Cara Delevingne speaks openly about her withdrawal – and why she is even grateful for the “shock photos” of herself
At 30 years and four months drug-free, Cara Delevingne is finally ready to face the speculation surrounding her mental health. Last year, rumors that the model and actress might be dealing with a substance abuse problem or mental health crisis came to a head, in part after a clip of her posing on the red carpet at the 2022 Met Gala went viral trembled. Concerns for her were compounded again when paparazzi images surfaced of a disheveled, shoeless Cara Delevingne acting suspiciously outside a Los Angeles airport. Around the same time, photos of friend and fellow actor Margot Robbie leaving Cara Delevingne’s house, looking visibly distraught, fueled the rumor mill even further.
‘Fucking exhausted’: This is how the model really felt at the 2022 Met Gala
At the Met Gala in May 2022, Cara Delevingne was “fucking exhausted” and had suffered a personal blow: the death of her grandmother. She walked the red carpet with visible marks from her psoriasis, which could be seen through gaps in the gold body paint that served as her “clothing” at the fashion event: “It was a sign of the great stress in my life ‘ she revealed in an interview with Vogue and goes on to say “that I couldn’t cope with it, that my body, this sensitive organ, couldn’t handle it”. At the after parties after the ball, Cara Delevingne had a “blackout”: “The day after I had to go to my grandma’s funeral,” she revealed. “It was terrible.”
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Cara Delevingne opens up about shocking paparazzi photos — and what they did to her
And seven months after said paparazzi photos were taken of her, Cara Delevingne seems ready to share what really happened to her last fall. Across from Vogue She called the images the “reality check” she needed to enter rehab and commit to getting off drugs and alcohol: “I hadn’t slept. It’s heartbreaking because I thought I was having fun, but at some point I was like, okay, I don’t look good. When I’m on drugs I feel invincible,” the 30-year-old continued, referring to her Burning Man trip: “In those moments I put myself in danger because I don’t care about my life. I would climb anything and jump off stuff… it felt wild. For the people who love you, it’s a scary thing.”
In a way, she added, the troubling paparazzi pictures from the airport were “something to be thankful for,” and shortly after, a group of childhood friends intervened. “Unless you’re face down and ready to get back up, you’re not going to do it,” said Cara Delevingne, “at that point, I really was.” Cara Delevingne then enrolled in a rehab clinic and began a 12-step program of recovery.
“Before, I was always looking for a quick healing, like going to a week-long retreat or a trauma course, and while that helped for a brief moment, it never really got to the bottom of it, the deeper things” , the model admitted. “This time I realized that 12-step therapy was the best thing – and it was also about not being ashamed of it. The community has made a huge difference. The opposite of addiction is connection, and I really found that in 12-Step Therapy.”