Cara Delevingne details ‘hardcore’ GHB drug binge that led to ‘wake-up call’
Warning: This article contains discussion of drug addiction and suicide which some readers may find distressing.
Four years after getting sober, Cara Delevinge has candidly lifted the lid on her previous struggles with drug addiction.
The American actress and model, 33, appeared on Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy podcast on Wednesday (3 June), where she admitted that the infamous paparazzi shots of her, which were outside Van Nuys Airport in Los Angeles, became a ‘wake-up call’.
She explained that the snaps, which showed her looking dishevelled and behaving erratically, were taken after she had a GHB withdrawal seizure at Burning Man festival in 2022.
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Cara explained: “I was in a pretty hardcore time. I’d stopped doing ketamine, but I was… It’s really interesting the drugs that people choose to do, and what that means they’re covering up.
“Alcohol was never really my thing. I would drink, but I didn’t like it. I liked disocciate, knock yourself out, things.”
She recalled: “So I was doing a lot of GBL/GHB, which is a date rape drug. You’re just effectively knocking yourself out. And then taking cocaine or whatever to keep me awake, so it was that kind of mixture.”
The actress detailed how her 30th birthday was that year, and she realised it’s ‘just not so great anymore’ and so planned to get sober after one last ‘blowout’ for her birthday.
However, she soon realised it wasn’t that easy, as she told the host: “I’m gonna have a blowout 30th birthday, and then I’m gonna get sober and tie it up in a neat little bow that I just thought was gonna be really easy.
“I didn’t know how addictive that stuff was. I just thought I took it every day.
“I didn’t know that you had to really medically detox from it, and I started having seizures, and those photos were taken right after I had a seizure at Burning Man, and I was meant to go to work.”
Cara revealed during the interview that she started taking drugs at the age of 14, and at the height of her fame, she was using them to dissociate.
The Paper Towns star explained: “I think when I first started doing drugs, it was that seeking for connection. And I felt like I found myself. It was fun. And I loved music, and I loved dancing, and I was like, “Oh, this is someone I really like, this is really cool.”
She admitted that she also started buying drugs to sell them and to do them, including ketamine, which she got sober from in her early 20s.
Cara discussed struggling with her mental health and suicidal thoughts when she was at the height of her fame, revealing she was ‘close to ending her life’.
She said: “I think the kind of suicidal ideation came back around when I was at my height of fame, when I should have been the most happy, and I felt the most guilty, and I felt the most like I didn’t deserve any of it, and I was so close to ending my life.”
Cara revealed that the moment she decided to get sober was prompted by music - a song that came on shuffle that played at a friend’s funeral, who tragically died of an overdose.
The star recalled: “And it was like - that’s the thing, when you’re in that position where you can choose to try and end your life or not, it is such a quick flip.
“And in that one moment, I was like, 'What am I doing? Why am I doing this? I can’t believe that I am in this place.' And I threw all the drugs down the toilet.”
If you want friendly, confidential advice about drugs, you can talk to FRANK. You can call 0300 123 6600, text 82111 or contact through their website 24/7, or livechat from 2pm-6pm any day of the week
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, please don’t suffer alone. Call Samaritans for free on their anonymous 24-hour phone line on 116 123 or contact Harmless by visiting their website https://harmless.org.uk.
Topics: Celebrity, Podcasts, Health, Mental Health
Madison Burgess