Flavor Flav took to social media to announce an upcoming milestone in his sobriety journey. In honor of World Mental Health Day on October 10, the 65-year-old rapper posted a heartwarming video on Instagram to celebrate the fact that he’s about to hit four years of sobriety.
Flav explained that maintaining mental health has been a big part of his success and that he wants to give back to the field that contributed so much to his improving health, People reports.
The Public Enemy group member wrote, “October is an important month for my mental health. Next week, I am 4 years sober from alcohol. And today is mental health awareness day. My mental health is an important part of my sobriety journey.”
He continued to write in the caption of his post, “I talk to a therapist. In fact, I talked to two. I gots a crazy schedule and travels. My manager recommended trying out Sonia – an AI therapist that has been there for me like Janet Jackson says – “Any Time Any Place.”
He praised Sonia, an AI Therapy app, in his video for the positive impact that it’s had on his life even with his extremely busy schedule. Flav, born William Jonathan Drayton Jr., told his fans that he’s ready to give back to other people who are also beginning their mental health journey by bringing “a little more happiness to the world.”
“I always like to be the first to do something revolutionary. This is something special that has the ability to help so many people,” he penned.
“I reached out to the Sonia team to cover the cost of subscriptions for anyone who signs up today. Help me help you. ”
Flav will be four years sober on Oct. 19, and his long road to sobriety has been one that he’s spoken openly about in the past few years.
In January of 2023, the “Flavor of Love” reality TV star sat down with the “Off the Record with DJ Akademiks” podcast and recalled his battle with addiction. He admitted that most people were completely unaware of what was going on with him at the height of his struggles.
The rapper and reality TV star shared that he was addicted to cocaine, crack, weed, alcohol, and cigarettes for nearly two decades, “for 18 years straight,” he said. During that time, he reportedly spent nearly $5.5 million on substances in six years at the peak of his addiction and dropped much more cash over the 18-year period.
“There was a time that I was spending $2,400 to $2,600 a day… for six years straight, you do the math,” he said on the podcast, “That’s how much I spent on drugs.”
On the podcast, he got candid about some of his other practices as well. He admitted that he was selling drugs and, at once at a point, broke the number one rule of dealing and got high on his own supply.
Despite that, Flav explained that he always “maintained himself very well and kept it hidden too.”
The rapper was thankfully able to quit in 2020 and begin his long-term long-term sobriety. Flavor Flav said he can only finally talk about his struggles with substances openly because he’s gotten totally clean. He is celebrating being clean from cocaine and crack for over 15 years and alcohol-free for four years.
He said at the time, “I guess God wanted me to live. And he knows that I’m a mouthpiece to the world. So, I feel that God let me live through that, so that way, I could teach people about the mistakes that I made. And hopefully, they won’t make them later on in life.”
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