Liza Minnelli has shared her journey to seeking professional help for addiction back in 1984.
“In Manhattan, I frequented bars where the bartenders would serve me at any hour. My co-op apartment was filled with boxes of pills and bottles of alcohol. With no oversight, I self-medicated to achieve a hazy state of perfection, where I felt safe from harm,” the 80-year-old iconic performer revealed through Instagram on Tuesday, August 18.
Accompanied by a photo of herself appearing tired and sweaty on a couch from that period, her post also reflected on her experience after relocating from New York City to Los Angeles following her rise to fame. “Now in California, I found myself lost in the same haze. It was the same old story, just with more sunshine. That was one of the reasons I checked into rehab as quickly as I did. I had no other options,” she admitted.
The Cabaret star, born in Los Angeles to Judy Garland and Vincente Minnelli, shared her experiences, initially detailed in her March memoir, Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!. Her Instagram post recounted her first rehab experience at Los Angeles’ Betty Ford Center, noting that she was “f***king scared to death” before entering the facility.
“I owe thanks to my incredible sister [Lorna Luft] who had to buy me a hot dog to get me on board Frank Sinatra’s private jet for my first rehab trip,” Minnelli continued on Instagram. “Lorna, how did you tolerate me? My brother from another mother Michael Feinstein and his husband, Terrence Flannery, along with my Dr. Lawrence D. Piro who refused to believe my Oscar-worthy performances for drugs that could kill me… these four are the quartet that truly saved my life.”
Minnelli, who sought rehabilitation multiple times throughout the years for her addiction to alcohol and prescription drugs like Valium, mentioned that she reached her lowest point after associating with the wrong crowd.
“In New York, I surrounded myself with people who, at their worst, encouraged my drug use or, at best, didn’t discourage it,” she wrote via Instagram. “I was equally careless with money. If someone admired something I owned or wore, I simply gave it away. I might have felt guilty about the ease with which money came to me and never considered what would happen when I wasn’t touring the world, singing my songs. Not smart.”
Her final rehabilitation stint occurred in 2015 at a Malibu, California facility, which she credits as the place where she achieved lasting sobriety. In her memoir, she characterized this period as an awakening, noting that she “realized maybe my nine lives were up.”
Kids, Wait Till You Hear This! explored Minnelli’s complex relationship with Garland, who passed away in 1969 at 47 due to an accidental barbiturate overdose. (Barbiturates are a depressant drug class derived from barbituric acid, according to the Cleveland Clinic.)
“At 13, I became my mother’s caretaker — acting as a nurse, doctor, pharmacologist, and psychiatrist all in one. It was a chaotic balancing act,” she wrote in her book, describing the “nightmare” situation. “I lost track of how many times I called doctors to report she’d run out of pills. They often told me they couldn’t prescribe more because it was too soon. I’d plead: ‘I’m a kid! Please fill my mama’s prescription!’”
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357). If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org.
