NME: Green Day: “We live our lives as if we have nothing”

[The Grohl]

10 minutes ago, pacejunkie punk said:

That’s why he writes his lyrics down first and doesn’t improvise them 😂

I mean when he forgets lyrics he tries to improvise with questionable results

[solongfromthestars]

I think at this point concern isn't unreasonable or invasive. Yes, an incredibly small minority of people (though I'm yet to actually hear of a successful case) with Billie's history can supposedly drink again like he's publicly doing now, but it's rare. That's not to say we should be spending all day panicking about his wellbeing. We obviously shouldn't be speculating about things we haven't seen, either. However, what we've seen and heard publicly now is enough for me to totally understand why people are uncomfortable, especially if they're dealing with their own issues. It's also important to remember, though, that addiction isn't a choice. Addicts don't go into denial and try to justify themselves because they don't care. They do it because they're addicts. Often it's because they do care so much the pressure becomes unbearable.

Since this is all about public events, I don't think what I'm going to say now is invasive. I was at Shepherd's Bush, the show where everyone thinks they "saw it in his eyes." I was also in Konstanz, right before Billie was hospitalised in Bologna. My mum mentioned he seemed tired in Konstanz but that was it. To be honest I didn't "see" anything. I didn't even think he "looked" unwell (nor did anyone else at the time). New Year's Eve was a different story. Others will disagree with me, but I'm trained to recognise when it's no longer ethical to photograph someone and Billie went way beyond that point. I will say I'm super sensitive to this stuff because my partner is currently drinking themselves to death, but in terms of taking photos I think I saw it objectively. As a human being - not a fan concerned about a celebrity's mental health - I was scared. I cannot help - and I'll reiterate that it's just as a human being, not even a fan - hoping he's getting the help he needs. I don't know whether he is or not, so I'm not going to stress about it, but he'll be in my thoughts as any random acquaintance would be.

That said, it will be hard for me to ever get into this era. The ~sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll~ marketing is cringeworthy regardless, but more so considering Billie's history and how dark and unsettling the new lyrics about his issues actually are. It's what people want though. Not so much on GDC, but I've seen so many people complaining that Billie is a worse performer sober. Having seen him live 60+ times I disagree. He was notably sober at most of my favourite shows, one of which (Emirates) was also his favourite show. The only times I've noticed negative differences are when he's been drunk after trying to get sober.

[That Dude]

I woke up to a message of love! 

Choking up from the smoke from above! 

I did wake up from a Green Day dream.  I was arguing with coworkers about how musicians recieve their money.  

How does Green Day get paid?

Do they get weekly or biweekly checks?

Do they get one massive check a year? 

Does the record conpany do direct deposit?

All the access we have and those things I have never heard about!

I am not upset about what Billie said here. Or the Grande Lady comment.  I don't really know who she is so...

And Billie drinking.  It is possible that despite decades of abusing, he wasn't an actual alchoholic. Some overusing for years is nearly indistinguishable from the real thing, but it's true.  Most people with that have a problem with drink simply drink too much.  

I had that problem about 8 years ago (during the Trilogy era, part of my bond with Green Day haha) and I stopped for a long time.  Now I can drink responsibly and it's not a problem.  In fact, now I have one or two drinks and that's plenty.  

Don't know what Billie's personal experience is, but he is singing and playing well, so it's not affecting his job.

I'd keep Billie on if I were his boss. Lol.

If he showed up smashing yellow guitars on his desk on East 12 Street and singing like he did at iHeart though, it might warrant a write up. 

[jengd]

42 minutes ago, That Dude said:

I'd keep Billie on if I were his boss. Lol.

 

 You made me laugh out loud, y think??  Actually, I’d bet there’d be days you’d quite like to let him go 😂😂

[stories and songs]

3 hours ago, solongfromthestars said:

I cannot help - and I'll reiterate that it's just as a human being, not even a fan - hoping he's getting the help he needs. I don't know whether he is or not, so I'm not going to stress about it, but he'll be in my thoughts as any random acquaintance would be.

That said, it will be hard for me to ever get into this era. The ~sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll~ marketing is cringeworthy regardless, but more so considering Billie's history and how dark and unsettling the new lyrics about his issues actually are. It's what people want though. Not so much on GDC, but I've seen so many people complaining that Billie is a worse performer sober. Having seen him live 60+ times I disagree. He was notably sober at most of my favourite shows, one of which (Emirates) was also his favourite show. The only times I've noticed negative differences are when he's been drunk after trying to get sober.

I really love this post. The whole reason I mentioned it to begin with was that I was like “geez, I can’t be the only one who feels this way.” 

Green Day is very much not a “sex, drugs, and rock n roll” kind of band to me to begin with, so whenever they try to go for this vibe, it doesn’t work for me. That’s not the kind of rock I like and not the reason I fell in love with them. Especially knowing Billie’s struggles, the lyrics and attitude are a bit disturbing to me. As you said, if my friend or even an acquaintance were behaving and talking how he is, I would be worried for them. Addicts always think they have it under control and that it’s no longer a problem so they can get back to their addiction. I have a friend who does mental gymnastics to justify her drinking whenever she’s confronted, and it’s just really sad.

On top of all this, I feel bad if the band feels like they weren’t fun enough or something while Billie was sober so they decided to turn back to this. I had the absolute time of my life during the RevRad era. Hands down the lightest, happiest shows of theirs I’d been to. I think based on things Billie had always said in relation to drinking, I’d low-key think “yeah I feel like he might have a problem there but whatever,” so when he got help in 2012 it was such a nice thing to see. It was like the band had really grown into exactly who I hoped they’d become and everything about that time just WORKED. I’m glad I enjoyed it for everything it was. Because the first time I saw them perform Still Breathing live, they all really fucking meant it.

[That Dude]

We need a making of video for this album.

Crawl Inside the Father of Alll......

And a live album - Night of the Living Father of all....

2 minutes ago, jengd said:

 You made me laugh out loud, y think??  Actually, I’d bet there’d be days you’d quite like to let him go 😂😂

"Hey Billie.  This is difficult for me.  Would you mind letting yourself GOOOoooo!"

[pacejunkie punk]

4 hours ago, solongfromthestars said:

I think at this point concern isn't unreasonable or invasive. Yes, an incredibly small minority of people (though I'm yet to actually hear of a successful case) with Billie's history can supposedly drink again like he's publicly doing now, but it's rare. That's not to say we should be spending all day panicking about his wellbeing. We obviously shouldn't be speculating about things we haven't seen, either. However, what we've seen and heard publicly now is enough for me to totally understand why people are uncomfortable, especially if they're dealing with their own issues. It's also important to remember, though, that addiction isn't a choice. Addicts don't go into denial and try to justify themselves because they don't care. They do it because they're addicts. Often it's because they do care so much the pressure becomes unbearable.

Since this is all about public events, I don't think what I'm going to say now is invasive. I was at Shepherd's Bush, the show where everyone thinks they "saw it in his eyes." I was also in Konstanz, right before Billie was hospitalised in Bologna. My mum mentioned he seemed tired in Konstanz but that was it. To be honest I didn't "see" anything. I didn't even think he "looked" unwell (nor did anyone else at the time). New Year's Eve was a different story. Others will disagree with me, but I'm trained to recognise when it's no longer ethical to photograph someone and Billie went way beyond that point. I will say I'm super sensitive to this stuff because my partner is currently drinking themselves to death, but in terms of taking photos I think I saw it objectively. As a human being - not a fan concerned about a celebrity's mental health - I was scared. I cannot help - and I'll reiterate that it's just as a human being, not even a fan - hoping he's getting the help he needs. I don't know whether he is or not, so I'm not going to stress about it, but he'll be in my thoughts as any random acquaintance would be.

That said, it will be hard for me to ever get into this era. The ~sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll~ marketing is cringeworthy regardless, but more so considering Billie's history and how dark and unsettling the new lyrics about his issues actually are. It's what people want though. Not so much on GDC, but I've seen so many people complaining that Billie is a worse performer sober. Having seen him live 60+ times I disagree. He was notably sober at most of my favourite shows, one of which (Emirates) was also his favourite show. The only times I've noticed negative differences are when he's been drunk after trying to get sober.

Concern for the drinking (and possibly other things) that we’re seeing is certainly one thing, and we’ve been seeing him drink publicly in ever increasing amounts over the past two years.  (I also witnessed it personally and it was not good) But it’s actually the least thing if you can believe it.

What really has me worried most recently and is the thing that’s making me speak out right now are mental gymnastics like these from the Sun interview:

Armstrong says: “I look back on it differently now than I did when it happened. I was on prescription drugs that were playing a role with my addiction. Now I’ve gotten passed it and there is life. 

And did I say something really bad? Did I hurt someone? I look back and I go ‘well I bummed some people out and I had to cancel f***ing tour dates’ which I hate doing as I ended up in rehab but it’s all good today and looking back at the video of that day I can laugh.“

I don’t know how Mike could sit there and listen to that.  Yes he hurt people.  Mike was furious back then.  Tre was scared. Adrienne was considering walking out.  He said all this in 2013. He nearly lost his band, his marriage, his friends, his life. He admitted to acting selfishly, not thinking of his kids.  He had to make amends to a lot of people least of all the fans but he apologized to us too.  Now he says “so I cancelled a few shows big deal”.  If I’m offended by this flippant attitude towards what cancelling so  much of the tour meant to thousands of people I can’t imagine how offended the people in his circle are to now be told that what he did to them was no big deal.  This makes me so angry I could spit.

Now he looks at it “differently“?  Why, so he can rationalize drinking again which he can’t or isn’t willing to stop?  

He couldn’t bear to watch iHeart before, he said in 2013 that it was documented evidence of his last drink. Now he laughs at it?  

He said at the time he was surprised every time he woke up in the morning because he didn’t expect to. Does that sound like no big deal?  

Now he’s blaming the pills when at the time he acknowledged not admitting to his alcoholism was part of the sickness and he knew it wasn’t just the pills.  At what point did he decide he was only gonna do this five years because that wasn’t what he said then.

I was resisting posting any of this here because I know how it gets the forums riled up but it’s becoming an elephant in the room with Billie speaking about it so publicly and frequently (if not honestly).  I can handle the public drinking because that’s for him to work out. But it’s this rewriting of history that he’s doing, the clear denial that he’s in that has me truly concerned for his mental state. If he had come out and said that yes he was sober for five years but now has a moderation plan and is sticking to it because he knows what he nearly lost and how important this is and his family and friends are behind him I would feel differently.  He’s not saying that at all.

I’m still on board because like with a friend you don’t abandon them in a time of need and support. It’s hard but I’m in no matter what. I’m just so sorry to see this and the cocaine style branding of the album is only making it worse for me. Just stupid and irresponsible. The songs are so fun can’t we just leave it at that and promote it like a dance party?

Thanks for letting me get this out because it’s really been eating away at me and it helps to talk about it.  It’s not affecting my daily life in any way other than that I’m concerned about the future of this band if this keeps up and of course the future of Billie’s own health.

This is bad, folks.

[Signe]

23 minutes ago, pacejunkie punk said:

Concern for the drinking (and possibly other things) that we’re seeing is certainly one thing, and we’ve been seeing him drink publicly in ever increasing amounts over the past two years.  (I also witnessed it personally and it was not good) But it’s actually the least thing if you can believe it.

What really has me worried most recently and is the thing that’s making me speak out right now are mental gymnastics like these from the Sun interview:

Armstrong says: “I look back on it differently now than I did when it happened. I was on prescription drugs that were playing a role with my addiction. Now I’ve gotten passed it and there is life. 

And did I say something really bad? Did I hurt someone? I look back and I go ‘well I bummed some people out and I had to cancel f***ing tour dates’ which I hate doing as I ended up in rehab but it’s all good today and looking back at the video of that day I can laugh.“

I don’t know how Mike could sit there and listen to that.  Yes he hurt people.  Mike was furious back then.  Tre was scared. Adrienne was considering walking out.  He said all this in 2013. He nearly lost his band, his marriage, his friends, his life. He admitted to acting selfishly, not thinking of his kids.  He had to make amends to a lot of people least of all the fans but he apologized to us too.  Now he says “so I cancelled a few shows big deal”.  If I’m offended by this flippant attitude towards what cancelling so  much of the tour meant to thousands of people I can’t imagine how offended the people in his circle are to now be told that what he did to them was no big deal.  This makes me so angry I could spit.

Now he looks at it “differently“?  Why, so he can rationalize drinking again which he can’t or isn’t willing to stop?  

He couldn’t bear to watch iHeart before, he said in 2013 that it was documented evidence of his last drink. Now he laughs at it?  

He said at the time he was surprised every time he woke up in the morning because he didn’t expect to. Does that sound like no big deal?  

Now he’s blaming the pills when at the time he acknowledged not admitting to his alcoholism was part of the sickness and he knew it wasn’t just the pills.  At what point did he decide he was only gonna do this five years because that wasn’t what he said then.

I was resisting posting any of this here because I know how it gets the forums riled up but it’s becoming an elephant in the room with Billie speaking about it so publicly and frequently (if not honestly).  I can handle the public drinking because that’s for him to work out. But it’s this rewriting of history that he’s doing, the clear denial that he’s in that has me truly concerned for his mental state. If he had come out and said that yes he was sober for five years but now has a moderation plan and is sticking to it because he knows what he nearly lost and how important this is and his family and friends are behind him I would feel differently.  He’s not saying that at all.

I’m still on board because like with a friend you don’t abandon them in a time of need and support. It’s hard but I’m in no matter what. I’m just so sorry to see this and the cocaine style branding of the album is only making it worse for me. Just stupid and irresponsible. The songs are so fun can’t we just leave it at that and promote it like a dance party?

Thanks for letting me get this out because it’s really been eating away at me and it helps to talk about it.  It’s not affecting my daily life in any way other than that I’m concerned about the future of this band if this keeps up and of course the future of Billie’s own health.

This is bad, folks.

I am confused by this whole thing. What happened that sparked this discussion about him this time? What did he do?

The performances and interviews have seemed fine.

I completley understand him laughing something off to a reporter.... It was 7-8 years ago. Leave it alone.

And I think we all should too. We can never really know anything anyway.

Edit: I am not trying to be rude. I get the concern. But speculation doesnt do great for the worry either.

[Beerjeezus]

3 minutes ago, Signe said:

I am confused by this whole thing. What happened that sparked this discussion about him this time? What did he do?

The performances and interviews have seemed fine.

I completley understand him laughing something off to a reporter.... It was 7-8 years ago. Leave it alone.

And I think we all should too. We can never really know anything anyway.

I get that he doesn't want to talk about it to journalists and he might be laughing it off because of that, but -I didn't want to talk about it even though it's been bugging me for a while - he might not be doing all that great. I'm not prying into his privacy in any way when I say that getting drunk might not be the safest pasttime for a recovering alcoholic.

[Lenny]

I live my life as if I have everything

[pacejunkie punk]

15 minutes ago, Signe said:

I am confused by this whole thing. What happened that sparked this discussion about him this time? What did he do?

The performances and interviews have seemed fine.

I completley understand him laughing something off to a reporter.... It was 7-8 years ago. Leave it alone.

And I think we all should too. We can never really know anything anyway.

Edit: I am not trying to be rude. I get the concern. But speculation doesnt do great for the worry either.

I’m speaking to his specific recent comments on his sobriety that I quote above.  That’s what sparked my post. I’m reacting to it with my own comments and calling Billie out on his bullshit. Maybe if enough people do that he’ll wake the fuck up before it’s too late. That’s all.  

[jengd]

I understand people’s concern, many of us are way too invested in this group of people who we don’t really know and see glimpses of, sometimes allowing us to feel close to them.  However, we don’t know all that has gone on, we don’t know what all is going on now.  I remember Billie saying to RS that he had convinced himself he could give up the prescription drugs and keep drinking but had to learn that wasn’t true.  I also remember him saying all @pacejunkie punk quoted about seeing iHeartRadio etc, but to be honest, I thought it would be one of those things which every interviewer would be told not to ask about so I a little surprised he is answering questions now.  His answers to me though, are classic examples of how he has rationalised those events in his own head and which may be just for sharing or he may actually believe it himself; as time moves on we do blunt the edges of unpleasant things to enable us to move on but I don’t see that necessarily mean he really thinks none of it matters.  I think he’s drinking again yes, and I sincerely hope he really can control his life but I think we shouldn’t panic, he’s a grown man and will do as he likes.  I love Billie Joe but he is flawed, yes I really said that 😋 and I don’t think people should jump all over him saying stuff like some of what’s been said recently.  I’m beginning to ramble but we know he’s said some random stuff over the years and not got worked up about that.  Much as I hate to say it, he will never give up drinking for us, no addict can give up anything for anyone other than themselves but I don’t see as many warning signs as some people are seeing.  Maybe because I’m a Scot, my idea of heavy drinking is different from some of yours.

[Jon Benjamin]

3 hours ago, That Dude said:How does Green Day get paid?

Do they get weekly or biweekly checks?

Do they get one massive check a year? 

Does the record conpany do direct deposit?

There’s usually quarterly and annual payouts. 

[Beerjeezus]

3 minutes ago, pacejunkie punk said:

I’m speaking to his specific recent comments on his sobriety that I quote above.  That’s what sparked my post. I’m reacting to it with my own comments and calling Billie out on his bullshit. Maybe if enough people do that he’ll wake the fuck up before it’s too late. That’s all.  

I'm afraid that's up to people irl, we can't really hold it against him. I mean, if the way you interpret it is correct, hopefully someone else who actually can do something about it does too.

10 minutes ago, jengd said:

I don’t think people should jump all over him saying stuff like some of what’s been said recently.  I’m beginning to ramble but we know he’s said some random stuff over the years and not got worked up about that.  Much as I hate to say it, he will never give up drinking for us, no addict can give up anything for anyone other than themselves but I don’t see as many warning signs as some people are seeing.  Maybe because I’m a Scot, my idea of heavy drinking is different from some of yours.

I'm Czech so it says something when something gets me concerned.  

You made a very important point that I want to highlight, no matter what, let's handle it with dignity.

[HAPPY ZOMBIE UNICORN]

Maybe we don’t know everything, and not everything we see, hear, read is a one to one picture of Billie’s life. Maybe he can separate the stage life from his private every day’s life. Maybe he doesn’t want to let us in that side of things, and we have no right to ask for proof of evidence of whatever he does or does not do when he’s not in front of the camera. Social media fucks things up nowadays, so it seems to me that since he got drunk on a couple of parties, and since the stage Billie is the only one we see, we give for granted that is him 24/7. How he deals with his addiction, what kind of addiction or problem he actually had/have, and what is the best way for him to live a happy life is his private life. 
I really don’t see how having fans discussing his private life on a forum can help Billie get a message, or improve his wellbeing in any way. So I’ll promise myself to not post about this topic anymore. I also don’t want to come out as the asshole who wants to shut down other people emotions, I respect people’s emotional involvement in this, but unfortunately I feel uncomfortable reading and discussing about this. 

[stories and songs]

1 hour ago, pacejunkie punk said:

Armstrong says: “I look back on it differently now than I did when it happened. I was on prescription drugs that were playing a role with my addiction. Now I’ve gotten passed it and there is life. 

And did I say something really bad? Did I hurt someone? I look back and I go ‘well I bummed some people out and I had to cancel f***ing tour dates’ which I hate doing as I ended up in rehab but it’s all good today and looking back at the video of that day I can laugh.“

I don’t know how Mike could sit there and listen to that.  Yes he hurt people.  Mike was furious back then.  Tre was scared. Adrienne was considering walking out.  He said all this in 2013. He nearly lost his band, his marriage, his friends, his life. He admitted to acting selfishly, not thinking of his kids.  He had to make amends to a lot of people least of all the fans but he apologized to us too.  Now he says “so I cancelled a few shows big deal”.  If I’m offended by this flippant attitude towards what cancelling so  much of the tour meant to thousands of people I can’t imagine how offended the people in his circle are to now be told that what he did to them was no big deal.  This makes me so angry I could spit.

Now he looks at it “differently“?  Why, so he can rationalize drinking again which he can’t or isn’t willing to stop?  

He couldn’t bear to watch iHeart before, he said in 2013 that it was documented evidence of his last drink. Now he laughs at it?  

He said at the time he was surprised every time he woke up in the morning because he didn’t expect to. Does that sound like no big deal?  

Now he’s blaming the pills when at the time he acknowledged not admitting to his alcoholism was part of the sickness and he knew it wasn’t just the pills.  At what point did he decide he was only gonna do this five years because that wasn’t what he said then.

Thank you for saying all of this. I was honestly speechless and so wildly angry when I read this interview. To so flippantly say he “bummed some people out” and cancelled some tour dates is just...astonishing to me. This whole situation, and how people were affected by it, is documented. My main memory is that Mike was extremely, extremely concerned and angry that things escalated how they did, that Tre was scared, and that Billie was very literally near death. He shouldn’t laugh at the iHeart incident. It really wasn’t funny. Hearing him justify this stuff is really disturbing to me. It’s the addiction talking, but it’s like everyone is just going along with it.

There’s nothing friends and family can do if someone doesn’t think they need help, but it utterly shocks me that their management and PR think all of this is okay and not only that, but are leaning into drinking and drugs in marketing, having them drink on Ellen (ELLEN for christ’s sake), etc. It makes me very sad that they split with Pat Magnarella who initially forced Billie into rehab, and makes me wonder if this had something to do with them cutting ties.

[Lenny]

3 hours ago, jengd said:

 Maybe because I’m a Scot, my idea of heavy drinking is different from some of yours.

So I take a wee dram
Just to take off the edge
Whether diggin' a ditch
Or swinging a sledge
I drink to ignore high society's crap
Bot'tla' whiskey in me
And I ain't even whacked
Now I know how it feels for the rat
On the wheel to run for the cheese

[DanPak]

I think with Billie drinking again it's important to remember that everyone will be keeping a close eye on him, especially since they didn't intervene until it was far too late last time. If anyone thought there would be a problem he'd probably have already been forced back into rehab 😅

[solongfromthestars]

I can't speak for everyone but I'm certainly not posting about it in the hope it'll change something. I'm not criticising him either - I know it's not an addict's fault if they relapse. I also think every single person expressing concern knows we can't know exactly what's going on in his life. The topic has been avoided for long enough. All we can do is hope for the best. 

I wasn't going to say anything about New Year's Eve because I didn't want to start this discussion. Again, I realise I also don't know exactly what it means for Billie. But at this point people have valid concerns and reading some of the posts about that made me sad. I shared my opinion because I wanted those people to know they're not alone, not because I want to pry into Billie's personal life. Nothing being discussed is actually private. It's all public.

As for whether or not he's an alcoholic, he's stated he is and hasn't yet said otherwise, so that's not up for debate. 

[Hermione]

He really never stopped drinking though. He obviously made changes after rehab but he's been seen drinking publically on occasion from 2013 onwards. During Rev Rad he wasn't teetotal. To me that he does seem to (as far as we know) have been handling drinking moderately for a long time is a good sign. So is that he's talking about it openly. I understand the concern that he might be drinking too much or having a problem again. But just that he's drinking at all isn't a sudden relapse, he was already doing that.

And yeah seeing as he's discussing this in interviews I don't see a problem with commenting on it. It's different when it's just pure speculation. 

[pacejunkie punk]

11 minutes ago, Psycho Shop said:

I think with Billie drinking again it's important to remember that everyone will be keeping a close eye on him, especially since they didn't intervene until it was far too late last time. If anyone thought there would be a problem he'd probably have already been forced back into rehab 😅

No one can force anyone to do anything, not us, not friends or family. He has to come to that awareness himself and with addiction it usually doesn’t happen until you’ve lost everything and have nothing left. This talk of his is unfortunately typical of addicts.

[stories and songs]

@solongfromthestars Agreed. I’m also not posting because I think I have any control over the situation or that I know the intimate details of a stranger’s health. Of course. I can only speak to what he has said and done publicly. I know some people say “well, but addicts can drink in moderation sometimes!” But I’ve personally never experienced that, and it doesn’t sound like he’s just having a beer. It sounds like he’s still drinking to get drunk at shows, which is decidedly not moderation. 

If Tim McGraw or Robert Downey Jr. had media rollout of how they weren’t sober anymore but it’s all good, people would be like “What the fuck? No?” So I really feel like this topic is fair to discuss in a respectful way.

[Lenny]

3 hours ago, stories and songs said:

@solongfromthestars Agreed. I’m also not posting because I think I have any control over the situation

 

[pacejunkie punk]

5 minutes ago, Hermione said:

He really never stopped drinking though. He obviously made changes after rehab but he's been seen drinking publically on occasion from 2013 onwards. During Rev Rad he wasn't teetotal. To me that he does seem to (as far as we know) have been handling drinking moderately for a long time is a good sign. So is that he's talking about it openly. I understand the concern that he might be drinking too much or having a problem again. But just that he's drinking at all isn't a sudden relapse, he was already doing that.

And yeah seeing as he's discussing this in interviews I don't see a problem with commenting on it. It's different when it's just pure speculation. 

That’s just not true Hermione. I know you repeat this a lot but he said he was sober for five years and I happen to know for a fact from people close to him that is true. He may have had a mocktail in his hand during RevRad but he had no alcohol whatsoever from Sep 2012  to Sep 2017 and he’s said so. 
 

And when I saw him drinking excessively it was not during a performance. It was in public but no event or celebration at all.

[Hermione]

8 minutes ago, pacejunkie punk said:

That’s just not true Hermione. I know you repeat this a lot but he said he was sober for five years and I happen to know for a fact from people close to him that is true. He may have had a mocktail in his hand during RevRad but he had no alcohol whatsoever from Sep 2012  to Sep 2017 and he’s said so. 

Did he actually say those words? Because as far as I can see he's usually avoided describing himself as sober or saying anything about being teetotal, right from the start. He never shared the exact details of what he'd given up or his plans etc. He talked about it more like the time since he got himself sorted out. He's had beers in his hand multiple times over the years. And I'm not just saying this now, it's had to be pointed out every time someone's seen it in a picture and been shocked.

Like, I don't know if there's been periods where he's actually been sober or not. I have no idea. But point is he hasn't shared exactly what his plans were after rehab or whether his plan was to be 100% teetotal or not. So to say he's fallen off the wagon or whatever isn't necessarily accurate.