What Chrissy Teigen’s Sobriety Teaches Us About Trying to Drink Again | Sober Celebrities Replay

What can Chrissy Teigen’s return to sobriety teach us about the moderation myth?

In this reflective episode of The Sober Butterfly Podcast, host Nadine Mulvina opens with a trending celebrity sobriety story and uses it to explore a truth many people discover privately: trying to “mindfully drink” after quitting often leads right back to why we stopped in the first place.

Nadine shares her perspective on relapse, moderation, and why sobriety ultimately feels better for mental clarity, emotional stability, and real joy.

Then, she takes listeners back to Season One (2022) for a special replay of an early Sober Butterfly episode with Keisha Scott from Done With Debauchery — one of the first sober creators Nadine connected with in real life and the woman who helped her host her very first sober girl meetup.

Together, Nadine and Keisha discuss well-known celebrities who have publicly shared their sobriety journeys, including:

• Samuel L. Jackson
• Jada Pinkett Smith
• Nicki Minaj
• Chrissy Teigen
• Naomi Campbell
• Bella Hadid

This episode is about more than celebrities — it’s about how seeing sober people can inspire you, but meeting sober people can change your life.

Whether you’re sober-curious, newly sober, or years into your alcohol-free journey, this conversation reminds you that sobriety is not about perfection — it’s about presence, honesty, and community.

🎧 In This Episode, You’ll Hear

• Why Chrissy Teigen’s relapse story is so relatable
• The truth about “mindful drinking” and moderation attempts
• How celebrity sobriety can inspire early recovery
• Nadine’s origin story of meeting her first sober internet friend
• The early days of The Sober Butterfly podcast
• Why sober community matters more than sober inspiration
• A replay of the 2022 “Sober Celebrities” episode with Keisha Scott

Watch This Episode on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsGEzG_vmaM

🔗 Resources & Links

• Follow Nadine: @the.soberbutterfly
• Listen to more episodes of The Sober Butterfly Podcast
• Share this episode with someone exploring sobriety

💬 Call to Action

If this episode resonated with you, send it to a friend who is questioning their relationship with alcohol. Your conversation might be the one that helps them start theirs.

Transcript

the-sober-butterfly_2_01-30-2026_051513: 0:00

Hello. Hello. Happy Friday and welcome back to the Sober Butterfly Podcast. I'm your host, Nadine, and if you are new here, This is a show where we redefine what an alcohol free life looks like. I'm talking about the fun side of sobriety here. We also talk about real stories, real struggles and real transformation. And speaking of transformation, today we're starting with a celebrity sobriety transformation that's been trending lately. I feel like that's a tongue twister or alliteration, celebrity transformation trending. I, I don't know. Okay. We're talking about Chrissy Teigen here, butterflies Now, if you're listening to this podcast, I'm gonna take a gander that you are either sober or like curious, sober, curious about. What a, a sober life. Could look like and you've come to the right place.'cause I, I share a lot. But today the focus is more on Chrissy Teigen because as mentioned, she's been all over my feed, my very curated sober algorithm on social media has been pointing very much at Chrissy, Teigen being. Sober.

the-sober-butterfly_4_01-30-2026_052133: 1:22

If you don't know who Chrissy Teigen is, you have to know her husband, John Legend, and I don't wanna just minimize her role to being a wife. Like Chrissy has a longstanding career for own, but what I love about the Chrissy John legend dynamic is that John. Is very like quiet, very submissive. Like he's definitely giving more of the feminine energy in that relationship. And Chrissy's very loud in your face. Take charge says it, how she means it. No filter, which I think has gotten her into some like trouble. And yeah, she's just like main character. Like even though John Legend is the world renowned superstar. Grammy winner. He probably has like a million Grammys and whatnot. Somehow Chrissy overpowers his star power. So like, yeah, this woman's ballsy. I like that. I'm gonna take that back, this woman's cunty.'cause like why are we comparing women to having male body parts for being like assertive this woman's cunty, Chrissy's cty. Okay. I like Chrissy. Always have, and I really felt in deeper love with Chrissy, I guess you could say after learning back in 2022. That she was sober. So Chrissy came out as sober in 2022 came out, sounds weird. She announced that she had a year of sobriety back in 2022, which means doing the math, she would've been sober or gotten sober in 21. So that aligned. With my sober time or sober journey as I got sober. In July of 21. So I was like, oh my God, Chrissy and I see eye to eye and it makes sense because it coincides with the Holly Whitaker book. Quit Like a Woman. I feel like that is Bible for so many sober women. Quit Like a Woman is an amazing. Book for Sober Curious folks, and it's a memoir style recount of Holly's tale and her journey to getting sober. And I resonated with it, as did Chrissy. And so she was gifted that book and then decided that she was gonna take a, I'm not sure if it was like a permanent hiatus from drinking or. If it was like an official declaration of sobriety forever. But she shared with the world on her very large platform that she was done drinking, so I thought that was awesome. And that actually brings me to the focus for today's episode. So as mentioned, Chrissy, Teigen is back in the headlines about sobriety because I think when these celebrities announced that they're getting sober, like we're all like, yay, clap for them. Like, here are your roses. And I don't see anything wrong with that. Like that's not me scrutinizing celebs coming out and saying they're sober. At all, like I appreciate that transparency. I think we need more transparency as discussed with Tommie Runz last week on the podcast. He was sharing about how if you have a goal in mind, you should share, but not just in a self-serving way for yourself to hold you accountable, but also as a way for, other folks to show up and support you. And then just for visibility factors, right? So Chrissy and myself, we have, you know, both visibility in terms of being quote, public figures yes with my 6,000. Ish followers on Instagram. I'm a public figure guys. So yeah, but I, I really do take that role seriously. I'm like, I will share until the day I die about how much sobriety has shifted everything for me in the best direction. So Chrissy did the same thing. I love that. But going back to this idea of like, I think we forget with celebrities, A, they're human. And then B, when you have that big announcement in the beginning, That becomes headlines for like, however many news cycles, but then we forget especially with celebrities who have a million other things going on. She has her other projects. She's a chef. So like I don't necessarily think her brand needed to entail or shift to being just about sobriety at all. She's multidimensional as we all are. And she didn't start her brand as a public figure or her page on Instagram as a sober person. So I kind of forgot that she was sober, to be honest with you. And I think the world did too. So I follow Chrissy on Instagram and I would see that she would post, but it's like family stuff and blah, blah, blah. Like her cute little life. And I realized. She wasn't talking about sobriety, and that's authentic to, I suppose her story and her journey because she went back to drinking.

the-sober-butterfly_5_01-30-2026_052836: 6:12

So this week, my algorithm was saturated with information about Chrissy Teigan being sober and People had many feelings about it. Because she announced that she was 50 ish, I don't know how many days now today it would be, but like I saw like the number 50 earlier this week. So she was 50 days sober again. And then a lot of like sober people and non sober people, and sober whoever. Everyone had like strongest opinions about it. I would say I'm more like neutral leaning to the positive, like more positive sentiments around her sharing this. But like I saw people were like, we don't care. Sobriety's not a costume. This is feels performative. People were upset and you know, everyone has a right to feel the way that they feel. I respect a lot of my sober peers out there that feel as though Chrissy sharing that was like maybe a reach for some attention or like whatever, but she shared that she was 50 days sober after having resumed drinking. Following a period that lasted over a year, and what I find fascinating and extremely familiar to many of us on this journey is the reason why she went back to drinking. I think that is the part of the announcement of her being sober for 50 ish days that I personally resonated with and truly appreciated. It's because this is. A trap. I'm gonna call it a trap because if it is, it's a booby trap hidden in plain sight, because I feel like we know this as. People who have struggled with alcohol. That's a spectrum. Whether you are an alcoholic and you go to AA meetings and refer to yourself as like my addict brain, or you're like gray aired drinker and you're like, I don't know. I read that. Quit like a woman. Holly Whitaker book. I think I'm just gonna say I am like somewhere in the middle. Sober, curious. It doesn't matter. I just think if you've ever had a quote like problem or an issue or that internal tug, something nudging you, telling you, mm, you gotta watch it. Mm. Maybe I shouldn't be drinking this much. If you've had that, then you are gonna understand what I'm talking about here and you will also understand what Chrissy is referring to. I love how she shared that when she realized that she was slipping again, that she needed sobriety again, what is this like slip that I'm referring to? And I think it's so common as mentioned, it's just like this idea of being a mindful drinker. I want to make a clear distinction? You can be, in my opinion, a mindful drinker. You can absolutely. This is my opinion. I don't think that you can be a mindful drinker if you have had a problem with alcohol period ever in your life. Personally, I don't think that you can. I think if you go so far as to make a decision for yourself to completely remove alcohol from the equation, whether that be for a year like Chrissy did, or you're like, I wanna detox for 20 days, whatever it may be. If you feel that nudge, I'm gonna keep referring to the internal nudge, something telling you. And you making the choice, not something that's like mandated by courts or mandated like whatever, like an external. I'm talking about you personally coming to that realization that maybe I need to really take a break for real and pump the gas here. I think if you go to that extreme measure because you feel that you are worried about alcohol and the role it plays in your life, I think that does not necessarily make you an alcoholic. But I think that you can be honest and use the verbiage around like being a problem drinker like. It's a problematic substance. It's okay to have a problem with it at some point in your life. I think if you go so far as to then decide to remove it. I don't think you can be a mindful drinker because I think it's always going to control your mind. I think you're always going to try to, rationalize or intellectualize the process or overthink or bargain and maybe that is the addict mind that they're referring to. As an alcoholic in these places, like AA and I, I don't go to AA meetings. I'm just saying I think like it's so easy to fall back into either similar patterns or beyond that. So Chrissy, she shares with the public that after a year-ish stint of sobriety, I. She tried to go back to drinking in a quote, mindful way, and for her that looked like having wine on date nights or toasting birthdays. I mean, she lives a fabulous life. I can only imagine, at least from the outside. I'm sure she has lots of things to celebrate. So she's, you know, mindfully drinking now. And then discovers that it escalates from evening sips to earlier. Earlier and earlier in the day. And that's so real. That's the bargaining I'm talking about that's like our brains are so intelligent. Like we find ways to give ourselves what we want and make it make sense. Our brains will trick us into believing that we are capable of controlling our intake while physiologically. That's another thing. The body craves more and more of it, so then the brain has to kind of keep up with that demand. So it starts to rationalize it for us because we are smart and we are self-aware, and we do know that we've had an issue with alcohol in the past, it goes from like, I'm just gonna drink for major social celebrations or occasions like Chrissy did. Birthdays, weddings, I don't know. Then it turns into, oh, well I'm just gonna have one or two on the weekends, but only on social occasions. Only if I'm in the company of others, which can easily slide into, oh, well, I'm just gonna have, you know, a glass of wine on Friday. On Friday,'cause it's Friday's, basically the weekend, right? Like, I'm just gonna sit back, watch movies and, you know, have a couple glasses of wine and like, ugh, this week was really tough. I'm just gonna kill the bottle of wine because like, whatever, I used to drink three bottles of wine a night. Like, I can handle, it's, it's fine. That progression, just like easily snowball. So something like that happened for Chrissy. I've been there many, many a times myself, before. Actually getting sober, but like when I was trying to mindful drink myself, mindful drinking AKA moderating, I see that as the same bs.

the-sober-butterfly_6_01-30-2026_053744: 13:12

Anyway. Chrissy's been extremely, vulnerable. About how that progression made her feel terrible. I think of that shame spiral that starts to kick in. Like, oh, I fucked up again. Oh my God. Imagine announcing she has millions of followers. Imagine, announcing to her millions of fans and people that hate her, everyone included. That you're sober and now you have spiraled back to old drinking patterns. Like imagine that. Imagine the embarrassment. She must have felt, and I don't feel like she should have felt embarrassed, but I get it.

the-sober-butterfly_7_01-30-2026_054011: 13:52

In fact, I had an accidental relapse. I'm air quoting that apparently it's not really called an accidental relapse. It's called something else. But like I was freaked out. This is like a couple summers ago. I went to dinner with a friend in Brooklyn and I ordered what I thought was a mocktail It had alcohol in it. I had a couple sips and I was like, this tastes weird. It was something I'd never had before. My friend tried it. It was like, oh, this is. Tastes normal to me. And then someone else tried it when they came late to the dinner, and then they were like, yeah, this has alcohol in it. And so I was freaked out. I literally shut down. Like my, my brain immediately went into like this, I don't know what to call it, maybe it's like self-protection mode, where it was like, oh my gosh, I am the sober butterfly. Like, I, I, I can't believe I had a sip of alcohol. It's been, I think at that point it had been like three years, It had been some time. Okay. So I was like, freaking the fuck out, and my initial thought was literally to hide. I was like, I cannot talk about this. Like, I'm not gonna share. I even told everyone at the dinner like, can we just, guys, can we just please keep this to ourselves? Like, I, I just like, I am processing and I, I don't wanna talk about it. I didn't wanna talk about it at the dinner. Once I realized and I didn't want them to talk about it outside of the dinner, I was like going in on this like, shame train. And that's why I knew, like when I had some time to reflect, I knew I had to talk about it, of course on the podcast. So that episode is called When Go Dry Goes Wrong, and it's powerful Lessons from an Accidental Relapse. I'll link it in the show notes for you guys to check out. It's a short solo episode of like 30 minutes if you wanna hear that story. But back to Chrissy. I know that feeling of like, oh shit. Like I fucked up and like I made this big, grandiose announcement on social media and everyone's now thinking of me as like sober Chrissy. And what do you know? I'm, I'm mindful drinking and I can't handle it. I can't control it. So I once again appreciate how Chrissy was being vulnerable around, just like how that progression made her feel. Terrible, even though I guess this time when she was like mindfully drinking, it wasn't like as messy or dramatic as the past because I don't know if I mentioned this already, but Chrissy in the past was like. Very memeable. Very memeable. There's a few memes that I'm conjuring right now of her, like at award shows, like Face Beat looks amazing, but the lights are not on. Like there's no one home. Like she clearly looks fucked up. And she talked, I think around that first year of sobriety, like when she came out, or I keep saying, came out when she announced to the world she was sober back in 22. She admitted that she would. Embarrassed John in these very public ways. And then she felt like she had such an amazing life, of course. Would go and do these amazing things and then like have no recollection, no memory. So I'm assuming the contrast or the comparison she's making here is like, it wasn't as bad as those times and those days, but it was still consistently her slipping, until I guess she realized it was time to recommit to her sobriety. So why does this matter to us?

the-sober-butterfly_8_01-30-2026_054404: 17:05

this matters because it doesn't matter who you are, whether you're a celebrity or an everyday person. So many of us experience the exact pattern. You quit drinking, you try to moderate later on. You realize moderation doesn't work. You decide sober life truly feels better. I hope that's the goal. 2021, July 5th, that's my soberversary date all year that year. So all 2021. I've been trying to moderate my drinking, before I actually quit. So it took me like sixish months to figure out that I couldn't mindfully drink. So I appreciate that. Chrissy talks about this publicly, and it's a great reminder that relapse does not mean failure. It just means clarity. Now you have a clear understanding and a clear goal in mind. And that actually makes me think of an episode that I shot in the very first season. So when the Sober Butterfly podcast was a baby season one, I had an incredible co-host for this episode I'm thinking of here in the archives about sober celebrities. So back in 2022, I flew to Toronto and met up with Keisha from Done With Debauchery. Now Keisha. At the time, had her own podcast called Done With Debauchery, and her and I became Fast Instagram friends. We had around the same sober time, I think at the time, and so. We both gravitated to each other, like we just found each other in the ether of the internet and we would DM back and forth. I loved her style of content, I loved her show. She was beautiful around my age in fact, we're like basically the copy paste version of each other. And of course different. But like we were very similar in many ways. And. We just bonded instantly online. I was like, I gotta meet this girl. And so under the guise of hosting a sober Halloween party meetup, a sober girl meetup IRL, because we both confessed like we didn't really have any friends in real life that were sober. I was like, fuck it, I'm gonna come to Toronto. Why not? It's like an hour-ish flight from New York I've never been. And girl, let's do the thing. Let's host a sober meetup and let's film some podcast episodes together. And so we did just that, and I thought of. Keisha today as I was like putting together this episode because one of Keisha's sober celeb crushes, that's not what we called it, but like we each had to choose three different sober celebrities, and Chrissy Teigan was one of Keisha's Picks. It's just like kind of wild to me like years later. Honestly, kind of poetic. It's like Chrissy's story right now, intersex directly with that older episode. That was back in 2022. Now, fast forward. Four years later. Wow. And Chrissy's journey continues to reflect the same themes that we were talking about back then, which is like this desire to moderate and discovering maybe moderation wasn't working, and then recommitting to sobriety. And her public experience mirrors exactly why so many people listen to this show so I'm actually going to devote the rest of today's episode to sharing the episode that I co-hosted with Keisha from Done WIth Debauchery back in 2022. And this is not necessarily like a throwback because it's so relevant. Like I almost think of this as like a time capsule that we'll speak to right now. Because when you hear that original 22 episode with Keisha, you'll recognize how timeless the conversation really is and also like how much has changed since then because there's one of my sober celeb picks that it's not that I don't. Stand behind them anymore, but you'll know exactly who I'm talking about. It didn't age as well as I would've hoped it to. You'll figure out who I'm talking about when you hear the episode, so yeah. Let's travel back to 2022. Together. Here is the full episode of Sober Celebrities with Keisha from Done With Debauchery,

the-sober-butterfly_10_01-30-2026_060642: 21:37

And if you would like to watch the full episode that I shot with Keisha, this episode is available on YouTube. I'm gonna link that also in the show notes for you guys.

the-sober-butterfly_8_01-30-2026_054404: 21:48

Let's get into it.

21:52

Hello. Hello. Welcome back. You are with Keisha Scott from Done With Debauchery and, and Nadina over at the Sober Butterfly Podcast. So today we wanted to do a joint episode with a little, kind of a fun topic. We're always talking about such serious things in sobriety, so we thought it would be fun to bring a little laughter. Uh, and a really popular topic that I think that a lot of people are interested in, which is sober celebrities. Absolutely. Do you really get caught up in the celebrity culture? Like do you follow the Kardashians and all things like that? Well, I am American, so even if I didn't wanna follow the Kardashians, I can't help it. Yeah. They're postured all over my social media. Yeah. All over, like tv. I actually am not a hater, like I respect the hustle. Honestly, I wouldn't say I'm celeb obsessed. You know some people who follow the top, some people live and breathe it. Yeah, I'm not that way. And like living in New York, like you do see celeb out and about. And so it's kind of cool to be like, oh, I recognize you, but I'm not the person that's gonna run up and ask for an autograph or anything. Of course an autograph, I meant selfie. Those were the days. Those were the days. Like autographs, 100%. Right? And I feel the same. I'm definitely not celebrity obsessed. But every time I hear there's like a new celebrity that's not drinking, I'm like, Hmm. Like that's interesting. Imagine having the best days of your life displayed on public for the world, but then also the worst. So then to see, like, I guess recently we saw like Kara Dine was going through some struggles. Mm-hmm. And now she is come out on the other side from what we can see from our. From our perspective, we don't really know what's going on. Mm-hmm. And it's just so interesting to see how quickly people are to label all these celebrities just from these photos that we see of them online. So yeah, we thought it'd be fun to actually dive a little deeper. The celebrities that are open with sharing about their sobriety and why. I mean the scrutiny is real to your point about like having your worst days splashed over page like six or whatever. But also like this idea of like celebrating because I think we're not famous. Hard to believe. We're not famous yet, but we're not famous and like imagine we use our platform to. Celebrate sobriety. And I feel like that's the, the beauty of like celebrities celebrating sobriety. Yeah. And not being ashamed of their, yeah. Of their story or of their struggle and willing to like share with the world. Yeah.'cause it's no one's business. If you don't wanna disclose about your sobriety, your recovery, you shouldn't feel compelled to. But I think it's extra, like extra one is points to celeb who are open about. Yeah. Their recovery. Yeah, we love to see it. So let's jump into today's episode. Okay, perfect. Do you wanna start with your first celebrity, who they are, why you chose them? Yeah. Okay. So Keisha and I had a thought, we did a little bit of planning for this, and so I wanna start with our sober OGs. Okay. Okay. OG is somebody original gangster, like someone who has many years of sobriety now. Many years is arbitrary. I feel like if you're sober for one day, that can feel like a lifetime depending on where you are, of course. But just to love us that we know who have been in the game for a while. Mm-hmm. Sleeping, been famous for a while, also opened other sobriety for a long period of time. I immediately thought that this person, so I chose as my original gangster sobriety person or celeb. Samuel L. Jackson. Okay. Okay. So Samuel L. Jackson, I hope we all know who he is, but if we, if not, if you don't shut this off and Google it and come back to us please. I can give you a quick rundown of Samuel L. Jackson. So he has a really longstanding career. He was one of the highest grossing celebs or actors, paid actors on planet Earth. Yeah. The first time I ever was exposed to Samuel Jackson was way too young. I like snuck. And watch Pulp Fiction. Okay. And so Pulp Fiction is the Quinte Tarantino directed movie. Yeah. That it really put, I think, really put him on the map like he had been in other films before, but like that iconic role where he plays mm-hmm. Like this, really like hardass. Hitman basically. Okay. Like is how I was first introduced to him. So I was a little afraid of Samuel Jackson is what I'm trying to get at. Growing up I was just like, he's super intimidating. I'm scared of him. But in real life he talks about like how his life didn't necessarily mirror that character, but that point in his life. I'm not sure. Actually, let me actually do a quick fact check. Let me pause. For a sec. We're Googling Samuel Jackson movies, by the way, guys, in case you're wondering, um, he hasn't taken a turn here. This man has been in like hundreds of movies and we can't think of two. I I I thought of two. One. He wasn't in it though. Oh, yeah, she said The Matrix. Yeah, but I haven't seen The Matrix, so that's okay. Okay. That's okay. That's okay. But yeah, he was in Star Wars episode one, so I did have that information. Mm-hmm. Him. So he was already sober at that point for a few years. So Samuel Jackson got sober in 1991. I remember that because I was born in 1991, so that's just like maybe like a little homage to my life. His gift to you? His my, yeah. He gave me his gift of sobriety. It was pre-ordained in the stars. Just to talk a little bit more about like what led him to sobriety. So he confesses that he was addicted to alcohol and like LSD, like other hallucinogenics, and he said that he would even like act. On LSD. Can you imagine l That's interesting because it kind of like brings it into like what my celebrity is as well. Yeah. How could you, how could you like act high on L nightmare? Sounds like an absolute nightmare. But anyway, he got married in the early eighties and he described his breaking point. One day his daughter found like completely passed out on the kitchen floor, that kind of situation. And then his wife, who he's still married to, I like to shut it out because it's like rare in Hollywood to still be married for so long. But she encouraged him to get help. And then I'm just gonna play for you guys really a quick clip because I think it might be better to hear Sam, Sam, like, I'm Sam on the first name, on a first name basis. Sam Sammy, if you will. Yes. Just to like break down in his own words. So like, I'll quickly play that clip for you guys to hear. Most people who knew me never thought I had a drug problem. Um, it was just, you know, that's just Sam, that's how he is. And I was a good time guy and. The biggest worry I had getting clean was, am I still gonna be fun? Oh yeah. And I worried about that. And then I realized I had more fun once I got clean. So you are, you are straight and sober now. You don't, you don't smoke, you don't drink. Yeah, I don't drink. I don't get high. I smoke cigarettes. Yeah. Coffee. Yeah. I love coffee. Oh man. I love, yeah. Chocolates. No. Okay. Okay. So I thought it was cool, and I really connected with the piece about him saying that he thought that he was going to no longer be fun, because I think so many people in sobriety, especially in the early stages, worry about the same thing. So shout out to you. Sam for admitting that on the public forum that you were worried about that, and I'm glad that you didn't lose sight of like who you truly are. 31 to 32, depending on when you got sober. Years later, he's still sober and still one of the best and highest paid actors in Hollywood. Shout out to Samuel L. Jackson if you're listening. We love you. Yes, we love you so much. You're great in Star Wars. And Pulp Fiction and other many other movies that we can't think of right now. It's so funny that he actually went to work in Hollywood High as well. Mm-hmm. Because my celebrity, so the one that I chose who had, she has a really long sobriety stint. I chose all women like randomly. I was not clear on the assignment. No. I made fun it. I know whoever you want. We're not sure if we had said that as a parameter, but, so I chose Jada Pinkett Smith. She's been sober now for 20 years. What I know is that she was like really partying like in the nineties as well. So the story of her doing drinking and doing drugs was actually in 1996, she was filming the Nutty Professor of all things, the Nutty professor of all things. She went to work on ecstasy. And it was bad ecstasy. So she collapsed at work, like filming, and she just told everyone that she must have had her wrong medication in a different vitamin bottle and kind of like brushed it off as like no big deal. But she really goes on to say that she would make herself like a cocktail and it was alcohol, ecstasy, and weed. And that was like her trifecta to get her to the place. Where she's trying to go. And so even though she was making that cocktail, that was the mix of alcohol, ecstasy, weed, going to work on ecstasy, she said that she wasn't the kind of drinker that was actually drinking every day. Oh. It started as her only partying, she said from Thursday to Monday morning, which seems like quite, quite the journey, but it wasn't like a normal everyday occurrence. Okay. I think until it was, is usually like how it goes. Um, and so for me, like that like kind of resonated as well because when I started drinking, it was the weekends too. It was a social thing, partying, going out with friends. And then I think the more that you get into that lifestyle, the more it seeps into other parts of your life. It's so easy to slope. Yeah. And she also said that she really downplayed the possibility of having an addiction because she would always just think that red wine is good for you, like it's good for your heart. It's so, it's promoted to us, a glass of wine is good for your heart, have it with dinner. So she really told herself that like she couldn't be having an addiction because this is actually healthy. Mm-hmm. Um, and then I do have a quote from her that says, quote, I found myself drinking two bottles of wine on the couch. And I said, Jada, I think we've got a problem here. I had problems with alcohol and I really had to get in contact with the pain. Whatever that is. And then I had to get some other tools in how to deal with the pain. From that day on, I went cold Turkey. Wow. And that was her talking to contact music in 2005. So yeah, I think it's just honestly amazing to see her as like a woman, a black woman she grew up in. Like a lower income housing situation, like a poor community. I know her mother also struggled with addiction, so just to see her be able to like rise above that, actually make it to Hollywood, be successful. She's been in a marriage for I don't know how many years with Will Smith, but they have two kids like. Just to see her like rise above it all and now be like so proud In her sobriety, she talks about it on her talk show. Uh, red Table talk. Red table talk. Yeah. Yeah. So she just like, I love that like she just puts it out there and like it is like become a part of her identity and she's so proud of it. I love that too. I considered Jada as well, so it's funny her on her. But I consider her because I have a lot of respect for someone who could break the cycle of addiction. And it's not even to do that, but then do it in fucking Hollywood. Like wear that in Hollywood where your whole life is like broadcasted every time you sneeze in public. Like it's unbelievable. And her son Jaden is really vocal about like the usage of psychedelics for healing properties. And she invited him once to the red table and like. Was super open to hearing her son, like, you know how parents can be really like Yeah. Um, hypercritical and like, I'm, I'm, I'm assuming she as a mother wants to like make sure her son is safe. Mm-hmm. But she listened like she was very, yeah. Like, Hey, I don't agree with that. I wouldn't do that, but I don't understand fully. Yes. But I'm open to your journey so long as you're safe and informed. So I thought it was cool. All right. There. You guys have our sober OGs. And so the next topic that we chose was people that have been sober for a short amount of time. Yeah. Like we wanna welcome our newbies into the sober community who have. Openly told the world that they're sober. Mm-hmm. For whatever reason. Yeah. And so, shall I start with mine? Yeah, go ahead. You go ahead. Okay. I have lots of respect for this woman. I chose Miss Nicki Minaj, so she's a bad, do people know that she's sober? Did you know she, I didn't know until you told me. Yeah. When we spoke. Yeah. I didn't. Um, so, okay. Nikki is sober. I don't know the full details, but she hasn't shared why. Her reason why, yeah. Like she doesn't have to. Mm-hmm. But she recently posted this year, so earlier, 2022, that she was sober, but like she did it on an Instagram live and. In true Nikki fashion, because I think she's just such a badass and like she's not afraid to slap back if somebody a hundred percent attacks her. If anything, I would say like maybe she needs to tone it down just a little bit. Sorry Nikki, I love you, but I feel like she's always in some drama with somebody, but she's actually suing someone right now for defamation. I, I did see that actually. Defamation aligned to her sobriety. Yeah, like basically she got on the live earlier this year. And someone like she was getting her makeup done or something and she kept sniffing, like sniffling, like whatever. And then in the comments, like, so this girl's scouring her comments like, you think that celebrities are not reading, writing? Yes, they are. There are eyes on it. Yes, there are eyes, right? And so someone was like, or people were like coming at her and saying like, why do you keep sniffing so much? Right? Like, it must be all the Coke. And that's when she like, basically it was like her coming out. She's like, I'm sober. Don't even drink. Used to drinking get high. That's. That's it. Yeah. Like I never ever even tried cocaine, so like how dare you? Yeah. Your name sometimes is all you have and like you preserve that good name and like how dare someone with zero evidence suggests that she was doing something. And even if it doesn't go somewhere, I think it's like a really cool precedent to set that like what you're saying matters and like you like projecting this onto somebody who is in fact sober is harmful. Yeah. And I think it'll make other people second guess before like,'cause people are so brave in the comments. So great and it's like, it's like one thing to have an opinion but to state facts or present something as though it's factual not yeah. Or to disagree with someone's opinion, but just to make shit up is like, is like wrong. I'm wondering, this is me speculating here, I'm wondering if you know motherhood played a role in that. I'm wondering if like, she was like almost like a mentor figure to Juice world and unfortunately I can't remember off the top of my head when Juice World died, I can't remember. That was 19. Don't even, I thought that was a place. Oh, juice World. Yeah, the rapper. Oh, the rapper. Um, and I am, I have zero street cred, but Juice. Juice World is a rapper. Juice Wrl was a rapper who unfortunately passed and he was like pretty young. Nick Minaj at the 2019 Billboard, women in music events. So she used her platform like she was. Either like accepting an award. I think she was a woman of the year, actually. Mm-hmm. And she took the time to really not only like pay tribute to his passing his death, but to also speak generally about just awareness and, and like he passed from an addiction. From an addiction, sorry, I thank you for specifying. Yeah. He passed away from an overdose and so she at that time used her platform to acknowledge his passing, to pay respect and to also like just. Give an homage to people who are suffering in silence in addiction. Yeah. And then she shared a little bit about her anxiety. Okay. Like she's like, I suffer. Like you can't always see like pain and like what they're going through. So like pay some respect and like yeah. Of be nice. Drugs isn't the problem, is the way we fix our problem. So it's so important that we don't pass judgment so that people don't feel ashamed to speak up and ask for help. It's so important we talk about mental health. It is because people are dying, because they don't wanna express how miserable they are and how much they're suffering, so they'd rather medicate themselves. So I'm just, I, I just came here tonight to ask people to be a little bit more forgiving and understanding, especially with entertainers. We can't have a bad day. So I thought that was really cool that she used her platform in that way. And I've just always really related to her. I feel like she's, she kind of lives sometimes on the fringes of society and like is constantly like. Sticking her foot in her mouth, which I do, but like she's real. She's real. Yeah. That's a good way to frame it. Like she's kind of like unfiltered. That's what she thinks. Yeah. When she feels it. And like I, I respect that. And so, yeah, that was my whole takeaway for newly sober.'cause I don't know where she is in her recovery stage, but I would say it's probably like, it feels, yeah. Yeah, I love that. Me too. Um, so my sober celebrity who recently celebrated one year, I kind of like coupled her with like a celebrity that I think is super relatable just as who she is as a person. And that's Chrissy, Tegan, Chrissy. TI personally love her. Like I know she has been under fire over the last few years from like, past things she's done on the internet. It seems like she really is trying to change, um, and move forward with. F just being a better person in general. But I found that her sobriety story was just like so relatable. She was really open about posting how it did take her, a couple tries. She went for a period of time, drank again, went back to drinking heavily and it was that stop and start that. So many of us experience when we're trying to like just get clarity on like if long-term sobriety is the actual goal or what we're trying to do. So she actually received the book, quit Like A Woman from or by Holly Whitaker as a gift for her 35th birthday, which was in 2020. Okay. And at the time, um, she had said that she read the book and then she never drank since. But then I think there has been a stop and start since that point. But it did really kind of kickstart her sobriety and I think one of her friends who was a doctor gifted it to her. Okay. So yeah, I thought that that was. You know what's real when your doctor's gifting you quickly, it's her friend. It's her friend that, but yeah, and I just feel like she's so like open and like vulnerable and like down to earth and it's like you're married to John Legend, but like you're posting about like sobriety and like how you've never felt better. She talks about how she would be drinking because she had so much anxiety and like, wouldn't you know it now as soon as you stop drinking? All her anxiety is actually gone. It was a result of her drinking. Yeah, and just reflecting back on so many nights that she's like, these were such important nights and like milestone moments and like I don't have the memories I wish I did. Essentially because she was drinking like award shows, I'm sure things with their kids. So memorable, like and relatable because I can't tell you how many times I've publicly made a fool of myself, but like nowhere near Yeah. The extent of the eyeballs that are watching. That are watching. Yeah. That meme of her like face, I can't even do it. Like where her eyes are dead. I know. Completely dead. She's human. I like could've about her and even like the stuff that she's currently under. Or was under fire. Yeah, about like the cyber bullying and stuff, unlike other like celebs who would publicly apologize. Yeah. I got a sense of realness there. I think she said like, I can't really say anything. I can only show you through my actions. Yeah, I'm trying. And then that's also like tied into like sobriety, like, and not to excuse like any of the things she said or did, but like she might've been in a really dark place. Mm-hmm. And like we've all been there. Maybe not to like the same extent and maybe our words don't have that kind of reach, but. Yeah. Like we've all been in a dark place at one point and like to see her like come through, she's pregnant again, like sober, like it just feels nice. That's great. Yeah. Good choice. Thank you. Okay, so we're moving to our last round of sober celebs. We saved the best for last. Mm-hmm. And Keisha and I actually, you know, we shared our notes for the other categories just so we didn't overlap. Our favorite sober celeb, which is the last category we have not disclosed to one another. I'm so excited to know who yours is. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. So my favorite, I didn't even look up anything about the sober celeb'cause I feel like I know enough about her wife. Oh, shit. It is a her, it's a her. It's a her is yours or her? Yeah. I wanna, same person. Should we just, uh, become a three? Okay. Is a 1, 2, 3. Say it and then Yes. Okay. Okay. 1, 1, 2, 3. Bella. Okay. I, I was looking at Naomi Campbell too. I almost chose Bella for my newly sober person. Yeah, but Naomi Campbell hands down. Yeah, I was looking at her too. Okay. Not only are the four of us all gorgeous supermodels, we are all sober. It seems fitting. It just makes sense. It just like, it, just like the way everything lined up. Okay. Naomi Campbell. Yeah, Naomi Campbell is hands down one of my favorite people. Like, not even just sober slope. So once I thought that she was sober, it just like heightened my obsession with her even more. I think the element of her being Jamaican, like my family's Jamaican too. She's British. My family's British as well. Um, she's beautiful. Hello? Have you seen me? No, I'm joking. Um, but she's just like. Also fiery. Like there's definitely like, yeah, she's received a lot of like publicity that you will never be me. You will never be me. Um, like just her whole essence is just like goals, like Queen. If I had an alter ego, it'd be Naomi Campbell. Yeah. Like just like, do not mess with me. She's a mother now too. Which a lot of people don't know'cause she'd never posted at 51. 51. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. I definitely was doing my research on, yeah, I think she has a daughter. I don't even know the gender of the child because she keeps. Them really like hush, hush, hush, hush, sacred, separate. And I, I really love that about her. Yeah. Even like some of the bad things I shouldn't laugh at, but like. Her like throwing a phone and going to court and being like, I didn't really wanna be here. So I was made to be here of her talking to a judge. I didn't really wanna be here. The drama for her own, like domestic abuse, it wasn't domestic, but like her abuse case, I'm like, okay. But um, long story show. What's not funny is her like addiction. So she was highly addicted to cocaine. And so also similar to like the themes of my life, like it was alcohol and cocaine that fueled a lot of her time throughout the nineties. But in the nineties she was one, arguably one of the most famous supermodels. Yeah. And was very much on the scene hanging out with all the loves. And she said during that time, as as beautiful as she was and still is, she avoided looking at mirrors because she couldn't, yeah. She couldn't even look at herself in the mirror. She was just. I'm assuming so broken. And so she just didn't like who she was. Who she was exactly. She didn't like what she saw looking back at her. Mm-hmm. Because she, it recognized that she was on a path of destruction, which I thought was like powerful because I think so many people spend a majority of their time in addiction, in denial. But it seems like she was pretty aware. Yeah. Just couldn't stop. And I wonder if a lot of it had to do with like. An occupational hazard, just like being, you know, on the scene like that. Totally. Like what I read about her was that like, she was like traveling internationally. She was like at like not the height of her career, but doing extremely well in her career. And it was almost like she was just like one of those people that like people would just give her stuff. Like she would just get whatever she wanted. Yeah. So she was just like traveling, doing drugs. And I think she really believed that like the cocaine was the problem. Yes. At the beginning. Yes. So she's like, if I can kick cocaine, like we're good. Yeah. And like. Addiction replacement. Yeah, exactly. And like I did modeling as well, like obviously not to Naomi Campbell standards, but that's why like I kind of connected with her too. Yeah. And it was like during those years that I was really obsessed with like my weight. So I was like working out a lot, but like also like drinking and like partying, like nonstop as well. So like I could like, I can't even imagine the pressure she was under. Yeah. But like knowing how I felt in those moments. Yeah. Like yeah. It's a hard industry I can imagine. So. There was that aspect of it and I like you're right, the cocaine was like the catalyst that fueled a lot of her other issues. Yeah. So even like her being perceived by the public as this like angry person that needed anger management because she did go to anger management. Yeah. Um, was she said all connected to the drugs. Right. A hundred percent. Like your fuse is shorter. Yeah. You are raging. Yeah. Raging, basically. Cooked out drinking. Yeah. Funny enough, who helped? Really show Naomi a different way, which is also someone I consider for my sober og. No one else. None other than Miss Mary j Blige. Oh, I love that. I love Mary. Is she sober? Love Mary. She's sober. And if anyone gets a chance, you should watch. Documentary is called, this is Life. Okay? And it is heart wrenching. It is such, it's actually sad. So it's a tear jerker if you're like a crier. But she really breaks down just like her, her addiction and her life. And how she, yeah. So she's sober. Wow. Okay. And um, Naomi respected her as another woman, another black woman in the industry. Yeah. And they were friends and she was just like, look like I, you can do it too. So imagine like having your party friend also help you get sober. Yeah. And then also I feel like. Naomi does do like other outreach and helping people because one of her BFFs during that time, Kate Moss, also a sober now. So like Yeah, I did see that. Right. And they were like in the trenches together. Yeah. Like there's a million photos you can Google right now that was like I icon level for me. I was like, oh my God, I want to be real thin and. Like parties, like everyone growing up in like the nineties and two thousands, like that was like the goal. Heroin chic. Yeah. That was the aesthetic that they were getting. Yeah. But long story short, like she's been sober since the early two thousands. And I feel like her whole life has transferred. She's still a diva. She's still like Naomi. Mm-hmm. But like you're not hearing about the outrageous, terrible things and acts that she was committing against herself and other people. Mm-hmm. So I just want to give Ms. Naomi Campbell her roses if I ever get a chance to meet you in real life with your permission.'cause she's a germaphobe. Oh, really? Embrace. Yeah. Like a serious germaphobe. Interesting. She'll get on an airplane in a hazmat like, and we're talking like private, like she's my God, n whole germaphobe. Yeah. Some back dropping about you. Interesting. So yeah, tell us a little bit about Bella. Yeah. I feel like there probably were more celebrities if I dug a little deeper than I did relate to well, but I just remember really was like into Bella Hadid. I love that. She's like newly sober, like super model. She's making sobriety. Cool. I feel like she got sober when she was 25. She's only 26 now. She's only 26. I don't think. She's only a little older. Yeah. She's only 26 years old. She's younger than Gigi. Her sister, but I think so. I think so. I think so too. Yeah. So she's really like, been very outspoken about her mental health, the impacts that alcohol was having on it. Like she has a quote where she talks about how like after a night of drinking, she would wake up at three in the morning and would be thinking about something she said five years ago. So it's like that level of anxiety, like I relate to so hard when I was drinking. And just like the fears of like. Just like totally irrational things. Mm-hmm. So, yeah, she's really outspoken about that. She also said that since she stopped drinking, she's actually been able to stop using sleeping pills. Oh, nice. Which is also something that I've experienced because I had a really hard time sleeping, like over the years that I was drinking, I was also taking antidepressants, um, SSRIs. And now that I've cut alcohol out, I've actually been able to stop both of those medications. Wow. Congrats. It's amazing. Thank you. That's really good. Yeah. And I do have, um, a little quote from her, um, just explaining about how she, she says she's never gonna go back to drinking, and like, I hope that that's true for her. Um, so she says, I've done my fair share of drinking, I loved alcohol. And it got to the point where I even started to, you know, cancel nights out that I felt like I wouldn't be able to control myself. And it's like I have been there where it's like, you don't really want to go to that. Like if you had a shit day already, like, you just know that. If you go to this party, like you're gonna just be shitfaced and you're like, I don't wanna feel like shit for two days. I can't even go to the point where like, you're isolating yourself from social situations. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Or for me, like being afraid that like I would be judged by the level of alcohol that I wanted to consume, couldn't. In a public sense at like, like a normal event where alcohol shouldn't even be a thing. And you're like, are we drinking now? Um, we're not making this all about alcohol. Yeah. What's going on? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Exactly. So I really love that she like, has been so open about her mental health struggles, how it's improved since cutting out alcohol. And like, I feel like for me, I've made like sobriety, like part of my identity now. And like she is like, yeah, she's doing that too because she's actually started, uh, a non-alcoholic cocktail company called Kin Euphoric. So that's something that's like, like really blown up over the last few months. I don't really know exactly what's in'em, but it's an herbal like cocktail. You can have it either before bed or there's ones during the day for like mood boosting and it's kind of, it's like an herbal blend of some sort. We'll, we'll post the link in the show now it's we. But yeah, so she's just like being very outspoken, advocating for sobriety and the fact that she's only 26 in doing it. I think such, such a good example for. The millions of like young girls that are watching her. Absolutely. That there is another option because for so long I didn't realize that. It's like a rite of passage. Like I can't wait to spend time. I'm old enough to like be shit faced. Yeah. Or it's terrible. Yeah. Even like you think of like so many like celebrities in their twenties and like they're partying on yacht. It's getting shitfaced, like turning up at clubs. And like now, like she's like, no, actually, like we're not doing that. Like we're staying home. We're watching movies. And like that's a good time. Self care is Yeah. Like critical. Yeah. And she's embracing that and like, yeah, you're absolutely right. Like this generation needs to see more. Mm-hmm. Models, literally and figuratively who are Yeah. Exemplifying. That, like that aesthetic, like can you talk more about Yeah, exactly. That looks like because that health and wellness that I'm actually taking care of my mental health, my physical health, like that's what's hot. Absolutely. Yeah. Great, man. You guys have it. I mean, I really think we have a wide array. Like can you imagine putting all these people in a room together? I know the stories they would have to tell just a really like interesting collective of people like. From Samuel L. Jackson sitting next to Bella, and there's just so many people like Googling it, like Eminem, I think like Justin Bieber was like getting sober for a period of time. Everybody, I'm rooting for everyone. Yeah, me too. And too, I, I really respect people who are open, like we mentioned before, just open about their story, open about their sobriety. Even think you, like, we don't need, need to know, like the logistics about why you choose what, where, and why. Yeah. We just need to know that you are choosing something better for you. Mm-hmm. And the path ahead is lighter because Yeah. Chosen to go a different way because so many people are still in the throes of addiction. Yeah. Still in the dark and I think the industry just sort of like is designed unfortunately. Yeah. Like to be that way. I have a fun fact. Yeah. 50 cent is sober. He doesn't drink at all. He a alcohol company. He has a champagne company and he said that in all the videos where he's partying in the club, he pours the champagne out and pours ginger ale in it and is drinking ginger ale from his champagne. What? Thank you. Thank you. Fitting for Fitty. What is it? Pulling back the veil? Yeah. I guess. Guess it was an a moment like, oh, it's just a little man. Yeah. I was like, pardon me? What? Like, and I think that that's really interesting, like a sober person having an alcohol company, but it's about those fitting. I was just say he's going with the money. Yeah, exactly. That's like disappointing. Interesting. Yeah. I've gotta read more about like his sobriety and like why I think, but yeah, that was like, when I read that it was like ginger oil. I was like, pardon me? I feel like I heard, I don't know how true it is, but I think it's like he used to sell drugs and it was like, you don't, you don't get high on your own supply. Yeah. I was like trying to think of another, yeah. You don't get high on your own supply. Yeah. We're thinking of like the 10 crack commandments, right? Yes. Rule number one, something. Yeah. He's, he's still following like Yeah. The rule, the rule, the unspoken rules that I can't quote, but like, kind of know what you're talking about. Yeah. Those, that's too good. Well, I'm happy that we were able to break down and like I encourage more celebrities to share Yeah. Their stories if they want to, or like at least. Show the world another way. Mm-hmm. Like the very least, don't pull the 50. Like, don't sit here. Yeah. Don't front on us. Yeah. Like we wanna know like it's ginger, it's okay. Yeah. Like that. Often drill. All right guys. We really appreciate you for listening or watching this week's episode all about sober celebs, and we will like also, it's a double feature. So this was a two for one special. You got two episodes from us. Mm-hmm. We'll see you later. Don't forget to follow both of our podcast. My name is NAD moa. As a quick reminder and you can find me at the period Sober Butterfly on Instagram. I'm Keisha Scott from Done With Debauchery. You can get in touch with me at Done with debauchery on Instagram, and also tell us your favorite sober celebrity and why. Oh, yeah, that part like, yeah, who Tell us everything. Who do this? Tito Spy Guys.

the-sober-butterfly_9_01-30-2026_055243: 55:06

thank you Butterfly so much for taking that trip back to 2022 with me and Keisha. Did you peep the sober celeb? My pick it's giving me a little bit of a, a little cringe. Yeah, Nikki. Nikki. I actually researched to see if she's still sober and I can't find a ton of information. I mean, hey, I couldn't find a ton of info back then. She's very private about her sobriety, but like she did do more of a recent interview or post this at least back in like 23 or four with Vogue sharing that she used to be addicted to Percocet and she's still clean and sober. So I'm gonna assume that she's still sober. But I feel like she seemed to lo maybe lost her mind. Just, I mean, she was already kind of as mentioned out there, but she's really out there now. Trump's number one fan. Yeah, she's out there. anyway, if this episode hit home, or if you enjoyed today, please do me a favor. Share it with someone who's sober, curious, or sober, or just trying to figure out what their relationship with alcohol is. These conversations age well because the lessons are truly timeless. And if you loved this throwback, go explore some of the early Sober Butterfly episodes and you'll really hear the roots of this community forming in real time. Remember, sobriety does not make you perfect. Nikki is a perfect example of that. It just makes you present. I'll see you guys next Friday for a brand new episode. Until then, keep living your best alcohol free life. Keep growing and I love you.