In 2012, Shepard told Playboy that he struggled with an addiction to drugs and alcohol. He said that from the ages of 18 to 29, he was a “heavy smoker, heavy drinker, drug addict, terrible eater, and philanderer.”
“I just loved to get fucked-up — drinking, cocaine, opiates, marijuana, diet pills, pain pills, everything,” he told Playboy. “Mostly my love was Jack Daniel’s and cocaine.”
He said that he’d get sober for some movie roles but then get right back into his drug and alcohol habits.
Shepard’s wife Kristen Bell wrote an emotional post on Instagram in September 2018 to celebrate his 14th year of sobriety.
“I know how much you loved using. I know how much it got in your way. And I know, because I saw, how hard you worked to live without it,” she wrote. “I will forever be in awe of your dedication, and the level of fierce moral inventory you perform on yourself, like an emotional surgery, every single night…’m so proud that you have never been ashamed of your story, but instead shared it widely, with the hope it might inspire someone else to become the best version of themselves.”
In 2020, Shepard revealed on his podcast, “Armchair Expert,” that he relapsed after 16 years of sobriety following a motorcycle accident that resulted in him using painkillers. At the time of the episode’s release, the actor was seven days sober.
