AJ McLean Reveals He First Used Cocaine On Set Of Backstreet Boys Music Video “The Call”
AJ McLean, who’s been transparent about his past struggles with alcohol/drug addiction, recently revealed that he first used cocaine on set of the Backstreet Boys music video for “The Call.” In an interview with People, McLean says, “I never really had a desire for the drugs, but being an addict — to me, that word encompasses everything.”
McLean recalls, “I was introduced to cocaine literally the night that we shot the video for ‘The Call.’ It was the first time I ever tried it because it was a late-night shoot. I was with a ‘friend’ at the time — who’s clearly not a friend anymore — and they offered it to me. I said, ‘No.’ Then I caved and I did it.”
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The 42-year-old singer adds, “When I showed up on set and I got in the makeup chair, I told everybody. I was like, ‘I’m freaking out. I’m on this. I’m on that.’ They were like, ‘You need to stop. Don’t tell the world that you’re on drugs right now.’ Somehow someway, I kept it a secret from everyone for the next at least 18 months before the boys caught on, before my family caught on, before my real friends caught on. I found a way to really keep it under the rug.”
While speaking on his turning point moment to get clean, which he credits his daughters (Ava, 6 and Lyrics 3 1/2) for helping him with, McLean says, “That was it for me. As we say in the sober world, that was my moment of surrender. That was the moment I dropped to my knees and I said, ‘God, I cannot do this on my own. I can’t. I have tried and I have failed miserably. So help a brother out.'”
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