initial lineup was rounded out by drummer Sean Kinney, and bassist Mike Starr...
bassist Mike Starr
Mike Starr (musician)
Michael Christopher "Mike" Starr was an American musician, best known as the original bassist in Alice in Chains, with whom he played from the band's formation in 1987 until 1993.- Career :...
as well as an appearance by Nancy McCallum, mother of the original AIC singer Layne Staley
Layne Staley
Layne Thomas Staley was an American musician who served as the lead singer and co-lyricist of the rock group Alice in Chains, which was formed in Seattle, Washington in 1987 by Staley and guitarist Jerry Cantrell. Alice in Chains rose to international fame as part of the grunge movement of the...
, who died of an overdose in 2002, the remaining original members of AIC, guitarist Jerry Cantrell
Jerry Cantrell
Jerry Fulton Cantrell Jr. is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter best known for his work with the grunge/metal band Alice in Chains, as lead guitarist, backing and co-lead vocalist, and co-lyricist. He performs lead vocals on his solo projects, and is part of Alice in Chains' harmonizing...
and drummer Sean Kinney
Sean Kinney
Sean Howard Kinney is an American musician best known for being the drummer of the influential grunge band Alice in Chains....
, have criticized the show, calling it "disgusting". Kinney said of the program, "It exploits people at their lowest point, when they're not in their right mind, and the sad part is, this is like entertainment for people when it's actually a life and death situation. I don't think it helps anybody and it makes entertainment out of people's possible death, and that's pathetic and it's stupid."
Columnist Drew Grant called for an end to the series because of its "warped sense of priorities", opining that the practice of assembling celebrities with serious drug addictions with others that, according to Grant, either do not suffer from addiction or whose addictions are self-diagnosed, like Rachel Uchitel
Rachel Uchitel
Rachel Uchitel is an American nightclub manager, hostess, sports groupie and TV correspondent. She first encountered publicity when,...
and Gary Busey
Gary Busey
William Gary Busey , best known as Gary Busey, is an American film and stage actor and artist. He has appeared in a large variety of films, as well as making regular appearances on Gunsmoke, Walker, Texas Ranger, Law & Order, and Entourage...
, for the purpose of creating entertainment, serves to encourage the "celebrity narcissism
Narcissism
Narcissism is a term with a wide range of meanings, depending on whether it is used to describe a central concept of psychoanalytic theory, a mental illness, a social or cultural problem, or simply a personality trait...
" that Pinsky himself has criticized.
Not all substance-abuse specialists have been critical of the show. Dr. Mary Oxford, staff psychologist for the Menninger Clinic
Menninger Foundation
The Menninger Foundation was founded in 1919 by the Menninger family in Topeka, Kansas, and consists of a clinic, a sanatorium, and a school of psychiatry, all of which bear the Menninger name. In 2003, the Menninger Clinic moved to Houston. The foundation was started by Drs. Karl, Will, and...
, praised it for removing the stigma surrounding addiction in the general public, and demystifying the process of treatment, and showing the lay public the skill of reflective listening
Reflective listening
Reflective listening is a communication strategy involving two key steps: seeking to understand a speaker's idea, then offering the idea back to the speaker, to confirm the idea has been understood correctly. It attempts to "reconstruct what the client is thinking and feeling and to relay this...
.
Cast
{| class="wikitable"|-
! Cast member
! Notability
! Addiction
|-
| Seth "Shifty Shellshock" Binzer
| Lead singer of rap rock
Rap rock
Rap rock is a cross-genre fusing vocal and instrumental elements of hip hop with various forms of rock. Rap rock is often confused with rap metal and rapcore, subgenres that include heavy metal-oriented and hardcore punk-oriented bands, respectively....
band Crazy Town
Crazy Town
Crazy Town is a rap rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1995 by Bret Mazur and Seth Binzer. The band is best known for their 2001 single, "Butterfly", which reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart...
| Cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
(powder and crack
Crack cocaine
Crack cocaine is the freebase form of cocaine that can be smoked. It may also be termed rock, hard, iron, cavvy, base, or just crack; it is the most addictive form of cocaine. Crack rocks offer a short but intense high to smokers...
)
|-
| Daniel Baldwin
Daniel Baldwin
Daniel Leroy Baldwin is an American actor, producer and director. He is the second oldest of the four Baldwin brothers, all of whom are actors. Daniel Baldwin is known for his role as Detective Beau Felton in the popular NBC TV series Homicide: Life on the Street...
| Actor (Departed the show in episode four)
| Cocaine
|-
| Mary Carey
| Porn actress and former candidate for California Governor
| Alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
|-
| Jeff Conaway
Jeff Conaway
Jeffrey Charles William Michael "Jeff" Conaway was an American actor best known for his roles in the movie Grease and the US television series Taxi and Babylon 5. Conaway was featured on the first season of reality series Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew...
| Actor
| Alcohol; cocaine; painkillers (Vicodin
Vicodin
Hydrocodone/paracetamol is a combination of two analgesic products hydrocodone and paracetamol used to relieve moderate to severe pain...
, OxyContin, Xanax, Zoloft, Ambien)
|-
| Jaimee Foxworth
Jaimee Foxworth
Jaimee Foxworth is an American actress who played the part of Judy Winslow, the youngest daughter, for four seasons on Family Matters. She later briefly transitioned to pornographic films using the name Crave.- Career :...
| Former child actress
| Marijuana
|-
| Joanie "Chyna" Laurer
| Actress and former professional wrestler
| Alcohol
|-
| Brigitte Nielsen
Brigitte Nielsen
Brigitte Nielsen is a Danish model, actress, musician and reality television personality who began her career modelling for Greg Gorman and Helmut Newton and several years later made appearances in the 1985 films Red Sonja and Rocky IV and is also known for her marriage to Sylvester Stallone...
| Actress and former model
| Alcohol
|-
| Ricco Rodriguez
Ricco Rodriguez
Ricco Rodriguez is an American mixed martial artist and former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight champion. He has also competed in Pride Fighting Championship, EliteXC, International Fight League, BAMMA, World Extreme Cagefighting and King of the Cage.-Early life:Rodriguez grew up in the...
| Mixed martial arts
Mixed martial arts
Mixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, judo and other styles. The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be...
fighter and former UFC Heavyweight Champion
| Cocaine; marijuana; benzodiazepines (Valium)
|-
| Jessica Sierra
Jessica Sierra
Jessica Ann Sierra is an American singer and was the tenth-place finalist on the fourth season of American Idol. She was the third finalist eliminated, on March 30, 2005...
| Singer and former American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
contestant
| Cocaine; alcohol
|}
Outcome
Sierra, Binzer, and Carey agreed to enter a transitional sober living home in the season finale. All three, as well as Laurer and Foxworth, would eventually relapse; some re-entered treatment. VH1VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
aired a reunion special detailing the patients' lives since filming. Although Conaway was able to maintain sobriety from alcohol and cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
, he continued to abuse analgesics for his back pain, and would re-enter treatment in the show's second season. Binzer also appeared in several episodes of the second season for his relapses, as well as the Sober House spin-off series.
Laurer was hospitalized in December 2008 and was reportedly going back to rehab.
Nielsen and Rodriguez have reportedly maintained their sobriety. Pinsky has said on numerous occasions that Nielsen has quit drinking and also gave up smoking. Nielsen has also appeared on his radio shows to talk about her sobriety. In 2009, she appeared as a panel speaker to another group at the Pasadena Recovery Center, in which she anticipated the upcoming two-year mark of her sobriety that July, as seen in a third season episode of the series, which aired in February 2010.
Sierra has tested "clean and sober" for a year and a half following a court-ordered year of treatment at the Pasadena Recovery Center, She also appeared with Nielsen in the aforementioned third season episode, marking her 18 months of sobriety.
The status of Baldwin's sobriety is unknown. As of May 2009, Foxworth is reportedly sober and gave birth to a son.
Carey relapsed and returned to porn, starring in and directing a parody film called Celebrity Pornhab with Dr. Screw
Celebrity Pornhab with Dr. Screw
Celebrity Pornhab with Dr. Screw is a 2009 pornographic film that satirizes the VH1 reality series Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew. The film stars a variety of porn stars including Mary Carey, Mike Horner. This film marks Mary Carey's comeback to adult films...
, a decision that Pinsky said saddened him. Regarding her sobriety, Pinsky commented in a January 2010 TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
story, "She puts together, like, six weeks at a time of sobriety, then drifts away. We're trying to get her to stay with it once and for all."
Season 2
Season 2 of Celebrity Rehab premiered on October 23, 2008.Pinsky saw musician Steven Adler
Steven Adler
Steven Adler is an American musician. He is best known as the former drummer of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s...
as this season's "problem child", describing his behavior as "suicidal", and related that Adler had to be put into a psychiatric hospital for two weeks prior to going into rehab. Jeff Conaway
Jeff Conaway
Jeffrey Charles William Michael "Jeff" Conaway was an American actor best known for his roles in the movie Grease and the US television series Taxi and Babylon 5. Conaway was featured on the first season of reality series Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew...
was also a grave concern, according to Pinsky.
Actor and recovering cocaine addict Gary Busey
Gary Busey
William Gary Busey , best known as Gary Busey, is an American film and stage actor and artist. He has appeared in a large variety of films, as well as making regular appearances on Gunsmoke, Walker, Texas Ranger, Law & Order, and Entourage...
entered the program, claiming to do so not as a patient, but as a mentor to assist others in their recoveries. This was stated in his contract, and confirmed by VH1's official press release about Season 2. Pinsky disputes this, however, stating, "I was confused too. But that's not my problem. My problem is that I've got a guy who needs help and I've got to figure out a way to get him into treatment. Gary [ends up having] a really inspirational experience. But it's a good 10 days before he comes around.
Cast
{| class="wikitable"|-
! Cast member
! Notability
! Addiction
|-
| Steven Adler
Steven Adler
Steven Adler is an American musician. He is best known as the former drummer of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s...
| Former Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band, formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, in 1985. The band has released six studio albums, three EPs, and one live album...
drummer
| Valium; alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
; heroin; cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
|-
| Seth Binzer
| Singer, returning from Season 1 after Dr. Drew learned of his relapse
Relapse
Relapse, in relation to drug misuse, is resuming the use of a drug or a dependent substance after one or more periods of abstinence. The term is a landmark feature of both substance dependence and substance abuse, which are learned behaviors, and is maintained by neuronal adaptations that mediate...
| Stimulant
Stimulant
Stimulants are psychoactive drugs which induce temporary improvements in either mental or physical function or both. Examples of these kinds of effects may include enhanced alertness, wakefulness, and locomotion, among others...
s (crack cocaine
Crack cocaine
Crack cocaine is the freebase form of cocaine that can be smoked. It may also be termed rock, hard, iron, cavvy, base, or just crack; it is the most addictive form of cocaine. Crack rocks offer a short but intense high to smokers...
)
|-
| Gary Busey
Gary Busey
William Gary Busey , best known as Gary Busey, is an American film and stage actor and artist. He has appeared in a large variety of films, as well as making regular appearances on Gunsmoke, Walker, Texas Ranger, Law & Order, and Entourage...
| Actor
| Recovering cocaine addict, clean and sober for 13 years, though Pinsky questions his current use of medicinal marijuana
Medical cannabis
Medical cannabis refers to the use of parts of the herb cannabis as a physician-recommended form of medicine or herbal therapy, or to synthetic forms of specific cannabinoids such as THC as a physician-recommended form of medicine...
for his asthma. He appears as a counselor to the other patients. (See above)
|-
| Jeff Conaway
Jeff Conaway
Jeffrey Charles William Michael "Jeff" Conaway was an American actor best known for his roles in the movie Grease and the US television series Taxi and Babylon 5. Conaway was featured on the first season of reality series Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew...
| Actor, returning from Season 1 following back surgeries that increased his painkiller addiction
| Opiate
Opiate
In medicine, the term opiate describes any of the narcotic opioid alkaloids found as natural products in the opium poppy plant.-Overview:Opiates are so named because they are constituents or derivatives of constituents found in opium, which is processed from the latex sap of the opium poppy,...
s (Oxycontin); cocaine
|-
| Rodney King
Rodney King
Rodney Glen King is an American best known for his involvement in a police brutality case involving the Los Angeles Police Department on March 3, 1991...
| Became a U.S. civil rights figure when videotaped in 1991 being beaten by L.A.P.D.
Los Angeles Police Department
The Los Angeles Police Department is the police department of the city of Los Angeles, California. With just under 10,000 officers and more than 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 4.1 million people, it is the third largest local law enforcement agency in...
officers, whose later acquittal sparked violent riots in L.A.
1992 Los Angeles riots
The 1992 Los Angeles Riots or South Central Riots, also known as the 1992 Los Angeles Civil Unrest were sparked on April 29, 1992, when a jury acquitted three white and one hispanic Los Angeles Police Department officers accused in the videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King following a...
| Alcohol
|-
| Tawny Kitaen
Tawny Kitaen
Julie "Tawny" Kitaen is an American actress and media personality. She became famous in the 1980s for appearing in several hard rock videos for the band Whitesnake, including the hit "Here I Go Again". Kitaen was married to Whitesnake lead singer David Coverdale from 1989–1991...
| Actress and former model
| Painkillers (Demerol and Vicodin
Vicodin
Hydrocodone/paracetamol is a combination of two analgesic products hydrocodone and paracetamol used to relieve moderate to severe pain...
) and cocaine
|-
| Nikki McKibbin
Nikki McKibbin
Katherine Nicole "Nikki" McKibbin is an American rock music singer-songwriter who finished third in the debut season of the reality television series American Idol. Prior to American Idol, McKibbin appeared in the first season of Popstars...
| Singer and former American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
contestant
| Cocaine, alcohol, Adderall
Adderall
Adderall is a brand name of amphetamine salts–based medication used for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and narcolepsy. It is a brand-name psychostimulant medication composed of racemic amphetamine aspartate monohydrate, racemic amphetamine sulfate, dextroamphetamine saccharide, and...
, painkillers (Vicodin
Vicodin
Hydrocodone/paracetamol is a combination of two analgesic products hydrocodone and paracetamol used to relieve moderate to severe pain...
); (McKibbin was formerly addicted to ecstasy as well.)
|-
| Amber Smith
Amber Smith
-Early life:The daughter of professional American football player Russ Smith and Carol Smith, Smith started modeling by age 16. As a teenager she traveled to Paris, France, where she worked as a model throughout Europe for four years...
| Actress and model
| Depressant
Depressant
A depressant, or central depressant, is a drug or endogenous compound that depresses the function or activity of a specific part of the brain...
s and opiates (Adderall, Dexadrine, Valium, Xanax, Klonopin, Suboxone)
|-
| Sean Stewart
Sean Stewart (reality TV star)
Sean Roderick Stewart is the son of singer Rod Stewart and Alana Hamilton. His A&E biography describes him as "a songwriter, musician, and model"....
| Son of singer Rod Stewart
Rod Stewart
Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE is a British singer-songwriter and musician, born and raised in North London, England and currently residing in Epping. He is of Scottish and English ancestry....
.
| Alcohol; ecstasy; Vicodin; morphine
Morphine
Morphine is a potent opiate analgesic medication and is considered to be the prototypical opioid. It was first isolated in 1804 by Friedrich Sertürner, first distributed by same in 1817, and first commercially sold by Merck in 1827, which at the time was a single small chemists' shop. It was more...
; Fentanyl; cocaine; heroin
|}
On October 1, 2008, rock band Alter Bridge
Alter Bridge
Alter Bridge is an American rock band that was formed in 2004 in Orlando, Florida by lead guitarist Mark Tremonti, bassist Brian Marshall, and drummer Scott Phillips, who are all also members of Creed. Lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Myles Kennedy, formerly of The Mayfield Four and the frontman...
, in conjunction with VH1, released a video for their single "Watch Over You
Watch Over You
"Watch Over You" is a song by the American rock band Alter Bridge, featured on the band's second album Blackbird in 2007. The ballad is one of Alter Bridge's softer songs and has a much lighter tone than other songs on the album...
" containing clips from the upcoming season of Celebrity Rehab.
Outcome
Most of the celebrities (except for Kitaen, Busey and Stewart) agreed to make a transitional move into a sober livingSober living environment
Sober living environments are facilities used by addicts recovering from substance abuse, which serve as an interim environment between rehab and a return to their former lives. SLEs grew out of a need to have safe and supportive place for people to live while they were in recovery...
home which was filmed for Sober House– although Busey expressed interest in attending sober living as a speaker. Conaway was released early from the center during the final episode of Season 2 after kicking his girlfriend in the ribs during an argument. As soon as Conaway returned to his home, he continued abusing pain killers. During the course of Sober House, Adler, Smith and Binzer relapsed. Adler has made repeated appearances on Loveline talking about his success with sobriety and how his life is drastically different for the better. On September 26, 2009, Kitaen was arrested for drinking and driving. Amber Smith
Amber Smith
-Early life:The daughter of professional American football player Russ Smith and Carol Smith, Smith started modeling by age 16. As a teenager she traveled to Paris, France, where she worked as a model throughout Europe for four years...
later appeared in the spinoff Sex Rehab.
In 2009 Rodney King
Rodney King
Rodney Glen King is an American best known for his involvement in a police brutality case involving the Los Angeles Police Department on March 3, 1991...
and Amber Smith appeared as panel speakers to a group of addicts at the Pasadena Recovery Center, marking 11 months of sobriety for King, and a year and a half of sobriety for Smith. Nikki McKibbin
Nikki McKibbin
Katherine Nicole "Nikki" McKibbin is an American rock music singer-songwriter who finished third in the debut season of the reality television series American Idol. Prior to American Idol, McKibbin appeared in the first season of Popstars...
marked a year of sobriety on June 10, 2009.
On May 11, 2011 Jeff Conaway
Jeff Conaway
Jeffrey Charles William Michael "Jeff" Conaway was an American actor best known for his roles in the movie Grease and the US television series Taxi and Babylon 5. Conaway was featured on the first season of reality series Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew...
was hospitalized for pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
, for which he was placed in an induced coma. He later died after being taken from life support on May 27, 2011. He was the second Celebrity Rehab cast member to die in 2011, following the death of Mike Starr
Mike Starr (musician)
Michael Christopher "Mike" Starr was an American musician, best known as the original bassist in Alice in Chains, with whom he played from the band's formation in 1987 until 1993.- Career :...
two months prior. Pinsky attributed Conaway's death to his addiction, stating, "What happens is, like with most opiate addicts, eventually they take a little too much...and they aspirate, so what's in their mouth gets into their lungs...That's what happened with Jeff."
Season 3
On April 22, 2009, it was announced on the Futon Critic that Celebrity Rehab had been renewed for a third season and that a new spinoff titled Sex Rehab with Dr. DrewSex Rehab with Dr. Drew
Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew is a VH1 reality television show that documents people being treated for sexual addiction by Dr. Drew Pinsky and his staff at the Pasadena Recovery Center in Pasadena, California. Premiering on November 1, 2009, Sex Rehab is a spin-off of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, in...
was being put into production. Sex Rehab premiered on November 1, 2009. Season 3 of Celebrity Rehab premiered on January 7, 2010.
Patient Heidi Fleiss
Heidi Fleiss
Heidi Lynne Fleiss is an American former madam, and also a columnist and television personality regularly featured in the 1990s in American media. She is often referred to as the "Hollywood Madam"....
was shown to be living in solitude in the wilderness of Nevada while caring for 25 parrots. Pinsky did brain scans of her that showed significant frontal lobe
Frontal lobe
The frontal lobe is an area in the brain of humans and other mammals, located at the front of each cerebral hemisphere and positioned anterior to the parietal lobe and superior and anterior to the temporal lobes...
dysfunction, which Pinsky theorized was behind her inability to empathize with people, and her affinity for doing so with birds.
Actor Tom Sizemore
Tom Sizemore
Thomas Edward "Tom" Sizemore, Jr. is an American film and television actor and producer. He is known for his roles in films such as Saving Private Ryan, Strange Days, Pearl Harbor, Heat and Black Hawk Down....
had been approached to appear in Season 1, but declined. He met with Pinsky about appearing in the second season, sitting in Pinsky's office for two hours, as Pinsky tells it, "sweating and completely high on drugs, talking a million miles an hour, acting like he was going to do it then deciding he didn’t want to." He ultimately decided to appear in Season 3, but did not arrive in the season premiere with the others, forcing Pinsky's colleague Bob Forrest
Bob Forrest
Bob Forrest is the lead vocalist and lyricist for Los Angeles bands Thelonious Monster and The Bicycle Thief. In September 2006 he released his first solo album, Modern Folk And Blues Wednesday. He is also a drug counselor, appearing alongside Dr...
to seek him out. Pinsky adds in the season's fourth episode that he believes Sizemore's girlfriend is also a user, and that their relationship is a threat to his sobriety. Pinsky points to Sizemore's story as emblematic of the difficulty of getting an addict to commit to rehab. Because of the tumultuous prior relationship between patients Sizemore and Fleiss, their consent to being cast together during the same season was obtained prior to filming.
Commenting on Dennis Rodman
Dennis Rodman
Dennis Keith Rodman is a retired American Hall of Fame professional basketball player of the National Basketball Association's Detroit Pistons, San Antonio Spurs, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks. Born in Trenton, New Jersey, he was nicknamed "Dennis the Menace" and "The...
's detachment from the rehabilitation process, Pinsky said that Rodman was "hyper-focused in some ways, and in others, completely blank", and observed that Rodman didn't comprehend what the other patients were experiencing, or how they perceived him. Pinsky concluded that Rodman may have Asperger's syndrome, a diagnosis with which a colleague from UCLA Medical Center concurred.
Mackenzie Phillips
Mackenzie Phillips
Mackenzie Phillips is an American actress and singer best known for her roles in American Graffiti and as rebellious teenager Julie Cooper Horvath on the sitcom One Day at a Time...
had accomplished several months of sobriety before checking into the Pasadena Recovery Center.
Joey Kovar, who previously sought treatment for his addiction to cocaine and alcohol during his stint on 2008's The Real World: Hollywood
The Real World: Hollywood
The Real World: Hollywood is the twentieth season of MTV's reality television series The Real World, which focuses on a group of diverse strangers living together for several months in a different city each season, as cameras document their lives and interpersonal relationships. It premiered on...
, was spurred to return to rehab for his recurring addiction by the impending birth of his and his girlfriend Nikki's child.
Pinsky commented on Lisa D'Amato
Lisa D'Amato
Lisa Marie D'Amato is an American recording artist, fashion model and television personality from Los Angeles, California...
by saying, "I would classify her as an addict in denial. This is the only disease you have to convince people they have."
Following her ejection from Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew
Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew
Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew is a VH1 reality television show that documents people being treated for sexual addiction by Dr. Drew Pinsky and his staff at the Pasadena Recovery Center in Pasadena, California. Premiering on November 1, 2009, Sex Rehab is a spin-off of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, in...
, Kari Ann Peniche
Kari Ann Peniche
Kari Ann Peniche is a former beauty queen and entertainer from Fairview, Oregon. She has held the Miss Oregon Teen USA and Miss United States Teen titles. She was stripped of the latter title after appearing nude in the November 2004 issue of Playboy magazine.Peniche lived in San Diego before...
was allowed back to the Pasadena Recovery Center after she called Pinsky and asked for help. Pinsky, who explains in this season's fourth episode that treatment for drug addiction must take place before treatment for sex addiction, revealed that her aggressive behavior during Sex Rehab was derived from drugs she smuggled in a teddy bear
Teddy bear
The teddy bear is a stuffed toy bear. They are usually stuffed with soft, white cotton and have smooth and soft fur. It is an enduring form of a stuffed animal in many countries, often serving the purpose of entertaining children. In recent times, some teddy bears have become collector's items...
, and which were difficult to detect during drug testing because of the medication Peniche took for attention deficit disorder. Irwin says her behavior had changed by her second appearance, though she did punch a camera man at one point.
Cast
{| class="wikitable"|-
! Cast member
! Notability
! Addiction
|-
| Lisa D'Amato
Lisa D'Amato
Lisa Marie D'Amato is an American recording artist, fashion model and television personality from Los Angeles, California...
| Model and electro rock
Electro rock
Electronic rock, also commonly referred to as synthrock, electro rock or digital rock, is rock music generated with electronic instruments...
musician
| Alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
; marijuana; amphetamine
Amphetamine
Amphetamine or amfetamine is a psychostimulant drug of the phenethylamine class which produces increased wakefulness and focus in association with decreased fatigue and appetite.Brand names of medications that contain, or metabolize into, amphetamine include Adderall, Dexedrine, Dextrostat,...
s; cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
; mushrooms
|-
| Heidi Fleiss
Heidi Fleiss
Heidi Lynne Fleiss is an American former madam, and also a columnist and television personality regularly featured in the 1990s in American media. She is often referred to as the "Hollywood Madam"....
| Former American madam
Madam
Madam, or madame, is a polite title used for women which, in English, is the equivalent of Mrs. or Ms., and is often found abbreviated as "ma'am", and less frequently as "ma'm". It is derived from the French madame, which means "my lady", the feminine form of lord; the plural of ma dame in this...
| Methamphetamine
Methamphetamine
Methamphetamine is a psychostimulant of the phenethylamine and amphetamine class of psychoactive drugs...
; Valium; Xanax; Vicodin
Vicodin
Hydrocodone/paracetamol is a combination of two analgesic products hydrocodone and paracetamol used to relieve moderate to severe pain...
(Fleiss states that she is coming off a prescription for Suboxone.)
|-
| Joey Kovar
| Cast member on The Real World: Hollywood
The Real World: Hollywood
The Real World: Hollywood is the twentieth season of MTV's reality television series The Real World, which focuses on a group of diverse strangers living together for several months in a different city each season, as cameras document their lives and interpersonal relationships. It premiered on...
| Alcohol; cocaine; ecstasy; methamphetamine; steroids
|-
| Mindy McCready
Mindy McCready
Melinda Gayle "Mindy" McCready is an American country music singer. Active since 1996, she has recorded a total of five studio albums. Her debut album, 1996's Ten Thousand Angels, was released on BNA Records and was certified 2× Multi-Platinum by the RIAA, while 1997's If I Don't Stay the...
| Country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
singer
| OxyContin; alcohol; (McCready states that she takes prescription Xanax for anxiety as needed, and that the painkillers found among her belongings during Intake were for her shoulder, which was dislocated a month prior.)
|-
| Kari Ann Peniche
Kari Ann Peniche
Kari Ann Peniche is a former beauty queen and entertainer from Fairview, Oregon. She has held the Miss Oregon Teen USA and Miss United States Teen titles. She was stripped of the latter title after appearing nude in the November 2004 issue of Playboy magazine.Peniche lived in San Diego before...
| Miss Teen USA 2002
Miss Teen USA 2002
Miss Teen USA 2002, the 20th Miss Teen USA pageant, was televised live from South Padre Island, Texas on 28 August 2002. At the conclusion of the final competition, Miss Wisconsin Teen USA Vanessa Marie Semrow was crowned by outgoing queen Marissa Whitley of Missouri.This was the second...
and subject of a Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
pictorial
| Methamphetamine
|-
| Mackenzie Phillips
Mackenzie Phillips
Mackenzie Phillips is an American actress and singer best known for her roles in American Graffiti and as rebellious teenager Julie Cooper Horvath on the sitcom One Day at a Time...
| Actress
| Heroin; cocaine (Formerly used marijuana.)
|-
| Dennis Rodman
Dennis Rodman
Dennis Keith Rodman is a retired American Hall of Fame professional basketball player of the National Basketball Association's Detroit Pistons, San Antonio Spurs, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks. Born in Trenton, New Jersey, he was nicknamed "Dennis the Menace" and "The...
| Former basketball player
| Alcohol
|-
| Tom Sizemore
Tom Sizemore
Thomas Edward "Tom" Sizemore, Jr. is an American film and television actor and producer. He is known for his roles in films such as Saving Private Ryan, Strange Days, Pearl Harbor, Heat and Black Hawk Down....
| Actor
| Opiate
Opiate
In medicine, the term opiate describes any of the narcotic opioid alkaloids found as natural products in the opium poppy plant.-Overview:Opiates are so named because they are constituents or derivatives of constituents found in opium, which is processed from the latex sap of the opium poppy,...
s; benzodiazepine
Benzodiazepine
A benzodiazepine is a psychoactive drug whose core chemical structure is the fusion of a benzene ring and a diazepine ring...
s; methamphetamine; marijuana; heroin; Klonopin (formerly used cocaine from 1991-1996)
|-
| Mike Starr
Mike Starr (musician)
Michael Christopher "Mike" Starr was an American musician, best known as the original bassist in Alice in Chains, with whom he played from the band's formation in 1987 until 1993.- Career :...
| Former Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1987 by guitarist and songwriter Jerry Cantrell and original lead vocalist Layne Staley. The initial lineup was rounded out by drummer Sean Kinney, and bassist Mike Starr...
bass player
| Heroin; methadone
Methadone
Methadone is a synthetic opioid, used medically as an analgesic and a maintenance anti-addictive for use in patients with opioid dependency. It was developed in Germany in 1937...
; methamphetamine; cocaine; marijuana.
|}
Outcome
Peniche, Starr, Fleiss, Sizemore and Rodman all agreed to attend a sober living facility after treatment, which was chronicled on the second season of Sober House. Kovar indicated that he would get a sponsor, go to meetings, and go to sober living after his girlfriend moved into their new home. McCready, who cited the need to return to her son, indicated that she would go to Al-Anon.Since completing treatment, Pinsky says that D'Amato, who declined sober living, but agreed to go to meetings, "seems pretty good to me. My bet is she'll continue to flirt with using, but will have a deeper understanding now of her behavior."
Phillips and McCready appeared with Pinsky in a segment on women and addiction on the March 17, 2010 episode of The View.
Mike Starr was arrested February 18, 2011 on two felony counts of possession of a controlled substance for 6 pills of the painkiller Opana
Oxymorphone
Oxymorphone or 14-Hydroxydihydromorphinone is a powerful semi-synthetic opioid analgesic first developed in Germany circa 1914, patented in the USA by Endo Pharmaceuticals in 1955 and introduced to the United States market in January 1959 and other countries around the same time...
and 6 pills of Xanax, an anti-anxiety drug. Starr was later found dead on March 8, 2011 in Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...
.
Season 4
In May 2010, model and reality TV veteran Tila Tequila, who disclosed an addiction to prescription medication, was the first cast member announced for season four. However, on July 12, it was announced that she withdrew from the cast.Filming on season four ended the week of August 1, 2010. It began airing on December 1, 2010.
On August 31, RadarOnline reported that Rachel Uchitel
Rachel Uchitel
Rachel Uchitel is an American nightclub manager, hostess, sports groupie and TV correspondent. She first encountered publicity when,...
, who had been living at a sober living facility in Malibu, California, left the facility with Pinsky's permission in order to visit the World Trade Center site
World Trade Center site
The World Trade Center site , also known as "Ground Zero" after the September 11 attacks, sits on in Lower Manhattan in New York City...
, where her fiance, James Andrew O'Grady, was killed during the September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
, which Uchitel has explained was when her life began to unravel, culminating in a "massive breakdown" two years later. Uchitel spoke to other 9/11 families at the site, and was moved by her encounter with them.
Cast
{| class="wikitable"|-
! Cast member
! Notability
! Addiction
|-
| Jason Davis
Jason Davis (actor)
Jason Davis is an actor best known for his voice acting work on the Animated TV series Recess.-Early life:...
| Actor, socialite
Socialite
A socialite is a person who participates in social activities and spends a significant amount of time entertaining and being entertained at fashionable upper-class events....
| Heroin; OxyContin; Xanax
|-
| Janice Dickinson
Janice Dickinson
Janice Doreen Dickinson is an American actress, author, fashion photographer, model and talent agent.Initially notable as a model, she has described herself as the first supermodel. One of the most successful models throughout the 1970s and 1980s, she expanded her profession to reality television...
| Model
Model (person)
A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....
, fashion photographer
Fashion photography
Fashion photography is a genre of photography devoted to displaying clothing and other fashion items. Fashion photography is most often conducted for advertisements or fashion magazines such as Vogue, Vanity Fair, or Elle...
, actress, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
and agent
Talent agent
A talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds jobs for actors, authors, film directors, musicians, models, producers, professional athletes, writers and other people in various entertainment businesses. Having an agent is not required, but does help the artist in getting jobs...
.
| Alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
; cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
(Dickinson says she formerly took Ativan, and that she takes one prescription Ambien a night to sleep.)
|-
| Leif Garrett
Leif Garrett
Leif Garrett is an American singer and actor. He became famous in the late 1970s as a teen idol, but received much publicity in later life for his drug abuse and legal troubles.-Early life:...
| Actor, singer, and TV commentator
| Cocaine; heroin
|-
| Jeremy London
Jeremy London
Jeremy Michael London is an American actor. He is best known for his regular roles on Party of Five, 7th Heaven, and I'll Fly Away, as well as a notable supporting role in the Civil War epic Gods and Generals....
| Actor, best known for his regular roles on Party of Five
Party of Five
Party of Five is an American teen drama television series that aired on Fox for six seasons, from September 12, 1994, until May 3, 2000.Critically acclaimed, the show suffered from low ratings and after its first season was slated for cancellation...
, 7th Heaven
7th Heaven
7th Heaven is an American family drama television series, created and produced by Brenda Hampton. The series premiered on August 26, 1996, on the WB, the first time that the network aired Monday night programming, and was originally broadcast from August 26, 1996 to May 13, 2007...
, and I'll Fly Away
I'll Fly Away (TV series)
I'll Fly Away is a television series set during the late 1950s and early 1960s, in an unspecified Southern U.S. state. It aired on NBC from 1991 to 1993 and starred Regina Taylor as Lilly Harper, a black housekeeper for district attorney Forrest Bedford and his family...
.
| Marijuana; painkillers
|-
| Francine "Frankie" Lons
| Star of the BET
Black Entertainment Television
Black Entertainment Television is an American, Viacom-owned cable network based in Washington, D.C.. Currently viewed in more than 90 million homes worldwide, it is the most prominent television network targeting young Black-American audiences. The network was launched on January 25, 1980, by its...
reality show Frankie & Neffe
Frankie & Neffe
Frankie & Neffe is a reality show that debuted on August 25, 2009 on BET. The series chronicles the lives of R&B singer Keyshia Cole's biological mother and sister, Frankie Lons and Neffeteria Pugh. The series is preceded by Cole's reality show Keyshia Cole: The Way It Is...
, and mother of singer Keyshia Cole
Keyshia Cole
Keyshia Myeshia Cole Gibson born October 15, 1981) is an American singer–songwriter and actress. She gained nationwide acclaim when her 2005 debut album, The Way It Is went platinum. Her sophomore album Just Like You went into production shortly after that and was released in September 2007...
.
| Alcohol; crack cocaine
Crack cocaine
Crack cocaine is the freebase form of cocaine that can be smoked. It may also be termed rock, hard, iron, cavvy, base, or just crack; it is the most addictive form of cocaine. Crack rocks offer a short but intense high to smokers...
|-
| Eric Roberts
Eric Roberts
Eric Anthony Roberts is an American actor. His career began with King of the Gypsies , earning a Golden Globe nomination for best actor debut. He starred as the protagonist in the 1980 dramatisation of Willa Cather's 1905 short story, Paul's Case...
| Actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, known for his Oscar-nominated performance in Runaway Train
Runaway Train (film)
Runaway Train is a 1985 film about two escaped convicts and a female train worker who are stuck on a runaway train as it barrels through snowy desolate Alaska. It stars Jon Voight as Oscar "Manny" Manheim, Eric Roberts as Buck, John P. Ryan as Associate Warden Ranken and Rebecca De Mornay as Sara...
and TV shows such as Less Than Perfect
Less Than Perfect
Less Than Perfect is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from October 1, 2002, to June 6, 2006. The show was about a young female office employee and her co-workers...
and Heroes
Heroes (TV series)
Heroes is an American science fiction television drama series created by Tim Kring that appeared on NBC for four seasons from September 25, 2006 through February 8, 2010. The series tells the stories of ordinary people who discover superhuman abilities, and how these abilities take effect in the...
.
| Marijuana (Formerly used cocaine and a variety of psychotropic drugs such as Prozac.)
|-
| Rachel Uchitel
Rachel Uchitel
Rachel Uchitel is an American nightclub manager, hostess, sports groupie and TV correspondent. She first encountered publicity when,...
| Nightclub manager, correspondent for Extra
Extra (TV series)
Extra is an American entertainment television news program covering events and celebrities which debuted on September 5, 1994 in syndication. It is produced at Victory Studios in Glendale, California by Telepictures Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television Distribution...
, and one of Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
' mistresses
Mistress (lover)
A mistress is a long-term female lover and companion who is not married to her partner; the term is used especially when her partner is married. The relationship generally is stable and at least semi-permanent; however, the couple does not live together openly. Also the relationship is usually,...
.
| Alcohol; Opiates including Vicodin
Vicodin
Hydrocodone/paracetamol is a combination of two analgesic products hydrocodone and paracetamol used to relieve moderate to severe pain...
; benzodiazepines including Valium, Klonopin, and Xanax
|-
| Jason Wahler
| Reality television personality known as a second season cast member on Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County
Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County
Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County, often referred to simply as Laguna Beach, is a reality television series which originally aired on MTV from September 28, 2004 until November 16, 2006. It documents the lives of several teenagers living in Laguna Beach, an affluent seaside community located in...
| Alcohol
|}
Outcome
In a December 2010 interview in TV GuideTV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
, Pinsky stated that Dickinson was "doing so well", in stark contrast to her struggles documented during filming.
During the cast reunion show, Jason Davis
Jason Davis (actor)
Jason Davis is an actor best known for his voice acting work on the Animated TV series Recess.-Early life:...
claimed that he had relapsed twice but was currently sober. However, on January 27, 2011 he was arrested for drug possession and subsequently charged with felony possession and being under the influence of narcotics.
Season 5
On March 3, 2011, Amy FisherAmy Fisher
Amy Elizabeth Fisher is an American woman who became known as "the Long Island Lolita" by the media in 1992, when, at the age of 17, she shot and severely wounded Mary Jo Buttafuoco, the wife of her lover Joey Buttafuoco...
, Jeremy Jackson
Jeremy Jackson
Jeremy Dunn Jackson is an American actor/singer. He is widely known for his role as Hobie Buchannon on the television show Baywatch.-Career:...
, Bai Ling
Bai Ling
Bai Ling is a Chinese actress known for her work in films such as The Crow, Red Corner and Wild Wild West, and in TV series such as Entourage and Lost. In 2011 she appeared in the fifth season of the VH1 reality television series Celebrity Rehab with Dr...
, Michael Lohan
Michael Lohan
Michael Lohan, Sr. is the ex-husband of Dina Lohan and the father of Lindsay, Michael Lohan Jr., Ali, and Cody Lohan.-Early life:...
and Michaele Salahi were announced as fifth season participants. Subsequent cast members added to the season roster later that month include Season 2 participant Steven Adler
Steven Adler
Steven Adler is an American musician. He is best known as the former drummer of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s...
, actress Sean Young
Sean Young
Sean Young is an American actress, best known for her performance in films from the 1980s such as Blade Runner, Dune, and No Way Out.-Early life:...
, former Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
pitcher Dwight Gooden
Dwight Gooden
Dwight Eugene Gooden , nicknamed "Doc Gooden" or "Dr. K", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He was one of the most dominant and feared pitchers in the National League in the middle and late 1980s.-Career:...
and Survivor
Survivor (U.S. TV series)
Survivor is an American version of the Survivor reality television game show, itself derived from the Swedish television series Expedition Robinson originally created in 1997 by Charlie Parsons. The series premiered on May 31, 2000 on CBS...
second runner-up Jessica "Sugar" Kiper. Michaele Salahi was later removed from the show because, according to TMZ
TMZ.com
TMZ.com is a celebrity news website that debuted on November 8, 2005. It was a collaboration between America Online and Telepictures Productions, a division of Warner Bros., until Time Warner divested AOL in 2009. However, it is still affiliated with AOL News and has the AOL News logo affixed in...
sources, she harbored "no addiction," and thus had "no reason to be there." Season 5 premiered on June 26, 2011, though a "Sneak Premiere" was made available on Vh1's website as early as June 22.
Cast
{| class="wikitable"|-
! Cast member
! Notability
! Addiction
|-
| Steven Adler
Steven Adler
Steven Adler is an American musician. He is best known as the former drummer of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s...
| Former Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band, formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, in 1985. The band has released six studio albums, three EPs, and one live album...
drummer, returning from season 2
| Marijuana
|-
| Amy Fisher
Amy Fisher
Amy Elizabeth Fisher is an American woman who became known as "the Long Island Lolita" by the media in 1992, when, at the age of 17, she shot and severely wounded Mary Jo Buttafuoco, the wife of her lover Joey Buttafuoco...
| "Long Island Lolita" who shot her then-lover Joey Buttafuoco
Joey Buttafuoco
Joseph A. "Joey" Buttafuoco is an auto body shop owner from the USA, notable for his affair with Amy Fisher , who subsequently shot Joey's wife, Mary Jo Buttafuoco , in the face.-Incident:...
's wife, Mary Jo, in the face.
| Alcohol (She was stated in the season premiere to have suffered prior addiction to unspecified pills, but this was indicated to be an ongoing problem in in a season finale bonus clip.)
|-
| Dwight Gooden
Dwight Gooden
Dwight Eugene Gooden , nicknamed "Doc Gooden" or "Dr. K", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He was one of the most dominant and feared pitchers in the National League in the middle and late 1980s.-Career:...
| Former Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
pitcher.
| Cocaine; alcohol; Ambien
|-
| Jeremy Jackson
Jeremy Jackson
Jeremy Dunn Jackson is an American actor/singer. He is widely known for his role as Hobie Buchannon on the television show Baywatch.-Career:...
| Actor, best known for his role on Baywatch
Baywatch
Baywatch is an American action drama series about the Los Angeles County Lifeguards who patrol the beaches of Los Angeles County, California, starring David Hasselhoff. The show ran in its original title and format from 1989 to 1999, sans the 1990-1991 season, of which it was not in production...
as Hobie Buchannon
Hobie Buchannon
Hobie Buchannon is a fictional character from the TV series Baywatch. He was played by Brandon Call in the show's first season on NBC , and by Jeremy Jackson on the syndicated revival from 1991 to 1999 and in the 2003 reunion movie Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding.Hobie was the son of the lifeguard Mitch...
.
| Steroid
Steroid
A steroid is a type of organic compound that contains a characteristic arrangement of four cycloalkane rings that are joined to each other. Examples of steroids include the dietary fat cholesterol, the sex hormones estradiol and testosterone, and the anti-inflammatory drug dexamethasone.The core...
s
|-
| Jessica Kiper
Jessica Kiper
Jessica Michele Kiper is an American actress and singer. Kiper was also a runner-up contestant on Survivor: Gabon where she placed third. She was more commonly known to the viewing audience during her run on Survivor as Sugar. She returned to Survivor to compete on the show's 20th season:...
| Actress and television personality, best known for appearing twice as a contestant on Survivor
Survivor (U.S. TV series)
Survivor is an American version of the Survivor reality television game show, itself derived from the Swedish television series Expedition Robinson originally created in 1997 by Charlie Parsons. The series premiered on May 31, 2000 on CBS...
.
| Alcohol; marijuana; cocaine (former user); opiates, particularly Vicodin
Vicodin
Hydrocodone/paracetamol is a combination of two analgesic products hydrocodone and paracetamol used to relieve moderate to severe pain...
; benzodiazepines including Valium and Xanax
|-
| Bai Ling
Bai Ling
Bai Ling is a Chinese actress known for her work in films such as The Crow, Red Corner and Wild Wild West, and in TV series such as Entourage and Lost. In 2011 she appeared in the fifth season of the VH1 reality television series Celebrity Rehab with Dr...
| Actress.
| Alcohol
|-
| Michael Lohan
Michael Lohan
Michael Lohan, Sr. is the ex-husband of Dina Lohan and the father of Lindsay, Michael Lohan Jr., Ali, and Cody Lohan.-Early life:...
| Father of actress Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan is an American actress, pop singer and model. She began her career as a child fashion model before making her motion picture debut in Disney's 1998 remake of The Parent Trap at the age of 11...
.
| Alcohol (formerly used cocaine, but quit six years prior)
|-
| Sean Young
Sean Young
Sean Young is an American actress, best known for her performance in films from the 1980s such as Blade Runner, Dune, and No Way Out.-Early life:...
| Actress.
| Alcohol
|}
DVD releases
Celebrity Rehab has been released on DVD exclusively through AmazonAmazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
| Season
| Release date
| Discs
|-
! 1
| 21 August 2008
|4
|-
!2
| 4 March 2010
|
|-
! 3
| 29 March 2010
|
|}