EXCLUSIVE: Addiction Survivor Drew Barrymore Lifts Lid on How It Was Her DIVORCE That Nearly Destroyed Her — Years After She Was Nearly Killed By Drink and Drugs
Drew Barrymore has given a brutally honest update on the impact of her divorce on her health.
Feb. 18 2025, Published 6:00 a.m. ET
Known for her just-between-us-girls vibe on her daytime talker The Drew Barrymore Show, Drew Barrymore got real when discussing her 2016 divorce from Will Kopelman with recent guests Joy Behar and Susie Essman, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Opening up about her heartbreak, the mom to Olive, 12, and 10-year-old Frankie, confessed the split "destroyed" her, admitting that she still hasn't "fully recovered" from the demise of her four-year marriage to the art consultant – and of her dream to have a secure family unit, lamenting: "I was so invested in that plan."
While Barrymore has been enjoying a career resurgence since the chatfest debuted in 2020, her personal life has been less sunny.
Barrymore has got real about the pain of her divorce from Will Kopelman.
"Drew went through a painfully dark period when she and Will split up," an insider said.
"There was a lot of guilt because she wanted to give her kids the kind of childhood that she never had, with two parents living together in a happy home."
Post-divorce, the former wild child even reverted to her self-destructive ways.
"She felt like a failure," added the source. It's taken years for her to overcome the loss and to build a new relationship with her ex, who welcomed a child with new wife, Alexandra Michler in 2023. Said the insider: "They're both in a better place now, and they understand each other better, too."
Barrymore admitted her divorce from Kopelman triggered a painful relapse into self-destructive habits.
It had been an odd match, with Barrymore a child of divorce who first went to rehab at age 13, while Kopelman, 46, was from a socially prominent NYC family, his dad the president of Chanel.
The actress, 49, admitted that the man who became her third husband appealed to her "pragmatic" side, saying in 2015: "He was someone who was always reachable on the phone, someone who was a classy human being, someone who has this incredible blueprint of a family that I don't have."
Her own family was illustrious – her grandfather, John Barrymore, and his siblings.
Lionel and Ethel were silver screen icons but troubled. John drank himself to death; Drew's aunt Diana Barrymore abused alcohol and drugs; and her father, John, also battled alcoholism.
Barrymore's childhood was chaotic, with her mother, Jaid, dragging her to nightclubs when she was still just a child.
In her autobiography, Little Girl Lot, the former child star admitted to drinking at just 9 years old, smoking pot at 10, and using cocaine by 12.After multiple rehab stints, the divorce triggered her.
The Charlie’s Angels star said she leaned on alcohol during the "cripplingly difficult" time.
"I was just trying to numb the pain and feel good – and alcohol totally did that for me," she said. "The drinking thing for me was a constant, like, 'You cannot change. You are weak and incapable of doing what's best for you.
"You keep thinking you will master this thing, and it's getting the better of you.'"
Ultimately, Barrymore got sober by 2019 – and being open about her devastating divorce helped.
Our insider added: "Talking about it has been cathartic for Drew.
"She hopes that by speaking out she might help other women going through the same thing.
"She's gotten some great advice that way, too. It's like free therapy."
The 'Charlie's Angels' star said rebuilding life after her split was even harder than her troubled childhood.
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Ultimately, Barrymore realized she needed to stop looking back and start moving forward for the sake of her young family.
"After the life I planned for my kids didn't work out – I almost think that was harder than the stuff (I went through) as a kid," she said. "It felt a lot more real because it wasn't just me. It was about these kids that I cared so much about. And then I probably cared so much that I was only giving to them and not taking care of myself It was a messy, painful, excruciating 'walk through the fire and come back to life' kind of trajectory."
Now Barrymore and Kopelman peacefully co-parent.
As she said on her show: "We're stuck together for life. We've grown a lot through the last 14 years of our union with our kids."
Barrymore is even dipping her toes back in the dating pool.
Our source said: "Drew is finally warming up to the idea of dating and putting herself out there. Her friends have been after her to go out and have a good time for so long – they want her to meet some guys because fun is not overrated."
