Robin Williams has always been a staple of talkshows and awards ceremonies, always ready to step to wildly free associate about what Ronald Reagan would be like trying to use a George Foreman grill or something equally hilarious.
But Robin Williams also has a dark side. No, we don't mean his tendency to star in badly thought-out, over-sentimentalised films – this is a dark side that not many people knew about. Although Robin Williams has been a recovering alcoholic for 20 years, he's recently started drinking again and has checked himself into rehab to nip it in the bud. Needless to say, we're laying this one squarely at the door of RV.
You can't blame most celebrities for staying away from alcohol and being so dependent on rehab – the glare of public interest is so harsh that any drunken mistake you make will be splashed around the world in a matter of minutes. For example, if you get stopped for drunk driving and launch into a rant about the fucking Jews and women with Sugar Tits or you stumble around an airport with piss-stained trousers at 7am, nobody cares. But if famous people do it, it's front-page news.
Robin Williams knows this all too well – and that could be why he's just admitted himself into rehab. According to reports Robin Williams – last seen telling the world's most offensive joke and suing a man that looks a bit like him – has recently started drinking alcohol after two decades of sobriety. According to Robin Williams' best slave ever Mara Buxbaum:
"After 20 years of sobriety Robin Williams found himself drinking again and has decided to take proactive measures to deal with this for his own well-being and the well-being of his family. He looks forward to returning to work this fall to support his upcoming film releases. He asks that you respect his and his family's privacy during this time."
Now, it's undoubtedly a good thing that Robin Williams has the good sense to check himself into rehab before his drinking gets so bad that he destroys his family, but spare a minute for the poor bastards that Robin Williams will be sharing his stay at rehab with. Imagine you're a chronic lifelong alcoholic, and you've been forced into rehab after you were fired from your job and your wife left you over your excessive drinking. You've been in rehab for a few days, and the dark cloud is beginning to lift, although you still feel a little bit frail. What's the last thing you'd want to see? Chances are it'd be a 55-year-old man like Robin Williams sitting in the middle of the room, loudly imagining what a hyperspeed, schizophrenic four-way conversation between John Wayne, Joan Rivers, a camp Puerto Rican air steward and a 1970s black man would be like.
Read more:
Robin Williams In Alcohol Rehab – BBC
[story by Stuart Heritage]