Eminem marks 16th year of sobriety, shows off new chip
Eminem celebrated his 16th year of being sober.
The Lose Yourself rapper took to Instagram to share a photo of his 16-year sober chip to mark the occasion.
The silver medallion featured a tree with an inscription reading, "Unity Service Recovery as well as the number 16.
The 51-year-old rapper, whose real name is Marshall Mathers, struggled with addiction throughout his career. In 2009, he told the New York Times in an interview that he relied on pills to cope.
"I was the worst kind of addict, a functioning addict. I was so deep into my addiction at one point that I couldn't picture myself being able to do anything without some kind of drug," he said then.
In 2005, he got checked into rehab but relapsed not long after. Two years later, he had a near-death experience from an accidental overdose as he was taking up to 20 pills a day.
"I remember when I first got sober and all the s*** was out of my system, I remember just being, like, really happy and everything was f*****g new to me again," he said on the Paul Pod podcast in 2022.
For his sobriety journey, Eminem sought help from a rehab counselor, started exercising, and enlisted the help of Elton John. He's been clean since April 20, 2008.
In his recent 16-year sobriety post, celebrities congratulated the rapper for the feat.
"Sweet 16. So proud of you," wrote music manager Paul Rosenberg.
"BIG DEAL. Congrats man[!] Thanks for being an example," commented artist Ekoh.
"Amazing feat," said RuPaul's Drag Race judge Michelle Visage.
