'18 to 20 pills a day': Stacey Dash reveals how she 'lost everything' to drug addiction
Stacey Dash opened up about her past drug addiction in a recent talk show appearance.
On “The Dr. Oz Show" Thursday, Dash shared her “deepest, darkest secret” with the show’s host, Mehmet Oz – she was addicted to the pain medication Vicodin, “taking 18 to 20 pills a day” at one point.
“I lost everything,” Dash told Oz.
Dash said she recently celebrated five years of sobriety and that her recovery has allowed her to gain a deeper understanding of her parents, who also struggled with drug addiction.
“The greatest blessing is that not only have I been able to be honest with myself and become a better person,” Dash said, “I’ve been able to understand my parents and that they did love me, and that they were doing the best they could and they were just sick. They were addicted.”
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In a Facebook post published ahead of her "Dr. Oz" appearance, Dash said having a reliable support system helped her work through addiction.
“I am so blessed to be surrounded by people who have loved and supported me through my most challenging time,” Dash wrote.
While Dash is best known for playing Dionne in the 1995 teen rom-com "Clueless," the 54-year-old actor has also gotten involved in politics in recent years, serving as a political commentator for Fox News and running for Congress in California in 2018. Some of the political stances Dash took drew controversy, including comments she made to Entertainment Tonight in 2016 that transgender people should pee in bushes and feminism emasculates men.
"I've lived my life being angry, which is what I was on Fox News," she told The Daily Mail in March. "I was the angry, conservative, Black woman. And at that time in my life it was who I was."
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Dash told Oz that these past views came from that place of anger and are not reflective of who she is today.
"I'm not homophobic,” Dash said. “I'm not racist. I was just angry, and it benefited me."
Dash said being honest about the truth of one’s past can have a wide-ranging impact.
“I encourage anyone who has a story they are scared of telling to share it with the world,” Dash concluded her Facebook post. “You never know who will be able to relate to you and who it can help.”
USA TODAY has reached out to Dash's reps for additional comment.
If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction, visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration at samhsa.gov, or call its national helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
Contributing: Hannah Yasharoff, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Stacey Dash took 18 to 20 pills daily at the height of drug addiction
