Chris Klein: Alcoholism Nearly Killed Me

Chris Klein: Alcoholism Nearly Killed Me BY JENNIFER GARCIA Wednesday March 28, 2012 05:00 PM EDT

Chris Klein became an overnight heartthrob after starring in Election and the 1999 breakout hit American Pie. "It was nothing short of magic," says the actor, of his early stardom – something he quickly learned wouldn't last forever. Klein slid into a battle with alcoholism that nearly cost him his career – and his life. "I would have died, and I think about that every single day," the actor, 33, tells PEOPLE in an exclusive new interview. After two DUI arrests and a jail sentence, the Nebraska-reared actor knew he had to turn his life around. Now nearly 19 months sober, Klein opens about his struggles for the first time. "It got to the point where I was a fragile shadow of the young man that came into this business," he says. "Today, I'm the luckiest guy alive." For more on Klein during his darkest days, the truth about his relationship with Katie Holmes and his return to the big screen in American Reunion, out April 6, pick up this week's PEOPLE magazine, on stands Friday.

Amy Winehouse’s Parents To Receive Her Sizable Estate Worth $4.66 Million By Billy Johnson, Jr. | Stop The Presses! – 8 hours ago

Mitch, Amy and Janis Winehouse Mitch and Janis Winehouse, the parents of late pop singer Amy Winehouse, will receive their daughter's estate worth 2.94 million pounds ($4.66 million), the Associated Press reports. The London singer reportedly did not leave a will, making her parents the beneficiaries of her sizable fortune. According to probate documents, Winehouse's father is administrator of her estate. Winehouse's ex-husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, who she divorced in 2009, is not due to receive a portion of her earnings. While Winehouse's net assets are 2.94 million pounds ($4.66 million), she left behind a total of 4.25 million pounds ($6.7 million) not including payment of taxes and debts. The soulful singer was 27 when she died of accidental alcohol poisoning in her home on July 23. Winehouse achieved fame in the United States after the release of her 2006 Grammy award winning album, "Back To Black," that includes her hit "Rehab." She openly discussed her struggle with drugs and alcohol. Winehouse was dating British film director and writer Reg Traviss prior to her death.

Lindsay Lohan Hits Pedestrian With Her Porsche Us Weekly – Wed, Mar 14, 2012 7:23 AM PDT

Just when Lindsay Lohan was almost in clear, she has run into -- literally - another problem. TMZ reports that upon leaving Sayers Club in Hollywood Tuesday night, the 25-year-old grazed the leg of the club's manager while attempting a 3-point turn in her Porsche -- then fled the scene. Although originally reported that there were no injuries and the case was closed hours after the incident, TMZ learned Wednesday morning that the club manager, 26, went to the emergency room and now plans to press charges. This is not good news for Lohan, who recently was praised by Judge Stephanie Sautner for her good behavior. PHOTOS: Lindsay Lohan's courtroom couture "You're in the home stretch!" Sautner told Lohan February 22 about her probation that is due to end March 29, pending a final progress hearing. "You seem to be getting your life back on track. Just obey all laws, stay out of trouble and move on with your life. Should Lohan continue to comply with the court's requirements (community service and psychotherapy sessions), her 2007 DUI charges will be removed, but her necklace theft charge will remain on March 29. "The Beverly Hills case will go bye-bye, but for the theft you'll still be on probation," Sautner explained. "Informal, non-reporting probation."

Bobby Brown Arrested for Suspicion of DUI By Philip Isles | Jam: Spotlight on Music Stars – 6 hours ago Email SWAP/Splash News Whitney Houston couldn't shake her addictions, and it seems neither can her ex-husband Bobby Brown. The New Edition singer, 43, was arrested on suspicion of DUI on Monday afternoon in Reseda, California, according to TMZ. Brown was pulled over at 12:20 p.m. for a simple traffic infraction — he was talking on his cell phone — but police soon determined he was under the influence of a substance after allegedly failing the sobriety test and was taken to the Van Nuys jail. When reached for a comment by "Access Hollywood," Brown's manager revealed that the singer has been released on bail and is now at home following the incident. This is not the first DUI for Brown. He was convicted of driving under the influence in 1996 and served eight days in a Georgia jail. After he split from Houston in 2007, the "My Prerogative" singer admitted he had been addicted to heroin, cocaine, crack, and alcohol, but claimed he had beat them all, although he still drank. [Related Content: Bobby Brown Grieves On Stage Over Whitney Houston's Death] No word yet on how Brown's arrest will affect New Edition's current 30th anniversary national tour. The '80s boy band, which had its biggest hit with 1984's "Cool It Now," is set to play St. Louis on Thursday and will continue to tour the country with Bel Biv Devoe through the end of June. Brown was thrust back into the spotlight following the February 11 death of his ex-wife. He was initially bashed for continuing to tour with New Edition instead of heading immediately to Los Angeles to be there for his daughter with Houston, Bobbi Kristina, 19. Days later, Brown did eventually rush to her side, but was blocked by Houston's overprotective family. At Houston's funeral, Brown left in a huff after just a few minutes because he was reportedly upset that his entourage of nine was not allowed to attend the service along with him. Last week, a coroner's report determined Houston had cocaine, marijuana, and Xanax in her system when she drowned in her bathtub at the Beverly Hilton the night before the Grammy Awards.

This is a very powerful story. The reporter did an amazing job on this story and it captures the true struggle of alcohol addiction in a person's life. It's sad and scary I really understand. Long, maddening fall for former No. 1 Matt Bush By Jeff Passan, Yahoo! Sports 11 hours, 22 minutes ago

Matt Bush was viciously drunk. He had removed his belt, swung it at a passing car and crashed his vehicle when trying to flee the scene. A fleet of police arrived to arrest him. Hog-tied on the ground, Bush kicked, screamed and carried on like a toddler denied a toy. “I don’t care,” he yelled. Then he started to cry. Video of the arrest on June 28, 2009 remains archived for posterity. Fox News anchor Rick Folbaum took great glee in recounting Bush’s fall from No. 1 overall pick in the 2004 Major League Baseball draft to wailing face down in a San Diego parking lot. “Apparently,” Folbaum said, “there is crying in baseball.” Matt Bush had shown enough promise through early spring training that he was a candidate for a call-up in 2012. (AP) On a gorgeous day in Port Charlotte, Fla., last spring, Bush leaned back on a bench outside the Tampa Bay Rays’ complex and talked about that day. He called himself an alcoholic and said he hoped to God that was his nadir. He looked lean, healthy and handsome. At 5-foot-9, he could’ve passed for college student instead of professional athlete. His size belied the magic in his right arm. Bush could throw a baseball 97, 98, sometimes 99 mph. The Rays, like so many before them, forgave Bush for what he did because of what he could do. “I was insane that day,” he said. “Not only was I definitely in fear of my life, I didn’t know if I was going to kill someone, take my life. It was scary. I knew it was close to happening. I could sense it. I didn’t really realize what was going on. When all the cop cars were there, it set in. That’s when you see me hysterical and crying. I thought the worst of the worst.” The worst of the worst was in the past, Bush said. He was clean and sober and ready to play baseball. He was sure of that. He would convince himself so. The only thing left from that day was the sickening aftertaste of sitting in a locked cell, wondering how the hell he got there and how he could get out, a moment that refused to stop haunting him. “I have dreams still that I’m in jail, that I don’t even realize it, but I’m going to be there for a long time,” Bush said. “It’s scary what I got away with.” Today, Matt Bush is in jail. He is going to be there for a long time. A Florida judge Monday set his bail at more than $1 million after Bush allegedly stole his spring roommate’s SUV Thursday night, got drunk, climbed on stage at a strip club before bouncers booted him, headed back on the road and hit a 72-year-old motorcyclist named Tony Tufano. Bush reportedly ran over Tufano’s head while peeling away. He drove from the carnage with a .18 blood alcohol level and a septuagenarian lying in the street in critical condition.

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — A second incident involving alcohol and violence surfaced Thursday in the background of the Army staff sergeant suspected of killing 17 Afghan villagers — a 2008 allegation that he thrust a woman's hand to his crotch and fought with her boyfriend. A Pierce County Sheriff's Department incident report obtained by The Associated Press quoted a woman claiming Robert Bales told her she was beautiful, then "pulled her hand to his crotch" outside a Tacoma, Wash., bowling alley. The deputy described Bales as "extremely intoxicated." The report says Bales began punching and kicking the woman's boyfriend. When the boyfriend raised one leg to stop the kicking, Bales grabbed the leg and pushed him to the pavement, according to the incident report. Each person involved in the incident was drunk, to the point of mumbling and slurring their speech, according to the deputy's account. John Henry Browne, an attorney representing Bales in the Afghan killings case, declined to discuss the assault accusations because he said it has no bearing on the Afghanistan matter.

Details of the incident follow a report this week that Bales had been arrested in 2002 for a drunken assault of a security guard at a Tacoma casino. That charge was dismissed after Bales completed 20 hours of anger management training. U.S. military officials say Bales was drinking on a southern Afghanistan base before he crept away to two villages overnight March 11, shooting his victims and setting many of them on fire. Nine were children. Eleven belonged to one family. Records show that Bales was not charged in the 2008 incident at the Paradise Bowl. Pierce County prosecutor Mark Lindquist said his office considered the case for a possible charge of assault in the fourth degree but determined that it did not meet charging standards. He didn't know the specific reason behind that decision but said he suspected it was because there were no injuries, lots of alcohol and no evidence as to who started the scuffle. Lindquist also noted that the incident report said the couple initially told authorities they didn't want to press charges, something he said prosecutors would take into consideration. Reached Thursday, the woman involved, Myra Jo Irish, agreed with the officer's narrative in the incident report, but denied his characterization that she and her boyfriend were intoxicated. "I was just basically in shock that some stranger would walk up and do that," Irish said. Irish said that Bales was with a group that pleaded with her not to file charges. They told her Bales was drunk and if she "could be so kind" not to file an official report. "His friend said he was married and in the service, and it would destroy him" if she filed charges," Irish said. Irish said she met with a sheriff's deputy and gave him a written statement at the bowling alley. The deputy who took the report did not return a phone call seeking comment. In the 2002 casino incident, the police report says two security guards told Bales to leave, but he picked up a trash can lid and rushed the guards, punching one in the chest before they tackled him. Also in 2008, Bales was involved in a hit-and-run accident in which records show he ran bleeding in military clothes into the woods. He told police he fell asleep at the wheel and paid a fine to get the charges dismissed, according to court records. In 1998, Bales was cited for possessing alcohol at a Florida beach, though the citation was later dropped. Bales' attorney has said his client was injured twice while deployed to Iraq. On Feb. 1, he was assigned to a base in the Panjwai District, near Kandahar, to work with a village stability force that pairs special operations troops with villagers to help provide neighborhood security. Browne has said Bales has a sketchy memory of the night of the shootings. Bales has not been formally charged, and is being held at the military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. A U.S. official said Thursday he will be charged with 17 counts of murder, assault and a string of other offenses in the massacre of Afghan villagers as they slept. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the charges had not been announced. ___ Associated Press writer Lolita C. Baldor in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.

Just for Today!

Just for Today I will learn to live simply not try to do too much to slow down and listen to my inner self. Just for Today, I will pay attention to the pain in my side and know that my body is asking me not to drink, telling me not to drink. Just for Today, I will reflect on a brighter future and use my past as a learning tool and building block. Just for Today, I will continue to Pray and Pray and ask God to help me right my wrongs and faults to heal my body that I have so badly damaged from making bad choices from consuming too much booze. Just for Today I will ask God for forgiveness and to help me cross this path into good health, Mind, Body Soul. Just for Today I will learn to love myself to a higher height and know that if I take care of myself I will in turn be able to take care of others. Just for Today I dare not to drink, I will not be tempted. Just for Today I will reflect on the fact that if I drink today, I may not have tomorrow. JUST FOR TODAY!

My alcoholism stages and depression by Chris

I came across this story the other day. It is very inspiring and shows that we have the power to change with the help of our God and our higher power! My alcoholism stages and depression by Chris From Chris. It was a while before I even realised I was depressed. It took even longer to realise that I was an alcoholic. But the suspicion of a link between feeling bad and drink was what perhaps, occcurred to me first. At this time I knew nothing of the alcholism stages or alcoholism symptoms or even depression for that matter. All I knew was that I felt bad. Depressed, worthless and inadequate I'll talk about the depression first - that last sentence is only a half truth. I didn't just feel bad, I felt useless. Worthless. I didn't want to leave my flat. I had a job, but it only served as a stage where I could play out my inadequacies and reveal to myself time and time again just how useles I was. I felt that life had nothing to offer me, in fact it had cheated me of things that were rightfully mine. This was a misconception - but I'll come to that later. One of the most tragic things about depression is the self-contained attempts to overcome it. The reading I did on it, the conversations with friends, the list I made of why I was depressed and what I would have to do to get over it (i.e. give up drinking and smoking and workout more) - none of it worked, which just made the situation seem more hopeless.

About my alcoholism I didn't know I was an alcoholic. I did know that I drank a lot. I knew that I drank more than other people. I suspected that it was the cause of my depression. But I was unwiling to let go of the thing, the only thing, that made me feel better. Feel better? Didn't I just say it was making me depressed? Alcoholism is full of little paradoxes like that. Was I an alcoholic? I drank everyday. I drank to the point that I had no more money. The girlfriend didn't want to know me, the job was slipping away. But surely I can't be an alcoholic, I told myself. I went to A.A. - they gave me some knowledge, including alcoholism stages and I was prepared to admit that I had some of the symptoms of alcoholism but that I wasn't the real deal - so I stopped going. However, I did stop drinking - Life got better. - The depression went away. - I've cracked it! It was the drink making me depressed. - I've been sober for a few months. - Maybe I can drink again? - Let's give it a try. - Now I feel a bit bad. - Drink again to hide the feeling. - Now I feel worthless. - Drink again. - Back to daily drinking and square one. Every time I drank after that I felt that I robbed myself just a little bit more of anything meaningful of worthwhile in life. - Depression. For me these describe some of the alcoholism stages as I experienced them. Taking responsibility Okay. So for me depression and alcoholism were linked. I went back to Alcoholics Anonymous, accepting that I was an alcoholic, ready to listen and to act. I also learned that the things that I felt life had cheated out of me were things that I'd never really put any effort into. And that the things that were bad that weren't my fault didn't have to rule me. I could take responsibility for my own happiness. But how? Accessing and using the right help

That was where AA came in. They gave me a constructive and results based spiritual programme to follow. This allowed me to do esteemable things. Doing esteemable things gave me good self esteem - this eroded my depression and kept me sober. So in summary I would say that in my case I was depressed because of alcoholism. When the drink went away the depression went away. As I understand it people become depressed for many reasons - a break up, bereavement, loss of a job/unemployment, financial insecurity...etc. Certainly I experienced all of these things within the arena of my alcoholism. But alcoholism was the main deal and when I took care of it the other aspects went away - or rather I learnt to deal with them, thanks to A.A.. The problem was that I had become identified with my drinking, my depression, my pain. If I dared to 'get over it' it was like the depression was waiting in ambush to grab me and punish me for daring to even attempt to 'get over it'. Fear! That's why I needed help. On my own it was too much. So I turned to those in the know and followed their advice and found.... That I could take control of what was in my head and become responsible for my own happiness. Maybe it will be that way with you too. The root of your depression maybe different to mine but if you're willing, my experience is that you'll find the answers that you need. Today I still regularly attend AA meetings and follow their programme of action to get through the alcoholism stages. I haven't had a drink in 5 years. I help others to become sober and get over the alcoholism symptoms and in so doing escape from the prison of my own head. In this way I am sober and, importantly, happy. -------------------------------- Elly's response: Chris, thank you very much for sharing your story. I have no doubt that other people will take comfort from it and be inspired by it. I can see that you have come through some really dark stages in your life. You show how - by having used the right resources, internal and external - you have been able to deal with the different stages of alcoholism and get over that depression.

Remembering Whitney Houston and Amy Winehouse

Struggling for Sobriety is a lifelong process for many of us. We have to face our demons and reach deep for the best part of ourselves. I am hoping to be successful this year in turning my life around away from Booze. I just went through a very wild run these last three months drinking the most that I have in full blown addiction due to the fact that I have had the money to do so. You see from our loved ones Whitney and Amy because they could afford to fuel their alcohol and drug addition at at high level, the only checks and balances would be the number of hangovers and days of sheer depression and or some colossal event that would take place when they were high. Unfortunately death was the colossal event. Money is the worst tool to fuel an addiction if not put in check and or the active user, in my case alcoholic does not come to the realization as such and prays real hard and does not pick up a drink at all. Been there and know it too well, you can do some much damage on the body left unchecked. I love and understand you both so much.

Didn't we almost have it all Rehab You Know I'm No Good