The 'Up Late' songstress, who has been sober for more than a year now, revealed during a recent Instagram Live that she was once hospitalized for consuming weed after failing an 'American Idol' audition.
- Feb 21, 2024
AceShowbiz - Ari Lennox has gotten candid about one of the traumatic experiences in her life. The "Up Late" songstress revealed during a recent Instagram Live that she was once hospitalized for consuming weed after failing an "American Idol" audition.
Noting that it happened "years ago," the 32-year-old explained, "I had some weed. I was trying out for American Idol, and I didn't get it." She added, "My cousin was hanging out with his friend and his friend was like 'Try this weed.' "
"The room started f**king spinning," she continued recalling. "I just kept f**king disintegrating and I felt like there was f**king spiders, there was f**king spiders taking over my whole [...] body."
Ari was reportedly taken to the hospital by police. "They f*&king hooked me up to them goddamn machines... I was just crying and screaming," she remembered.
Aside from cannabis, Ari has distanced herself from alcohol. She just celebrated one year of sobriety in December 2023, writing on Instagram, "You see, drinking was my ritual to combat my immense fear of flying."
" 'Just alcohol' could've killed me. I had many guardian angels watching over me that day. Thank God there was nobody filming (I pray and hope [crying emoji, side-eye emoji]) it was pretty divine," the R&B star continued. "I decided December 18th 2022, would be the day I got clean."
"You know what I realized after 1 year of many sober flights? I never needed alcohol to get through the flight," the musician added. "I thought I needed alcohol to escape my reality and to cope. I needed an excuse to drink and not feel the pain of every day life and trauma. It was my numbing vacation to avoid my purpose and my truth."