The Skinny Confidential Him & Her Podcast - Bob Forrest's True Hollywood Stories - Childhood Trauma, Addiction, Rock n' Roll, & Redemption

Episode Date: July 2, 2019

#199: On this episode we sit down with our friend and Hollywood legend Bob Forrest. Many of you will remember Bob Forrest from his days on Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew. Bob has lived a wild life as a rockstar, poet, & recovery advocate. On this episode we are diving deep with Bob to talk through childhood trauma, addiction, the life of a rockstar, and the path to redemption.  To connect with Bob Forrest click HERE To connect with Lauryn Evarts click HERE To connect with Michael Bosstick click HERE Read More on The Skinny Confidential HERE For Detailed Show Notes visit TSCPODCAST.COM To Call the Him & Her Hotline call: 1-833-SKINNYS (754-6697) WOO MORE PLAY is the all natural and organic coconut love oil that is changing the way we have sex. With only 4 all natural ingredients WOO is the perfect personal lubricant to spice up your sex life. That's just the pre-party.  Now Get ready for the after party with WOO FRESHIES! All Him & Her Listeners will receive 20% off your entire order plus free shipping when when visiting www.woomoreplay.com & using promo code skinny20 at checkout. This episode is brought to you by THRIVE MARKET. We use Thrive for our online grocery delivery on a weekly basis and we also now get our wine at Thrive! They provide the highest quality products and ingredients delivered straight to our door with unbeatable prices.  Be sure to grab our deal by going to to https://thrivemarket.com/skinny to receive 25% off your first order (Max $20) + free shipping and a 30 day trial. Produced by Dear Media 

The following podcast is a Dear Media production. She's a lifestyle blogger extraordinaire. Fantastic. And he's a serial entrepreneur. A very smart cookie. And now Lauren Everts and Michael Bostic are bringing you along for the ride. Get ready for some major realness. Welcome to The Skinny Confidential, him and her.

Aha! Him and her. There's been outstanding, wonderful moments where, you know, Elvis Costello came out and sang with The Clash and just magnificent rock and roll history of pink pop. But they had a vote in the top 10 most memorable moments of pink pop. And mine is in the top 10 that I just did made a disaster. Drum roll, please. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages, we are back again. That clip was from our guest of the show, Bob Forrest. How I love Bob Forrest.

How I love Bob Forrest. And on this episode, we are talking drugs, alcohol, rock and roll, addiction, recovery. We're talking about a lot of things. I swear to God, I think I could bring Bob back on this show or we could bring Bob back on this show and just do segments called Bob Forrest's True Hollywood Stories. Honestly, he has so many different facets of his life and so many different layers. We didn't even know where to go in this interview. Yeah. We just, we first met Bob when Lauren went on his podcast with Alexis Haynes. And I got to say of, there's a lot of people we've met up here in Hollywood and this guy has to be one of the nicest, most interesting, humble, down to earth guys that we've met. A hundred percent. It's again, it's so nice to meet someone that is humble and has no ego and they're just fucking cool. You know, they're just, he's just a fucking cool guy. Yeah, he is. It just is. And he's they're just fucking cool you know they're just he's just a fucking cool guy yeah he is it just is and he's lived a really fucking cool life which we you know we dive into on this episode and i'll give a much deeper introduction in a minute but just know

this guy has kind of done it all most of you probably know him from his days on celebrity rehab if you're a little bit older maybe know his days as you know back when he was in a band called the loneliest monster if you really know maybe you've seen him with Anthony Kiedis, Flea, Red Hot Chili Peppers. This guy knows everybody. Anyways, before we get into the episode, Lauren, how are you doing? I'm doing good, Michael. I'm a little hungry. Michael had to go get me a bagel this morning. I wanted a specific bagel. And so I feel like I want to eat that right now, but I don't want to eat it on air. Shout out to the Yeasty Boys.

Oh, it's so good. They have a food truck here in LA that we love. Dude, get a blueberry bagel with plain cream cheese, but also get an everything bagel with plain cream cheese because you're going to want to. Here's the trick. And I don't want to go on this for too long, even though I love the Yeasty Boys because there's everyone that listens to the show is not in LA. But if you are in LA, you got to check them out. It's a food truck. But I will warn you, it moves all over the place. I had to basically track it today through Instagram and drive 40 minutes all the way to Studio City and back. And so that's not

so convenient, but they're all over the city. You just got to track them down. I've never had to track a food truck. I've never done that in my life until today. I text you my order and then said, don't you dare come back empty handed or I'll slit you. Yeah. Happy wife, happy life. We've been talking a lot about addiction lately with Alexis, your sister, Khalil. It's an interesting topic. And I know it probably brings up some feelings for you. How do you, Lauren, how do you feel talking about this? Because I know you've had family members struggle with addiction. I'm just so happy that we have this platform where we can bring people on who have experienced addiction and have come

out through the other side. This is what, when I started the Skinny Confidential, what I wanted to do with it the whole time. It's like, bring all different walks of life on the blog, on the podcast, share their story, share their experience, and take what you love out of this interview or any interview and leave what you don't like. And if there's anything in here that can enhance your life or inspire you, that makes me happy. I mean, the thing that makes me the happiest about these conversations is you realize like these are just people just like all of us, right? They have stories like there's some people are so quick to judge when it comes to sex or drugs or just, you know, topics that aren't covered in mainstream media. And I think, you know, it's so important to bring these conversations

to light. And like Lauren said, take what you like, leave what you don't. But please, if they're going to one thing is just leave your judgments until you hear somebody's story. That's like the biggest thing I've learned. I also think that after, you know, what I've seen in my own family and all the people that we've interviewed that have dealt with addiction, that sobriety is a hard thing. It's not like you just get sober and then you're sober for two years and there's nothing to it. It's something that you truly deal with day to day to day. I mean, it's something you have to work at. It's almost like, you know, marriage isn't just something that's easy and seamless. Addiction is fucking difficult. Yep. And like, you know, a lot of these conversations are presenting and I could be wrong here, but I don't think that I am. A lot of this has to do

with childhood trauma, which not a lot of us control at the time. So it's just, it's good to leave a compassionate place in your heart when you're having these conversations. That being said, talking about one of the most compassionate human beings we've ever talked to, Bob Forrest. He's known for being a recovery advocate. He's the co-founder of the Aloe House Recovery Centers. He's also been on Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew. Many of you recognize him with his long hair and hat. And he's also a complete badass rock star.

Had a band called Thelonious Monster back in the day. Did a lot of crazy shit. Good friends with Red Hot Chili Pepper bandmates Flea and Anthony Kiedis, among many other famous people. And this guy could tell stories for days. Sometimes I just, when I talk to Bob, I just sit there and listen with my mouth open. It's amazing. He told me this one story about Axl Rose hitting this girl in the head with a mic stand, and then he tried to fight him. And then Axl Rose ended up beating him up. Crazy story. Just wild stories like that. You're like, what? With your mouth hanging open, especially someone like me, who's such a fan of old rock and roll. So with that, guys, here's a true Hollywood story and legend from Bob Forrest. We have a group of what I would say are highly intelligent, really, really smart,

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offering you 25 to 50% below retail by going to thrivemarket.com slash skinny because they source the best ingredients and cut out all the middlemen. So it's a smart move. It's what the smartest people do, guys. Michael, you know what you need today? What do I need? You need some calm. And calm is on my curated list. Calm is magnesium. And you could really use some today, guys. I'm telling you, it gets things moving, Michael, so you're looking for baby supplies, household supplies, beauty supplies, wine, any wine drinkers out there? Organic wine. Poultry, meat, fish, they have everything.

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This is the skinnyny Confidential, him and her. My most celebrated moment was, we had this song called Body and Sores in a band called Thelonious Monster, and it became like a top ten hit for a few weeks or something. And it was right when we were playing this big rock festival in Holland called Pink Pop. And so, and I was a heroin addict, but, and I can kind of controlled my world. Like everything revolved around Bob getting well, playing at night and the whole structure of touring was kind of, and there was two other heroin addicts in the band. Everybody understood we have to, we have our priorities. So I stay up all night with Lenny Kravitz and my friend's dad, and we're just doing coke and partying until like five in the morning, and then somebody starts pounding on my door

at like 9.30 in the morning, which usually you're not allowed to do that. I don't go to Bob's room until it's like two or three or four in the afternoon. So I open the door, it's our road manager, and he's like, we have to go. I've been calling you, and I just put a pillow over the phone, and he's like, we have to go. I've been calling you, and I just put a pillow over the phone.

And he's like, I said, where the fuck are we going? What time is it? And he's like, you're playing at 2 in the afternoon. We have to go. It's way outside of town. And I go, dude, I don't have any dope. And he goes, it's not my problem. And so I was dope sick.

I was driving out of Amsterdam, or the center of all dope in Europe, to go to some fucking festival out in the middle of nowhere where there's no heroin. I thought kind of I wasn't sick yet, but I was really hung over from drinking and doing drug and coke. And I thought, well, somebody will have heroin out there. This is Holland after all. And I kept walking around kind of trying to ask people walking in the crowd, do you have any heroin for sale? Do you know where to get any dope? And then I panicked. And so then I go back to the dressing room. We're supposed to play in an hour. And there was a bottle of Jägermeister there. And I thought, okay, I'll just get through this hour and, you know,

get drunk and then, you know, get back to Amsterdam and get heroin. So I drank about a third of the bottle of Jägermeister on an empty stomach on a hangover, dope sick. What's it like being dope sick? Then I walked out on stage in front of 50,000 people. Jesus Christ. Does this footage exist somewhere? Does this footage exist somewhere? Yeah, it exists.

You can see it. It's kind of legendary. So this year, somewhere? Huh? Does this footage exist somewhere? Yeah, it exists. You can see it. It's kind of legendary. So this year, Pink Pop is in June. This year is the 50th anniversary of Pink Pop. Now you have to understand, Led Zeppelin played Pink Pop, Chili Peppers,

Pearl Jam when they've hit, and everybody's played Pink Pop. There's been outstanding, wonderful moments where, you know, Elvis Costello came out and sang with The Clash and just magnificent rock and roll history of Pink Pop. But they had a vote in Holland, the top 10 most memorable moments of Pink Pop. And mine is in the top 10 that I just did made a disaster.

So you can Google it and it's fun. So they're coming here tomorrow to film like, oh, my God, if't die everything turns out all right and here he is well you know we're we're gonna go a lot of places on this one and i can tell you right now like you're gonna have to come back because i feel like i could get up and leave the room and you could just carry the show and tell stories for forever um but i want to go back because so many people know you from the show and from the from your music but i want to go i want to go back because so many people know you from the show and from your music. But I want to go back to your early days and talk about where you grew up, what your childhood was like. Because in the brief moments that we met a few weeks back, there's so many stories that you were telling just then. So why don't we go back a little bit and talk about what that was like?

Childhood, I think, if any message Drew or I or any informed person you guys are trying to get out, is that childhood dictates the adult, right? America doesn't want to believe that, though you see it everywhere. When Lindsay Lohan was cracking up, I go, look at her fucking parents. Are you kidding me? What did you expect? She was going to be Michelle Obama or something? You know what I mean? We're so naive at

what childhood trauma and neglect and smothering and divorce and suicide and drug addiction, alcoholism do in creating the adults we have in the society, the next generation. So, so I grew up in a strange family where my parents were much older, and my dad was a supermarket person here in Los Angeles. And so I grew up in just an incredible privilege and luck. It's just luck. But my parents are way older, and then eventually you start being suspicious if you have half a brain. I heard my mom talk about her hysterectomy one time. And then, so I went in the dictionary and I looked up what hysterectomy was. And I was like,

then I was clever. I was like 10. I asked her, mom, when did you have that operation on, on your private area? And she said, whatever year. And it was before I was born. You got to understand parents in the sixties were just drunk and fabulous. They didn't really connect the dots in parenting all that well. So she then tells me this curious little kid, like when did she have her hysterectomy? And it's before I was born. And she didn't even dawn on her like, oh, I wonder if he's suspicious. So I then started thinking what the hell what the hell and i had these old parents and everywhere i went i was always i remember always being embarrassed people would say is this your grandson and i'd be like oh god why do they say that it's so embarrassing right because it was my dad i loved my dad you didn't want people to feel like he's old yeah yeah i

didn't it just makes you feel uneasy and you gotta understand it's an era where nobody talks about anything right so um i'm driving with my mom one day to the supermarket and i said am i really um you're in dad son and she said well actually bobby no you're adopted and someday we'll sit down and talk about that and you'll meet your natural mother what does that do to your brain just like yeah right and so i remember what it was we were just at cachella this weekend it was on miles avenue i remember so vividly being in the car with my mother because you grew up in the palm springs yeah i grew up in palm desert and so and you got to understand back then there was nothing, there was nothing between Indian Wells Country Club and Indio. There was nothing between Palm Desert and Palm Springs,

but Eldorado Country Club, it was like all desert. And so I remember driving with my mom and she was just so, because she wasn't drunk. When she was drunk, she was more guarded and kind of flighty, but she was just like, yeah, you're adopted and we'll tell you later, you know, we'll sit down later with you. And so that sit down later was three years later. And at Christmas, when I was 13 years old, they sat down and Christmas Eve, they decided that's a good time to tell me that, you know, and so that from then on, I'm thinking I'm adopted. It makes sense that my parents are old. Then you're wondering who's my dad. And I remember I love Jerry West, the Lakers basketball player.

And I thought, what if Jerry West, my dad, because when you're 10, you don't know. Could be anyone. Could be anyone. Jerry West. Right. And so they sit down, they tell me and they're kind of drunk and it's Christmas Eve. And they tell me that I'm adopted but they love me and my dad says you're my son and then they say but Nancy and Nancy's sitting right there with us is your actual

natural mother my sister look at the look on your face yeah I mean that's I just can't imagine what that does to a little boy at 13 years old yeah sorry i'm gonna get this weird out of mommy but but think of your eyes just went oh my god i mean it what does that do to you at 13 years old what did you start i was scared that i was gonna have to go live with her right that's immediate i remember that and then um by this time we had moved back to la to like we always had two houses one in la and one in palm springs and it turns out they wanted me out in palm springs to not embarrass them in los angeles until you know what i mean when my

family was very prideful in la because your because your mother who was your sister up until then had you out of wedlock yes is that so that was she was 14 when she got pregnant she was 15 when she had me she had me at saint anne's home for unwed mothers in echo park um and and then they just took her away from me and apparently my sisters told me after my dad died that my dad said if it's a girl, it goes up for Catholic adoptions. If it's a boy, we'll keep it. Oh, wow. People didn't fuck around back then. No.

It's such a different time. Now everyone's so open about everything. It just was really, it's almost uncomfortable. So think about it, though. He had made a fortune and he had never had a son. He had three daughters and he just wanted a son and so you can imagine how spoiled i was sure so spoiled you know and still am kind of you know what i mean that doesn't go away but there's all this trauma and alcoholism and and you know just

dishonesty and secrecy and all this kind of stuff so what that leads to is my dad kills himself when I'm 15. My mom's an alcoholic. She can't handle me. She moves out. So I lived at home in my house by myself when in my senior year of high school because my grandma mom and I didn't get along and she just decided I'm moving to the desert. Fuck you. I can't deal with you. So you're dead alone and it's your senior year of high school. Are all the girls over at your house? Everybody's over. All the bands are over there. We used to have so much fun.

That's where I discovered black beauties and cocaine and drinking. What is a black beauty? I hear that mentioned in books. It's like speed. Okay. Yeah. And they were just cheap pills. You could get them for 50 cents back then and you you get four of them and you'd be really wired.

And we used to open them up. They're like black capsules and you could open them up and snort the white powder inside. I read Mackenzie Phillips book. Oh, she liked them too. Yeah. And she talked about when she was really little, like 10, I think she was at Jimi Hendrix house and she was going through the medicine cabinet and there was this purple pill. Right. And she didn't know what there was this purple pill. Right.

And she didn't know what it was, so she ate it. And apparently it was like Jimi Hendrix's last purple something. Maybe a black beauty. Purple acid maybe. Maybe, maybe. And he freaked out on her. Is that similar to a black beauty? No, black beauty is speed like cocaine or methamphetamine.

But Hendrix, you know, he was mostly into hallucinogens, I think. Maybe it was a hallucinogen. So what are you doing as a senior at this house? You've got bands there. You've got girls. What is happening? That's when, and it's funny because that's when I really discovered that rock and roll was an actual thing that you could live.

It wasn't just something you read about in a magazine or that you went to Anaheim Stadium and saw. Like, there was bands around Huntington Beach where we had then eventually settled in, one called The Crowd, which is still around. That band is still around, The Crowd. Jim Decker and The Crowd, a shout out to them. And a band called the Popsicles and a band called the Simple Tones. And so everybody could come to my house and drink,

and there was no parents there. Imagine that. I was like 17. It was like the greatest thing ever. I would have hung out with you. Hey. I mean, we would have probably been right there. I would have been like, hey, Bob. I think there's different ways of doing that. There's a lot of inattentive parents here in Beverly Hills, and I hear about it a lot. But I had it. It was my house, and the rent was paid, and I got a certain amount of money for going to school. And, you know, I'll tell you things that parents put into place.

My dad's trust in Will said, as long as Bobby's in school, he gets a good living, right? Or a livable amount of money. And so that's why I stayed in school for years and years and years. I've been in every college in America. I just kept going to school. Because you were getting paid. Instead of paying to go, you were getting paid. I was getting paid. And so I did that right up until 1983 when I kind of,

now rock and roll had become a thing you could be. You could be a roadie. You could be a sound man. You could be, you know, a manager. You could be these things. They were concrete and I started seeing them. And then I met people that were in bands and I thought, how hard can this be? Like, it doesn't seem that hard. They don't seem much different than me.

When it's Robert Plant and Jimmy Page and Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, it just seems like a far off land and a different world. Completely unattainable. And all of a sudden it's these kids that I know from my neighborhood, like TSOL and bands, you know what I mean? And then I moved to Hollywood to go to LA City College and I met Anthony and Flea. And it's a legendary story where I met Flea a year before. For those that are listening, we're talking about Anthony and Flea from the Chili Peppers. So I met Flea years before because I had become a DJ. Like a DJ was a way you could be around clubs, make money. And I loved records and I had records since I was a kid. So I was a DJ and Flea came

into my DJ booth arguing with me about a song that I had played and I was a kid. So I was a DJ and Flea came into my DJ booth arguing with me about a song that I had played when he, and I was like, get this kid out of here. Who the hell is he? Turns out he's only a year younger than me, but he seemed way different because I was, we were 19 and 18, but that was a big difference. No, when you're in high school. Sophisticated Bob Forrest, the DJ at 19. He's gone to school for 800 years. Get this kid out of here. And so then a couple months later, six months later, I had heard about this band called Tony Flo and the Majestic Mayhems of Funk. They had played at a club and I wasn't at the show,

but everybody said it was amazing. So then a couple weeks after that, I see that kid, Flea, and this friend, and they're pushing this amp down Hollywood Boulevard or something. I was like, where are you guys going? And they had lived at this place they were getting evicted from, and I said, oh, I have a place you can stay at my house. Because I kept recreating Huntington Beach when I was 17. My house has always been the crash pad and the party pad.

And I'm always able to, like you, I'm always the guy that can figure out how to get the rent paid. That's a good description. Right? Why do you think I married him? There's another reason, but we won't go there right now. I'm sure. Well, those things sometimes go hand in glove. There's some big dick energy

in this room there's Taylor I don't know about you but so they're just wheeling an amp down the road

yeah Anthony Kiedis and Flea and you just look over and say what the fuck you guys up to they really had

an energy to them and they were fun and I'd heard what they were doing. And I just thought, yeah. And other bands that stayed at my house, a band called Bad Brains. I don't know if you know that band. Chuck Dukowski from Black Flag lived in my house.

Like everybody. I'm going to have a fucking orgasm. My house was the place to go. Right. And I had all these great records. What you're describing or what my dreams look like. Oh, really? Yeah. So you kind of had celebrity rehab before it was celebrity rehab. It was like prehab. Yeah. It was celebrity party bell. And it just continued my whole life

until I got sober really. And even after I got sober, um, I was just telling Michael before I used to live up off King's Road here, right by the Riot House. And that was the spot of all spots of all time. And it's kind of legendary. You can Google a film called Stuff by Johnny Depp right now. Taylor, can you pull our Google up so that when we're talking, you can pull this stuff up? Yeah. It's called, we made a movie of, because we were living this, like what everybody wants to live if you can.

Buy all the drugs you can, do whatever you want. The movie's called Stuff? I want to watch it tonight. Yeah, it's only six minutes. We didn't have a lot of time. He's going to pull it up here. So we lived in this house and we were, John Fusciante was most successful. Johnny Depp was pretty successful not like how he is now or whatever but and me and gibby haynes from butthole surface and we kind of lived there and we just kind of it was like what we thought the rolling stones when they met made

exile on main street i don't know if you know the legend of it but keith richards rented this house in the south of france and they all lived there and they did drugs and they made this album called Exile on Main Street. So we tried to recreate it without making a record. Just the drugs and the girls and the drinking. So at this point, do you guys all look up to the Rolling Stones? Jimmy Page and Keith Richards are kind of like the role models for that wild excess living. David Bowie a little bit, but by the time we're imitating what we had read about when we were kids, David Bowie's like this articulate, handsome, distinguished guy.

He's got his act together. Yeah, it was Keith Richards and Jimmy Page, right? There's that great quote. You've probably heard it a million times with Keith Richards. He says, I never had a problem with drugs. I had a problem with the law. And the police. I love that quote. So at this heard it a million times with Keith Richards. He says, I never had a problem with drugs. I had a problem with the law. I love that quote.

So at this time, though, did you have your band? Yeah, we all have bands. And the Chili Peppers started. And then I was their road manager. And I wasn't a very good road manager. And I got demoted to roadie. And then I got fired by my two best friends. You got to work really hard to get fired by your two best friends.

Hold on. What does road manager entail? Like what's the job? Road manager is like you get all the equipment, you get in the van. Like their first tour, I drove all the equipment to Detroit for the first show. And I get the money and I orchestrate everything and whatever. But I soon was incapable of doing that. So then they hired a road manager. I became the roadie that just sets up the stuff and, you know, put strings on the bass or guitar. And what was your drug of choice at this time?

It's always cocaine and heroin, always. Mixing it together. Mixing it together. When I watch your documentary, I thought it was really interesting that you were somebody like your goal was to shoot heroin. Is that accurate? Like you were like, you were like driven. It wasn't like you progressed to heroin. It's like you were, you were, you knew that you wanted the ultimate adventure and everything you read about heroin or know about rock and roll. And it's not just rock and roll that influenced me as Rambo and Baudelaire and, and William Burroughs. And so it's in literature, it's in On the Road, it's in movies, it's in our culture that the most daring, the most outlaw, the people that push the envelope all the way, that go to the edge, heroin is the drug of choice, Billie Holiday,

Charlie Parker. And so I wanted that experience. And why I wanted that experience, I think, through therapy, I've gone back and looked at it. It's like when you're abandoned by the only person you think loves you, which is my dad, you got to run. That's what I think. You just need to run. Right? You can't sit without abandonment. You need to keep moving. And so I just kept running.

I also think, and just coming from a chaotic childhood, too, I think, and I'm starting to notice this as I get older, when you are grown, when you grow up in chaos, you constantly look for it. It's like an addiction. That's an interesting one. I feel calm in it. No, and I'm noticing the more people I talk to that have had similarities, that's the same thing. It's like you want like something so chaotic because the normalcy and the security is not what you're used to. Right.

Or logic. And then as if you're lucky enough to have success in life, it just gets weirder, right? When I always say what held us all in check really was the lack of achieving our goals. Once we achieved our goals, like living on Kings Road, all bets were off. Like it was, it was madness. You can look at the movie. It was mad. Can we watch the movie really quick just so we can see it's six minutes. So it's just a, it's just a document of how we were living. So when, but what a lot of people don't realize too about, about you, i know this because i love

i love the music and the and the genres that you guys were in for a long time i'm a student i'm probably a student of it is that the loneliest monster you got it's not like you guys were some small band like you were a known band you were playing in front of massive crowds and you were very well respected in hollywood that was the thing is respect so so no one could predict what was going to happen in 92 that we're going back to 86, 87, 88. Everybody was about the same. We were all friends. It was a friendly, I always say it was a friendly competition that I don't know.

I think the closest thing to it is like hip hop, maybe. Because you work together, but you're also in competition with each other. You know what I mean? We were all very supportive of each other. You know what it sounds like? Exactly. It's just so interesting. Have you heard about all the YouTubers that grew up on Vine Street? They all grew up on Vine Street. I know them all. Jake and Logan. The same exact parallel. They all grew up in the same area. No one could predict what's obviously now happened. Yeah, I know. And that's what, and like, like us two generations before they weren't

prepared for the success. Well, there's so many things that come into play, right? Ego, you know, money, more followers. Now it's just, it's the same, but people, you may be, people may be rewarding you for maybe poor behavior, right? And say like what normal people would not be able to get away with. Well, nobody, I just know from the Paul brothers, nobody can tell them how to behave. Sure. I mean, who's going to tell them they get paid for misbehaving. That's exactly right. And so no one could tell Perry or me or Anthony or how to behave. Fuck you. You're fired.

They can't tell me. So we ended up with managers that did drugs with us and everything was cool so then that just supports the whole craziness right if your manager is snorting coke with you like who's who's who's managing the manager yeah right and so so it was i i just say it all hell broke loose and it was lucky we survived. And a couple people didn't, but for the most part, everybody did. And that's what I'm scared for your guys' generation because people aren't surviving. Right? There's more, I've seen more millennial deaths in five years than I had in 30 years of Gen Xers.

And why do you think that is? But do you think that's social media? That you're just, we have more access to the media now? Well, the numbers say more are dying, but I just go by, you know, it's every six months, it's little Pete, that kid was a genius. That kid was a genius, right? What my fear is it's going to be Billie Eilish.

Like it's just one after another, after another, after another. And it's all about, I believe, no love. There's a lot of talk about love, but there's not a lot of love. There's a lot of love that I would do anything for that 20, 30 group of friends of mine and have. And we didn't have our parents to depend on. That's another millennial thing I love touching on. There was no way you could go back to my mother and say,

I fucked up, Mom. I took drugs. Can you help me? She would have said, get out of my face and slammed the door in my face, right? So you wouldn't even go there. You had to be humble and turn to your friends. You had to ask for help from people

that you didn't have these strings attached, like parents, right? And I always say, where are your friends? How come you're not sleeping on your friend's couch? Why as soon as you become homeless, you call your mom? You've been telling her to fuck off for two years. Now all of a sudden she, oh mom, I'm on heroin. I need to go to rehab. You know what I mean? There's a weird connection between millennials and their parents. And I don't think we've even scratched the surface of what is wrong with it. Right? Because as a millennial parent, I'm also a parent of a millennial. I'm married to a millennial and the parent of a millennial. I'm surrounded by millennials. Right? That's all I deal with.

And one of the things that's interesting is as a millennial parent if your child becomes distressed if you do the traditional thing for generation after generation of parenting you're 30 years old it's not my fucking problem i'm sorry you made a bunch of poor decisions you're gonna have to live with them. That now, if you say that as a parent, you're a bad parent. You're a bad person. How could you do that to your own child? So what's the medium there? I feel like there's a happy medium in between both the two.

Well, I try to help parents. Or a medium, maybe not happy, but maybe a medium. I try to help parents and I base it on my own experience. Like my parents paid my rent, right? So you can figure out your own life. You don't want to live with our values. You don't want to live the way we think you should live. You don't, you want to do your drugs and craziness. We will pay your rent, but don't ever call us for money or this or that or the other thing, right? And I do that with parents nowadays. And that begins

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But for you, like- It was fun. Yeah. I don't know what those people are talking about. Honestly, it sounds kind of fun. You're living on Kings Road All your friends are with you Guns N' Roses, the Chili Peppers

You're hanging out with Jane's Addiction You're in a band Not a lot of people have that experience I think that's very unique If you take the music away we were still friends Now a lot of us don't play music and are still friends Tomorrow night I'm going to Gibby From the Butthole Surfers book signing party

And then he and his wife and kid and me and my wife and kids are going to Universal Studios because everybody's, the boys are obsessed with Harry Potter. Like friendship doesn't end just because you're not in a band anymore. But I think that a lot of millennial relationships are transactional. You just leave them behind, right? I see. I know what you're saying. You know what I'm saying? Yeah.

They're not these deep bonds. I'm friends with these guys unto death. It is different now. Right. It's very flighty. It's like a short attention span. Right. And it's the social media component of it.

What if one of my friends gets attacked or gets MeToo'd? Am I not their friend anymore? Is the people going to come after me and kill me if I don't say he's a horrible person? That just can't happen to Gen Xers and baby boomers. You don't see it happening, but it happens to millennials all the time. You say a misstep like the kid the other day on YouTube, like they're fighting. Remember the quarrel? I read everything I could about that because I'm fascinated with this generation. I still couldn't understand why everybody unfriended him. He's talking about

James Charles. Yeah, yeah, yeah. What the hell is at the bottom of all that? Why did 11 million people turn their back on that kid? I think that the initial reason was that they were friends and he supported another hair care company and she has a hair. Who fucking cares if that's your friend? I agree with you. But then, this is the problem. This is the problem. Apparently, he was doing sexual harassment to young men. I don't know the whole story.

That's just what I know. I don't know the story either. This is what what I know. I don't know the story either. This is what I gathered from my secret Facebook. I do know we're living in a time where people are looking for... It's very transactional. They're friends

because they're making money together. They need each other. They bullshit the audience to believe they're friends and they have all this bullshit going on. That's one thing. For a generation that believes in Valhalla and perfection

and just society, you guys live in lies every fucking day of who you are to each other. Right. And just bullshit on top of bullshit. And I, you know, it's interesting. And I don't mean every millennial, but in general, like there's a lot of lying going on. I get what you're saying. I feel like we've had the benefit and the non-benefit. We're on the cusp, right? Because when I think back on my childhood friends, and Taylor, our producer who you met, I've known him since we were 12 years old. And I have those friends.

And you're married to someone that you've known since you were 12. But there are some relationships that are for sure not nearly as stable. And when I think back to those relationships, it was like pre-cell phone. We were all running around together, getting into trouble together. There was no, we weren't connected on every level. It's just like when you see, you see it.

And it was, you're building a lot of experiences together. And I don't, I think maybe one of the issues is that people aren't having as many real life experiences together. It's like they're connected to the phone, which is very real, but there's not these deep bonds where they're actually like getting into

some shit together. Does that make sense? Like ODing and having to resuscitate your friend. Well, that is an extreme experience, Bob. I've done that to everyone we've met. I want to talk to you though about when this does start to get dark for you. It gets dark when some of us went so far. Like there was a couple of us that were way out on the edge of insanity.

And a lot of our friends were still trying to be a part of our lives and engage with us. And it was very disjaunt and very disconnected. And so I think a lot of the people kind of gave in to just be with us for a couple days and live the way we live. And one of them died. And that woke me up. Because the person who died wasn't even a drug addict. They were just hanging out. And it was shocking and it reverberated for a long time with all of us.

And a lot of people say because it was in Ball of Fame and it's in my book, of course, and it's River Phoenix. And I hate the gossipy component of that. But more than that, more than this famous person died, he was not a drug addict. Did he get labeled as one after? Oh God, yeah. Of course. I mean, come on, right? You can't do movie after movie and be a drug addict the way we were.

We weren't doing much. We were going to, eventually we couldn't even go to the store, you just get pink dot, waiting for the pink dot guy to come by, right? And going to the Viper Room like at 12 o'clock just to have somewhere to go for an hour. Because you guys were so well-known, people were coming up to you that you couldn't go anywhere? No, we just were on drugs. It was so fucked up. It was so fucked up we couldn't leave.

You don't even know what year it was, I think, in 93, 94. I don't think, I don't think I crossed over New Year's 93, 94. So when that happened with River, what did that do to you? What's the switch that turned? It just shocked me that he just wasn't like us and he was the casualty, right? And people argue that point, well, if you're doing those kind of drugs. When you're a true addict, what's called a real alcoholic, according to addiction, when you really got it, where you'll die for it, you know it. And then everyone else, you know whether they are or aren't, right? And for instance, I could have had a much longer music career if I could have cleaned up to go on tour or clean up to make a record. I just couldn't do that. It was incomprehensible.

River was doing that every time he went and made a movie. So I read Anthony Kiedis' Scar Tissue. I told you this on your podcast. And in it, he seems like he was a gnarly addict. He was all the way. How did they still become successful when he was so gnarly? Well, you got to look at the gaps. When you're that big of a band, you can have big gaps in between albums. I think there's a huge gap there and but i mean that that another thing about anthony so he does eventually get sober again he was sober in the

80s and he gets over again and i asked him one time like you know when you've got unlimited resources and you're that far gone like he became became gone in the mid nineties, right? John and I were gone in the earlier nineties. Like living at Skid Row under, actually under a bridge. Yeah. Well, there's, he had a house in Beachwood, but when you're down there, you really don't want to leave. You want to be closer to the supply. You got to come back. I know that insanity. No, it's time management.

It's time management. I'm all about my time, so I get it. Can you imagine? You know, it's rush hour right now. Just hang here for a few hours. And then that few hours carries on. And then it's nighttime. And then no reason to go home.

But he was staying in motels down there, too, because I used to go chase him around. I know. What do you mean you used to chase him around? Well, we would get scared when we hadn't heard from him for four or five days. I'm sober by this time. Oh, you're sober by this time. Yeah, 96. We're going to have to jump around here a little bit.

Yeah, we're going to have to jump around. No, but I mean, there's general areas of... I only know years by album releases. My first record came out in 1986, second in 87, third in 88, and then all hell breaks loose. I know, obviously, October of 93 when River died. I know 96 when I get sober. And I have two years sobriety more than Anthony. So there was that two-year period of 96 to 98.

Why did you decide to get sober? Well, everybody asks that, and a lot of times you're just trying to figure mysteries out so that people can hope to have a mystery happen to them. I think it's cumulative. I think that things kind of start to add up. One thing that beyond all this ridiculousness, in my waking moments where I really knew who I was and what I was doing, the loss of my career wasn't the thing I was crying about or worried about or I focused on too much or loss of a marriage or losing a home. It was my son. I had a child who was, you know, eight years old when I got sober. He was, you know, five years old when I was in rehab. He used

to come and visit me in rehabs. And it was just awful. And it just wears away at you. And I'd purposely stay away from him because I didn't want him to you know i thought the better if i stay away the more i stayed away the worse i felt about all this and just the guilt of that the and then all the other things like you know what i mean i remember one time because i didn't see the grunge era come i kind of knew the grunge era people like uh like eddie better i knew but but i didn't really know that i heard about it but i was living in this drug haze knew the grunge era people like Eddie Vedder I knew. But I didn't really know that. I heard about it, but I was living in this drug haze for so long.

And I was at this drug dealer's house, and MTV was on. A lot of times there was this thing called MTV that played music all the time. Do you guys know? It wasn't a reality TV show station. So it was always on at drug dealer' houses, 24 hours a day. And so I was sitting there and I was smoking crack in this drug dealer's house in Hollywood. And I was looking at the TV and I knew it was one of these new grunge bands that I was hearing all about. This is probably 94, 95. And I looked at the couch and it was the two guys that were on the TV. And I was like, I kept looking at the TV and then looking at the two guys that were

buying drugs. And I was like, oh my God. And TV and then looking at the two guys that were buying drugs. And I was like, oh, my God. And then I pointed out one of them. I went, oh, my God. And he just, like, looked at me really weird. He didn't have much of a sense of humor. Do you remember who? It was Lane Staley.

He didn't have much of a sense of humor. But later in life, he did. But, you know, they had that Man in the Box song, I guess is what it probably was. And I just remember, like, there's a new gang in town. There's a new, you've been replaced. And in that moment I knew he was going to replace me on the couch. I was going to die and then he would be on the couch smoking crack at the drunk. Wow, that's like Inception sort of.

That's what happened. You could like see it all. I saw it all in that moment. So it's like almost a new generation of drug addicts you saw and you realized it's either time for me to get sober or I'm going to die. Well, then a magical, the mystery and magicalness of it all happened. So a couple of days later, this beautiful girl comes by, right? I pay attention attention still I'm a human being I'm like and then the nun she leaves and she copped some dope and she left and I as I said to the drug dealer Frenchie who's still my friend to this day I said dude who's that chick and he goes oh that's Lane Staley's girlfriend and I was like holy shit shouldn't have quit music. God damn it.

I had tremendous regret about my career for one moment. So how do you, so when you're this deep into it, I mean, cause like, I mean, people can go and I think that everyone should go and watch your documentary cause you could see. But when you're this deep into drugs, how do you actually get off? Like, how do you start to sober up? How do you, what does the process look like?

Well, guess what I'm going to tell you. The girl comes back the next couple of days later. And then there's some other drug addicts there. And I said hello to the girl and whatever. And she seemed to know me. I was kind of a knowable person, though not much of a humanoid. And then she left. And I said, who is that girl? And the guy said, oh, that's Lane's girlfriend's friend, Max. And I was like, it's not Lane's, the guy, the singer's girlfriend? And he said, no, that's his girlfriend's friend. She cops for them. Right. And I was like, oh. And then the next time she came, I had some money that Courtney Love had given me to buy her dope. And I kind of ripped her off. I'd seen Courtney at a club and she goes here and she gave me 500 bucks to go get dope. And she said, I'm staying at the Roosevelt, like meet me there.

And then I get to the drug house and that Max girl was there and I was buying $500 worth of drugs, like a big shot. And I said, hey, do you want to go? And then I knew that they were intravenous drug users and I wasn't anymore. After a friend of mine had died named Halal, I'd stopped shooting drugs. And I said, will you shoot me up? Because I haven't shot up in a long time. And we went in the bathroom at the drug dealer's house and she shot me up and we fell in love and we were together for 11 years. And she got sober and then she had a profound effect. She believed in me when no one else did. I believe in the power of people,

loving and influencing people. She's the reason why I played music again. There's magical people coming to your life. It doesn't have to be a romantic relationship like that. It can be a counselor. It can be somebody in 12-step world. It can be a therapist. It can be a sober friend, a friend that got sober before you.

People, that's what changes and that's what's so hard for millennials because you don't really experience each other, right? You experience each other through a phone. But to know that I was just so mesmerized by her and she saved me, I'd be dead if it wasn't for her. That you can't plan out, but that you can believe in that people love. Just little things happen along the way where I was discouraged when I was about four months sober. Chili Peppers were playing the forum and I went and I was sitting there and I was just bummed out and I'm in a restaurant, and what am I being sober for? And Joe Strummer, my idol, this guy from The Clash, went over and said something to Max, and then we were leaving.

And I said, what did Joe Strummer say to you? Because I thought he might be hitting on her. And she goes, I'll tell you in the car. It was really beautiful. Because I had been talking to him, but not like heavy stuff. And so we get in the car and she goes, Joe said he could see how sad you were and to look out for you because you were the real talent in the room. Wow. That's pretty powerful.

That's a human experience. Like every rock star in Los Angeles was in that room. He knew to say that because he could see the life force come like drifting out of me, right? You have to be attuned to each other. You have to love. You have to say those things that mean something. I'm a big believer in the human condition and sharing it with each other. And phones and technology, and I'm sorry, social media don't do that. It's so funny that you say that because this morning I made you put away your phone and I said, can you just have coffee with me for five minutes without your phone? See?

And we did. Right? Oh, it was like pulling teeth though. Now I'm not a saint here. I'm just, I'm like Lenny Bruce. I'm just saying what I think. I don't have solutions and I don't, and it's not like I'm not a saint here. I'm just a, I'm like Lenny Bruce. I'm just saying what I think. I'm not, I don't have solutions and I don't, and it's not like I'm not guilty. The other night, I swear to God, we were sitting at the dining room table because I'm big,

got to sit down at the goddamn dining room table once in a while, all four of us eat, right? And so we're sitting there and eventually I have a two-year-old daughter and she's just a maniac. You have to put Peppa Pig in front of her to stop her from, you know, jumping off the table top. And then my son's whining, why does she get it? Why does she get her phone? And then he gets his phone and he's got his headphones and he's watching YouTube, but probably the Paul brothers. And then eventually my wife got on her phone. So that gave me permission to get on my phone. We were all four sitting at dinner on four phones. It was like a Rockwell painting

with phones. That'll be the classic paintings later in life. It'd just be like everybody on phones. So, so I mean, listen, we've had, there's been two people we've had on this show, Alexis and also Khalil. And both of them have been, I mean, praise you. Khalil attributes you a lot with basically almost saving his life. I know he had a lot of work to do himself. But when did you start helping people and how did you get into this line of work? And when did you meet Drew? And like, how did this whole life of you, I mean, you've really helped a lot of people at this point.

Well, I mean, they helped me too. That's the thing that, why I say transactional, it's not like I help people so that everybody praises me as the helper. It's fun. It's fun helping people. It's fun helping people. Khalil especially. Alexis, I felt like I had to protect because I could see that I do protect people from the predators of the recovery industry. It's one of the most hideous industries I've ever seen. What do you mean? They exploit celebrities and give them free treatment and then try to use them as marketing people. And it's just disgusting. It's like you had cancer and your cancer doctor asked you to do an advertisement for him on YouTube.

Look at your eyes. I mean, I just can't believe that. So that was happening. I felt protective of her. Even before Evan was kind of dating her, I just felt like somebody's got to look out for that girl. You know, she could really be taking the wrong direction. And then she has a friend named Tess,

and that's where Alexis and I got really close is trying to help Tess. And I have a different way of helping people. You don't kidnap them or bully them. You just kind of love them, right? And so that was my Alexis story. The Khalil story was, he just was like this gnat. He just wouldn't go away. He really was so persistent in wanting to know what we knew, sober people. He really sought it out. And he didn't really practice it, but he wanted to know what it was, right? So I got him into this treatment center, and then I was helping him through. And then he was scholarshiped, and he just kept living there for like two and a half months. And finally, they were telling me, because I got him in there, Pasadena Recovery Center,

you got to get rid of this guy. He can't just live here forever for free. And I had to go to him like, dude, you're going to have to move along this over living. And he goes, no, no, I can't. I can't. No, if I leave this building, I'll use. And if I use, I'll die.

And I said, well, I don't know about all that, but you are leaving on Thursday. But, you know, and he would always ask questions. He's very, very curious about how to become sober. How does it work? How do you not use? So when you have someone like that in your life, it's really interesting.

They're not fighting and resisting. They're curious and wanting for information. So he was wanting, he knew about sober living. He's also like a con artist, know-it-all too. So he knew the good sober livings, right? He knew Genesis House in Century City. And I forget what this Asher guy had a Beverly Hills one. He knew the ones.

And I was taking him to one that I got him a scholarship at. And he's like, where are we going? And I go, don't you worry about where we're going? He goes, we're not going out to one of those shitholes in the valley, are we? And I go, don't you worry about where we're going? Because he always wants to be in the limelight and stuff. And he knew if it's a scholarship, it's probably not at the nicest sober living. And he kept saying, where are we going? Where are we going? And I wouldn't tell him for the day before. And then we're driving to go to it.

And I go, we're going somewhere. I got to stop and see a friend. And then I'll take you to the sober living. So I took him to my friend Hillel's grave. I don't know if you told that story. I took him to Hillel's grave. And I said, that motherfucker, eight feet down under there, has everything that you think you want.

He was in one of the biggest bands in the world. He was famous. Girls liked him. He had a nice house and a nice life. And everything that you think you need to feel whole so you don't do drugs, that guy right down there had it. And he just sat there. Because he loves the chili peppers.

He won't admit it. But, I mean, he knew who it was. And I said, so we're going to whatever fucking sober living will take you. And he didn't say a word. He just got in the car and I took him to this really hardcore, like no fucking around sober living in Northridge. Talk to me about what a really hardcore sober living looks like. I want to know like specifics. Are you on your knees with a toothbrush cleaning a toilet? Well, you've got to clean the toilet.

If you've got scrub, if you've got bathroom scrub, you've got to clean the toilet. That's the one they always point at. But Xander, who was in The Lonely Sponsor, he went to the same sober living. He always tells this story where he had sweep the kitchen duty, right? And the tech, the person managing the house, was over his shoulder going,

what the fuck kind of sweeping is that? Screaming at him like, you lazy white boy, what the fuck is wrong with you? Sweep, scrub that floor. Like, you know, and it was no special treatment, right? And the bed's uncomfortable, I would assume. Tiny single beds that cost $89 at Kmart or Walmart or something. So it's shitty situation.

But magical things can happen. Both Xander and Khalil got sober there. Yeah. Wow. Because somebody needs to break their entitlement and arrogance down and humble them and all that kind of stuff. Around this time, so maybe I should back up a little bit. Were you working with Drew at this point or had you met Drew or was this... I've always known Drew since before even Anthony and Flea. Right around when I met Anthony and Flea, when I was about 18, 19, 20.

You used to go on his radio show, right? Yeah. That was after, but he was just a music fan. And the radio station K-Rock, that now is this monstrous institution in LA, was really just this little tiny studio in Pasadena. And me and my friends from Huntington Beach realized you could just go there. You could just walk into the studio, especially if you brought a six-pack of beer. They would let you hang out in the K-Rock studio. So we used to do that on the weekends, especially if bands were playing in Pasadena. We'd go by the studio and Freddie Snakeskin,

the program director, DJ, or I think Jed the Fish was there, Rodney Bingenheim was there. You could just hang out there in the studio while they're doing the show. So I recognized Drew from being there. Like, he's this nerdy guy that didn't fit in. And probably didn't do drugs. Oh, no, he did not.

But I remember him being there. And then what happened was K-Rock got in trouble for saying the F word over and over again. They didn't have a delay button. So the FCC fined them a bunch of money and they didn't have it. So then they countered with this thing of, what if we had a public service show? Would that be all right? Because we're going to bankrupt us or we'll have to close the show. We'll have to stop our network. We can't pay $100,000 fine or whatever. And that is, it was called Call the Doc. And Freddie Snakes, who ran the studio, knew that Dr. Drew was a doctor in residency and said, hey, we're going to have a radio show and you're just going to take doctor calls.

And that's how Drew's radio career started, from being a fan of The Smiths and hanging out at the K-Rock radio studio. He was great when he came on here. I mean, talk about a radio personality. He commands, though. He just grabs a mic, throws it around. He's good. He's good at it. I heard that the way that you got into celebrity rehab was like a wild story.

Right. Well, how we started it? Yeah. Well, Drew had been having offers to do it. And it's another thing, like when things happen, everybody, there's an event that you've read all three books now, right? Well, Flea's book is coming out. What's it called?

Like Acid for the Children? Acid for the Children. I just talked to him yesterday about it. Because you have to clear things about other people. And I said, he said, are you going to sue me? And I was like, no, of course not. He's like, you know, I just had to check because I don't want to. You should have said you'll never know.

You never know. Depends on what mood I'm in. When Anthony said I had sex with a transgender gal in Cleveland, I was upset, but I didn't sue. So there's three books now. There's three truths out of one event. So that is the day Flea quits drugs and moves out of our apartment. And my interpretation was Flea wasn't a drug addict like me and Anthony. I mean, he liked doing drugs, but he also liked playing bass and like going outside. Me and Anthony,

not too much interested. He was just kind of hanging with you guys, huh? Yeah, but he would do drugs, but we all lived together. And then, but, you know, he would go visit people and go play music and stuff. And we were just just in the house shooting speed at the time. And so in my opinion, he came out of the bedroom one morning and he had shaved his head and he put a minor thread on, straight edge, and he slammed around the living room, knocked everything over. And he said, I'm moving out. I'm going straight. You know what I mean? I'm not going to do drugs anymore or something. And then he moved away, moved back to his mom's house,

and me and Anthony lived there until we got evicted. But Anthony's book, it says that Anthony told him that you're not like me and Bob. You should save yourself and move back with your mother. And my thing, like, that's not what happened. Anthony's the hero in his story. Then I tell Flea about this when he's writing his book, and he goes,

that's not what happened to either one of those things. You guys are so fucked up, you don't even know what happens in your own lives. You guys are all the heroes in your own mind. That's so funny. Each of you thought you were the hero. I wonder who the real hero was. I think we just hit a wall.

We probably moved out at the same time. I don't even know if it's real what happened. So how does all the, I mean, celebrity rehab. So the Drew celebrity rehab thing, everybody's got a different story because it's this pivotal moment. Like, how did it happen? How did it happen how did it happen my thing was because i come from this culture of viper room and music and rolling you know whatever we want to call it fame or whatever and all my friends are that i have a bunch of actor friends like that and but this new fame that lindsey lohan and britney spears and to a lesser extent, I forget, some other people. I just felt like it's so vicious and awful.

Like they're just drug addicts. They're just kids. They're just fuck-ups. They're just... I think it's all because of social media. It's just the medium's changed. Well, this is kind of before that, though. This is TMZ 24-hour news, 24-hour news.

But it all of a sudden became okay to insult children and have them be the punchline of things when they're shaving their head and obviously floridly psychotic and they're getting arrested and crashing their cars and ODing. And to make fun of it like Jay Leno and David Letterman did, I just found it so repulsive. And it was.

No one did that kind of thing before. It was thought of like, you don't attack little kids. They're fucking 20 years old. So one night I saw Jay Leno, who I hate, who I think is unfunny. I've never liked him. And two of his bits in his opening monologue on The Tonight Show were at those two girls, at Paris Hilton. One at Paris Hilton, one at Lindsay Lohan. And I just felt like, fuck you. Fuck you. So I went into work and I said, Drew, we've got to do a TV show about drug addiction and just film what we do. Film how courageous people are to get off of drugs and how hard it is and get on television their sexual abuse from childhood so the American can fucking know because they obviously are too stupid to realize these are not choices these girls are

making, right? And he goes, it's funny that you say that because, you know, people want me to do a TV show about rehab. And I always thought you wouldn't want to do it because of AA or because of rehab and I was like no let's do it and then that me getting on board and then BH1 saying if you do it as the surreal life we'll do it. Where does Shelly come into this? Shelly was my shelly was my ex from the old days. Oh I didn't know that. Yeah and and um and she had gotten sober before me and she got married and had a kid and the kid was now going to school and she came to me and she and uh at a a.m. and she said because i was working for drew and she said you know i'm thinking of going back to school and becoming a psychologist and i was like that'd be good. And she goes, do you think you could get me supervised at Las Encinas? Because she always does things a thousand percent organized.

I don't know if you can tell that about her. This is a year before she's completed her education. She's already making sure she's got her supervisions. You know what I mean? Are you like that? No, my husband's like that. Yeah, I can tell. You know what I mean?

Why would you not set up? I'm more like, let's go with the flow. And me, I'm like, sure. And so she does it, and she goes back to school, and then she calls me, and it's right at the time we're trying to cast the nurse for the show, and they have all these nurses, and they're not very funny, and not very cool, and they not work, and they don't talk. So it's either a nurse who can't talk because they're nervous

about being on camera or a actress who's saying she's a nurse who looks phony. And so Shelly asked me again, I, you know, I got to start talking to you about this supervision. I went, how do you feel about television? How do you feel about reality television? And she's like, what? And I go, I got an idea. We'll give you a job at Las Encinas if you'll be on our TV show. And I promised her that before even Irwin Entertainment saw her or Dr. Drew saw her or anything. Because I knew she's so cool and charismatic and funny. Right? And so I knew as soon as they meet her, they're going to say, that's the girl.

That's what's called. It was the perfect trifecta between you, her, and Drew. She's television gold. Well, somebody had to be the bad guy. I knew I wasn't going to because I'm incapable of it. And I knew that Drew had to be the hero. So how does the hero be the bad guy? See, I've been around entertainment my whole life. I know we need that person that people can focus their hatred towards. You know what I mean? Yeah. Because it wasn't going to be me. I felt like Drew's going to be the good guy hero. That means I got to be the bad cop. I don't play bad cop good. We got to get a bad cop. We got to get a

nurse ratchet. You know what I mean? I love nurse ratchet. That's a great analogy. Okay, so out of all the celebrities that you helped, who was your favorite and who was your least favorite? And I'm really hoping that you're going to say that Janice Dickinson was your favorite. She's great, but I don't know that I was able to help her. I love her. She's wild. She is. No bullshit. Yeah. You know, because I've been around Los Angeles so long, there's certain people that are just so genuine they can't even help themselves. Like Pamela DeBars. Have you ever had her on this show?

You should have her on this show. She was the it girl of the 60s. She wrote the book Groupie. She's, you know, the groupie. She made groupie culture, right? And she's just great. And she just lets it all hang out. And Janice is like that.

She'll just say the craziest stuff. Like she said the stuff about Bill Cosby to us on the TV show. And I was like, I don't know about this. I don't know about this. Because you never know. I mean, I believed it, but I was like, where are we going here, Janice Just tell me where we're going. She said it back then. Yes, she said it. And then, then, you know, he's going to come after you with a wrath of lawyers. Everybody in Hollywood kind of knew that. He even admitted it. He admitted it, that he gave drugs to women

to loosen them up. Why did nobody do anything 20 and 30 years ago why do you think that is what do you think nobody did because the power structure is a patriarchy and it protects the bread money winners don't shake your head like anything's changed it's still there it's just really different differently uh structured right so that that she said that stuff. Mackenzie told me that she had to text with her dad on Celebrity Rehab. And I was like, we got to take our mics off right now. And I made us take our mics off and walk around the corner.

I go, what are you fucking talking about? We walked outside the facility. I go, what are you talking about? And she goes, it's in my book. I need to talk about it. And I was like, no, you don't. Like America's not going to understand that. They're going to blame you.

He's dead. They're going to blame you. Don't do that to yourself, Matt. Did she end up talking about that on Celebrity Rehab? No. But she went on Oprah later, huh? Yeah, because the book, eventually the book came out. But I was like, she was so vulnerable.

She was only like a month sober. Her book is really, really good. It's very, it's a lot of depth. But do you know the wrath that she took after that Oprah Winfrey, right? She was so sick though. She was so sick in her book. I think people need to- No, I'm not saying that it's right. I'm saying America is a cesspool of viciousness. Yes. That's such a bummer though that America didn't take the time to read it. She wanted to point out something that, you know, I don't know if it's I don't it's the first time I had heard of it in that kind of a world. But I certainly heard about it in working class families.

Certainly it exists here in Los Angeles. Very much so. We don't want to see it because it's so ugly. Right. My wife works in El Monte School District. It's one of the poorest school districts in Los Angeles, you know, where there's poverty and ignorance and violence and trauma. There is incest and horrible shit. That's why we want to raise everyone up so the horrible shit goes away, right? And so that it was happening right up here in

Laurel Canyon. That was shocking. I'd never heard of anything like that. Right. Her book is, her book is really gnarly. It's one of the gnarlier books I've read. What do you consider the biggest success story with Celebrity Rehab? Just say, you want to know something? I think thousands and thousands of people got sober, inspired to get sober just by watching it. It's crazy how many people come up to me in airports or tell me or email me or instant message me. I got sober. I got two years. Because they got to see what it looked like.

They just got to see it. They got to see people do it. Yeah, a lot of people really. Well, I wasn't really aware of the prescription drug epidemic because we started, I think, in 2007. I was kind of aware, but I had epidemic because we started, I think, in 2007. I was kind of aware, but I had no idea of how massive it was across America. So I started getting emails about seeing Jeff Conaway be addicted to prescription drugs and be the worst drug addict in the rehab center. Really, the prescription drug addicts in America would email me going, I saw him and that's me. I mean, I still go to work every day, but that's me. I'm taking 90 Vicodin a day. That's me.

And I was just like, whoa, what the hell's going on in America? I'm always curious. And then I started seeing what's going on, that OxyContin and just this people just taking way more drugs than we were taking up on King's Road. When you look at drugs now, what is the main drug that you're seeing people abusing? There's now new categories of drugs to be so fearful of is fentanyl. Fentanyl is, you could, you know, especially carfentanil. So fentanyl is the strongest analgesic known to man the strongest dosage of morphine you can get it's a hundred times more powerful than heroin

car fentanyl is a thousand times more powerful than heroin so you can get a little bit of pure fentanyl and just die you just stop breathing right and so the huge uptick in death in 2016, 17, 18 was fentanyl. Because fentanyl is really cheap to produce. And we had cut off and made illegal OxyContin. So all the OxyContin addicts switched to this lesser known drug called fentanyl. Now the cartels know about fentanyl and they mix it in with the heroin. And you're seeing all across America in one weekend in San Mateo, 10 people died in one weekend. Do they mix it with cocaine the heroin. And you're seeing all across America, in one weekend in San Mateo, 10 people died in one weekend. Do they mix it with cocaine as well?

Is that true? That's what I've been hearing. Because I've heard people have been going under because they think they're doing coke. But I've also heard that there's these homemade Xanax that you buy on the street, right? And they don't clean the pill thing because they make fentanyl pills

because you've got to figure it. Some guy, you want to know where they're going? Yeah, they're not so organized organized they're not cleaning the thing yeah so the first xanax pill they make after having made a hundred fentanyl pills has a lot of fentanyl in it and you get that xanax pill you die there's not some compliance department that's going around and saying hey hey buddy you clean that machine but why do they make them into pill form? Because Americans believe that taking a pill is safe, right? America is 5% of the world's population. We take almost 50% of the world's medicine. Think about those numbers. What is so wrong with us? Right? And so I just had a dad talk to me yesterday. His son was a drug addict. He was with me years ago, and I was trying to get him sober,

and he got sober for a while, and then he's flung around from rehab to rehab. And now he's on six meds, six medicines. He was only on heroin and cocaine. Now he's on Suboxone, Xanax, Welbutin, Depakote, Seroquel. I mean, America loves gobbling up pills. It's interesting. You've said that, you know, when you've seen someone that's on Suboxone for, you know, and they use that in recovery sometimes for nine months, you said that better that they

get on heroin to recover because Suboxone is harder to get off. Is that true? Well, I used to say that. Not anymore. Well, because the fentanyl's in the heroin, you could die. So now it's worse. Now you can't even do that. It used to have pure heroin now you're seeing people od'ing because the cartels are mixing fentanyl in because it's

so cheap right uh the the numbers are astonishing if you can get two thousand dollars with a pure car fentanyl it translates to 30 million dollars worth of opiate product on the street. If you think it's going to go away, it's not going to go away. Wow. That kind of profit? Yeah, it's never going away. When I first heard it from a cop in Texas, because I go around trying to talk in different communities, the cop told me those numbers, and I was like,

maybe you and I should get in on one. He goes, I thought of it. Can you imagine a $2,000 investment, you get $30 million back. You think the cartels and the drug cartels are going to stop producing that, right? We're going to have to stop having the demand for it. And how we do that is love each other, connect with each other, kind of try to have these human conversations like we're having. Think about it. Think about prior generations and mistakes they made. Think about what, be mindful of the day that you're

living in. That's what I try to do, right? I just figure once I made it where I didn't die of drugs and I got sober at 35, I figured if I make it to 50 with hepatitis C and cirrhosis of the liver and doing all the things that I did and all the drug brain damage I must have, if I can make it to 50, that's plus. When I blew through 50, healthy as I am, I was like, every day is a bonus. Every day after 50 for a guy like me is a bonus. And I live in that bonus. Like, this is today. Like, we go to Disneyland anytime. The last weekend, I was doing something

and I had my son and we were in Claremont. My wife was at the beach with my daughter and I said, let's just go to the Legoland and get the Legoland hotel. And she's like, really? And I was like, yeah. And I just went, not planned, not booked. And it was just, because you could die just went, not planned, not booked. And it was just

because you could die tomorrow. You got to fucking live life. Don't put off living life, right? That's what I think a lot of times that I try to fight against with millennials. Don't live at your parents' house. Live anywhere but your parents' house. Live anywhere. Live on a friend's couch. Get a store. Me and Anthony used to live in an office space on Hollywood Boulevard and we'd pee in the sink. Like, I know it's harder for girls, but. I don't know if I'm going to be squatting over the sink, Bob. I don't know if you can imagine that.

It'd be better than living in your mom's house. I agree. Bob, you are a living legend, my friend. Thank you for coming on the show. I know you got the podcast. Now, what else you got going on? Well, I'm trying living legend, my friend. Thank you for coming on the show. I know you got the podcast. Now what else you got going on? Well, I'm trying to do this TV show. I think it's going to happen sooner or later.

But it's about Aloe and us trying to, you know, bring... The problem of the addiction industry is all the rehabs are in Southern California, Malibu, Palm Beach, Florida, fancy places. And the drug problem is in Huntington, West Virginia, Lakeside, Ohio. And there's no rehabs there. So Evan and I have tried to talk about, we got to go build rehabs there, but the problem is economics and how we do it. So then I had this idea of like, we need to go there, work with the communities, do a TV show about it and bring really high high good quality rehab to America. Love that.

It's called Don't Die. I started saying it to kids because kids were dying so much like seven years ago. I just started saying it. I'd hug a kid that I'd counseled for a couple months, and I saw him at 7-Eleven or something, and I just started saying, Don't Die. Cause I knew they were using again, just to draw attention. I know you're using, what you're doing is way more dangerous than it's ever been before. Please don't die. Can you immediately tell when someone's using in like five, immediately?

Yeah. There's something about it. I'll tell you a funny story. So I used to have the office behind Drew's office. We had this detox unit at Los Encinas Hospital. It had 12, 11 beds. And then his office was in the middle next to the nurse's station. I used to have to walk over there to talk to him 50 times a day. And mine was in a trailer behind the building. I've always been the red redheaded stepchild of somebody.

Either the Chili Peppers or Drew. I think you're fab. But at least I get the trailer behind, right? And I'm walking around and I'm really rushing because I know he's got to leave and we're doing something. And I walk back past the smoking area of the rehab was right there where I would walk through. And I just almost got to the corner and I stopped and I turned and I looked at the smoking table. There was three drug addicts that were in treatment with us. And I go, what is going on with you three? And they were all looking at me and I go, what the fuck is going on? I could just

sense it. They had used, I didn't even look. I just felt it in my shoulder. Like, what the fuck is going on with those guys? And it was that they were so nervous. The girl told me, we were so nervous you kept walking back and forth from Drew's office. We thought you knew and that we were kicking us out. So I saw them.

I felt them looking at me. It's an energy. It's an energy. Where can everyone find you? Your Instagram, your podcast, Pimp Yourself Out? Well, Bob Forrest is a dad, is my Instagram. I put my kids up there. Here's the weird thing. So I don't like self-promotion.

I just think like, oh, picture of two people holding hands on the ocean, come to rehab. I don't like that. But Evan's impressed upon me. I have come to rehab. I don't like that. But Evan's impressed upon me. I have to do this. I have to do this. So then I thought, oh, I'll just show my life, right? My life is my kids, my wife, my friends, and go have fun and go to concerts and go do things, right?

Show my life. So as the kids got older and they're more involved in it and they're more on it, I get these notes like, aren't you scared pedophiles are jacking off to your kids? Aren't you scared? Like, people are so fucking sick. Like, A, I never thought of that. What the fuck's wrong with people? What is wrong with people? Because I put my kids' pictures on the internet.

Like, you know, there's a lot of freaks out there. I was like, oh my God, I wasn't even thinking of that. So, go to Bob Forrest's adapt. Do whatever your pleasure is. Unless you're a fucking pedophile, then stay the fuck away. And your podcast. My podcast is

Don't Die, Bob Forrest, Don't Die podcast. And Lauren's been on it. I've been on your podcast. It's so much fun. You have an open invitation to come back anytime you want when don't die launches because i know it is yeah come back on we will thank you so much thanks bob and really quick can we just say where anyone can if someone is out there struggling with addiction where they can you know you can always i have this thing called rehab bob or anywhere i'm pretty easy to get a hold of My cell phone's public. At the end of the movie,

I don't know if you know, it's my cell phone. Hundreds of people have called that and they can't believe that I answer. People have gotten sober from calling that. The guy in Philadelphia, I talked to him for two hours because I was, I don't know, I had nothing to do. I drank too much coffee and I was up one night. Guys, Bob Forrest just gave you his number somewhere. 213-804-3843. There you go. Call me up or text me. Texting's better. I texted Bob today.

213-804-3843. That is fucking iconic. Bob Forrest just gave you his number. You may get a little bit of inbound now. I just want to warn you ahead of time. You know, a lot of people come up to me and talk about the chili peppers. I don't mind. It's community.

It's about life. It's about love. It's about family. It's about being humans together. You are a dream guest. Oh, thank you so much. You guys are so sweet. Let's get a murder thing on your channel.

Yeah. Bob's going to help me get a murder mystery on Dear Meaning. I got to be fair. That's the only ones I listen to. I love the murder ones. Bob, maybe we can write one together. We'll find one of these guys, one of these people in town. Aren't you fascinated by murder?

I might murder you in the morning before 11 if you don't bring me coffee, motherfucker. Yeah, if I'm not careful, you might be writing it about me. I know it's an older demographic, but cereal. If he doesn't get off his phone in the morning and pay attention to me for five minutes. You know what you got to do? Do it. I have the same problem.

I'm on my phone a lot because that's how I communicate with Jess and Evan and everybody. You got to go in the bathroom and act like you're going to the bathroom. Just sit there with the seat down. So he's in there for four hours. Thanks, mom.

See you later. Guys, if you or anyone you know is struggling with addiction, definitely check out at Aloe Recovery. It's A-L-O Recovery and it's on Instagram. You can message them and that is the company that Bob owns. They're super responsive through DM and I just think it's a good resource to have. As always, let us know your favorite part of this episode on my latest Instagram at the Skinny Confidential.

We'd love to hear your feedback. Let us know what you like, what you don't like, and we'll hop into your inbox and send a bunch of you TSC sparkly pink pop sockets. Make sure you've also rated and reviewed the podcast on iTunes. And with that, see you next time.