Philip Seymour Hoffman's Brutal Final Days Exposed on 11th Anniversary of Actor's Death: How He Was Ordering Half-Glasses of Beer in Desperate Bid to Wean Himself Off His Killer Addictions
Philip Seymour Hoffman struggled fighting off his addiction before his death.
Feb. 3 2025, Published 1:09 p.m. ET
Philip Seymour Hoffman desperately attempted to curb his addiction despite not being able to "fight his demon" during his final days alive.
Sunday marked the 11th anniversary of the Hollywood star's passing — a death that rocked the industry and continues to impact his loved ones, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Hoffman died in 2014 of a drug overdose.
A friend of Hoffman recalled how the star entered a bar after returning from a 10-day detox for heroin addiction, and revealed how he was still struggling.
“I remember he had just gotten back from rehab, and he ordered ‘one half of a beer,'" the friend said.
He continued: “The bartender said, ‘Phil, a beer is three bucks. You can’t splurge for a whole?’ Then it hit us that he was trying not to drink by drinking only ‘half.’ But that’s not how it works, unfortunately. He just couldn’t fight the demon.”
Others locals in the West Village in New York City, where Hoffman resided, also recalled seeing the movie star before his death.
'He just couldn’t fight the demon,' Hoffman's friend said of his addiction.
One source said at the time: "He’d go over to Oliver’s restaurant with his son Cooper. They’d have lunch, and you’d see them talking and laughing for hours at a time.
"Then, come nightfall, you’d see Phil back at Oliver’s, hunched over the bar, alone, looking like an entirely different man. He looked very dark and depressed.”
Hoffman shared son Cooper as well as daughters Tallulah and Willa with his wife, Mimi O'Donnell
Another insider claimed he witnessed Hoffman stumble into his apartment after late nights out, “needing to be helped into the building.”
The actor was found dead in the bathroom to his apartment in New York City.
The Capote star was found dead in the bathroom to his apartment on February 2, 2014, by friend David Katz, who grew concerned after Hoffman failed to show up on time that day to pick up his kids.
Hoffman's cause of death was a drug overdose.
Despite his death, friends at the time remembered Hoffman didn't give off any warning signs.
Katz said: "I saw him last week, and he was clean and sober, his old self."
And one day before his passing, he was seen dining with two friends. According to the bartender at the establishment, Hoffman only drank a cranberry soda and "seemed fine."
The troubled actor, however, was open about his addiction. Following his passing, his wife opened up about his struggles in a personal essay for Vogue.
'Phil was very frank about his addictions,' Hoffman's wife previously revealed.
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She wrote: "From the beginning, Phil was very frank about his addictions. He told me about his period of heavy drinking and experimenting with heroin in his early 20s, and his first rehab at 22.
"Being sober and a recovering addict was, along with acting and directing, very much the focus of his life. But he was aware that just because he was clean didn’t mean the addiction had gone away.”
After being sober, Hoffman's addiction resurfaced as he became more notable in the industry.
O'Donnell wrote: "He started having a drink or two without it seeming a big deal, but the moment drugs came into play, I confronted Phil, who admitted that he’d gotten ahold of some prescription opioids. He told me that it was just this one time, and that it wouldn’t happen again. It scared him enough that, for a while, he kept his word."
She continued: "As soon as Phil started using heroin again, I sensed it, terrified. I told him, ‘You’re going to die. That’s what happens with heroin.’ Every day was filled with worry. Every night, when he went out, I wondered: Will I see him again?”
