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Drew Barrymore opens up about her struggle with post-divorce alcohol abuse

by Ruel J. Mendoza /

03.08.23
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Photos: @thedrewbarrymoreshow @drewbarrymore

Since moving to New York, Drew took a break from acting. Her last movie was The Stand In in 2020 and her last TV series was in 2019's Santa Clarita Diet. She chose to take a break from making movies because of her talk show (that was renewed for a 4th season) and that she would have more time with her kids, Olive and Frankie.

Drew Barrymore opened up about her struggle with alcohol abuse after her divorce with husband Will Kopelman in 2016.

The 48-year old former child superstar revealed to Entertainment Tonight that due to her excessive drinking, her psychotherapist Barry Michels walked out on her.

Drew recalls: "He just said, ‘I can’t do this anymore.' It was really about my drinking. I said, 'I get it. I’ve never respected you more. You see I’m not getting better. And I hope, one day, that I can earn your trust back.'"

Two of Barrymore's friends, Nancy Juvonen and Cameron Diaz, witnessed her post-divorce drinking and both said that "it was difficult to watch" their friend go through it.

Cameron became close to Drew after making two films together: Charlie's Angels (2000) and Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003). She was there when Drew spiraled and has always been there to support her.

“But I knew that if we all stuck with her and gave her the support she needed, she would find her way. I have absolute faith in her. You can’t even comprehend how hard it was to be her as a child, and then she shot out the other end with the ability to save herself," says Diaz.

Nancy Juvonen, who owns Flower Films with Barrymore and is married to Jimmy Fallon, says that after a "grace period" following Barrymore’s divorce, she and the star’s closest friends rallied together to have a come-to-Jesus talk with her.

“There is literally a ball of fire inside of her. It can get really turned up, which we all see on the show — people burn even going near it. But in her lowest, most shame-filled moments, this weird little flame just burns. And she’s just hovered over this thing, like, ‘You will not take this flame out.’” says Juvonen.

Says Chris Miller, a close friend to Drew for 24 years: “We were like, 'You’ve gotta snap out of it. We fully understand that this is a total f**k for you. But you’ve got two healthy kids, a fantastic career, and incredible friends.' And sometimes you have to be reminded of that."

One of the reasons Drew hosted her own talk show, The Drew Barrymore Show, in 2019 is for her to change her habits regarding alcohol.

"I think the opportunity at a show like this really hit me. I was like, 'I can’t handle this unless I’m in a really clear place.' I kept thinking, ‘I’ll master this. I’ll figure it out.’ And finally, I just realized: ‘You’ve never mastered this, and you never will,’” says Drew.

After a two-year break from her therapist, Barrymore called him and he took her back as a client. She said that giving up alcohol made her realize she was capable of change.

After her ex-husband remarried Allie Michler, Drew's therapist helped her to realize that the relationship she wanted with Michler might not be the healthiest.

Drew said: “I was like, ‘I want to be her best friend!’ And my therapist said, ‘That’s a really nice thought. But take it slowly. Don’t overwhelm the situation. Find your rhythms and your boundaries so you can have the long game."

In an essay that Barrymore wrote about her sobriety, she penned: "One of the most liberating things in my journey of life."

Since moving to New York, Drew took a break from acting. Her last movie was The Stand In in 2020 and her last TV series was in 2019's Santa Clarita Diet. She chose to take a break from making movies because of her talk show (that was renewed for a 4th season) and that she would have more time with her kids, Olive and Frankie.

She said: "Acting doesn’t feel emotionally available to me right now. I just need to be myself. I struggle to be someone else. But I just can’t see acting right now. I know that sounds sad and dismissive, and I hate when people are like, ‘I’m retiring,’ or ‘This is my goodbye.’ I don’t want it to come off that way.”

She calls being a mother “the role of my life." Last summer, when her kids went to camp, she cried her eyes out and called Michels. The therapist reassured her that the girls were at a safe, special place, and that they weren’t being abandoned.

Drew also struggles with the idea that Olive and Frankie will one day know everything their mother did when she was their age. During a recent interview with Pamela Anderson, Barrymore felt relieved when the Baywatch star admitted she didn’t think she would have children at the time she posed for Playboy. Barrymore had shared the same sentiment at 19 when she did her photo shoot, and was now wrestling with guilt over the decision.

Sister-in-law Jill Kargman said: “Drew has strong instincts as a mother, because she has a playbook of what not to do from her childhood. She’ll say, ‘God, Olive’s so precocious,’ because she’s a New York kid — really smart and sophisticated — and Drew will get scared. And then in the next breath be like, ‘But she’s not at Studio 54, which is what I was doing at that age.’ Sometimes I think she’s too nice and needs a little more ‘f— you,’ I told her, ‘You can’t pour from an empty pitcher, Drew.’”