Netflix star shares ‘recovery is a lifelong process’ following sobriety relapse

Natasha Lyonne has urged people to ‘remember they are not alone’ after revealing she’s relapsed after a decade of sobriety.

The American actress began her career as a child star, later going on to appear in the American Pie film series, Orange is the New Black, Russian Doll and Poker Face.

Across her career she’s also been nominated for five Emmy Awards and two Golden Globes.

However, over the years she’s also been open about her drug and alcohol addiction – which included being arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol and undergoing treatment for heroin addiction.

In 2006, aged 27, she checked into an in-patient rehab for treatment for her drug and alcohol abuse.

Although she’d now been sober for several years – but this week revealed that recovery was a ‘lifelong process.

Posting on X, Natasha shared: ‘Took my relapse public more to come.’

She then followed that up with another post which read: ‘Recovery is a lifelong process. Anyone out there struggling, remember you’re not alone. Grateful for love & smart feet. Gonna do it for baby Bambo.

‘Stay honest, folks. Sick as our secrets. If no one told ya today, I love you. No matter how far down the scales we have gone, we will see how our experience may help another.

‘Keep going, kiddos. Don’t quit before the miracle. Wallpaper your mind with love. Rest is all noise & baloney.’

Baby Bambo is a reference to Natasha’s upcoming film about a New York boxing promoter struggling to balance his obligations as a father with his career, in which she serves as the writer and director.

Responding to a fan who praised her openness, she added: ‘We need better systems and to end shame – bill the sacklers & stilettos or something but don’t @ me for getting honest.’

In 2012 the actress previously told Entertainment Weekly that she was ‘wary’ about publicly addressing her substance abuse problem.

That same year Natasha had suffered a series of major health complications as a result of her previous drug use, undergoing open-heart surgery to correct damage left behind by a serious heart infection.

‘Spiralling into addiction is really, really scary,’ she said at the time.

‘It’s weird to talk about. I was definitely as good as dead, you know? A lot of people don’t come back.

‘That makes me feel wary, and self-conscious. I wouldn’t want to feel prideful about it. People really rallied around me and pulled me up by my f***ing bootstraps.’

Then, in a 2017 interview with The Guardian, the Russian Doll star said she had ‘no problem’ speaking openly about her journey with addiction.

‘I’m such an open book that I have no problem talking about it and speaking freely, but I’ve sort of said my piece on the subject,’ she said.

‘The truth is, at the back of that addiction are feelings that so many of us have, that don’t go away.

‘Isn’t everyone entitled to a moment of existential breakdown in a lifetime? Adulthood is making peace with being kind to oneself when a response to life that’s so much more organic and immediate would be to self-destruct.’

In 2024 she also spoke about smoking the equivalent of 40 packs of cigarettes a day.

In an attempt to kick her habit completely, she then tried to ditch vapes too as she realised they are still ‘no bueno’ for her health but admitted she was struggling with this next step.

Posting on X, she warned others: ‘I’ve quit quitting vaping. Quitting cigarettes was a big enough swing for a while.

‘Pretty sure I’m smoking the equivalent of 40 packs a day now instead of 4. No bueno. Take it from your grandfather, keep your lungs clean, kids. (And my wife’s name out your mouth obvs.)’

Natasha pointed out that her vape had her seemingly taking in more nicotine rather than less as one is equivalent to one or two packs of 20 cigarettes.

When she revealed she had quit smoking, Natasha confessed to People: ‘I think a lot of it has to do with like I just feel like, you know, I still want to write and direct movies. I still want to get to make more seasons of Poker Face.’

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