Drew Barrymore had an emotional reunion with someone from her past while taping her talk show.
During the Thursday, October 19, episode of The Drew Barrymore Show, an audience member told Barrymore, 48, that she met the actress four years earlier while working as a flight attendant. Barrymore approached the audience member as she held up her phone to show the host a photo they took at the time of their interaction.
“When I met you, you were crying in my galley,” the steward told Barrymore. “That was four years ago and here I am crying on your show now.”
The actress started to get emotional as the woman continued: “And we sat in my galley, and you cried, and cried, ’cause you were going through so much, and here I am at your show now.”
Barrymore asked her, “Do you remember what I was going through?” to which the flight attendant replied, “Yes, I do. I do. You were just bawling and I just was holding you.” The talk show host then walked up the stairs to where the woman was sitting and embraced her.
“That was a really hard year,” Barrymore said, seated next to her. “That was the year I stopped drinking. You know, when you stop drinking, it’s not like all your problems go away. There’s a ton of work to be done. It’s a way to honor yourself and be consistent, and let the room in for other things.”
Barrymore then stood up and addressed the entire audience, explaining that drinking had been her “number one” problem in life and that alcohol was “poison” to her. “I turned to it because I didn’t want to feel,” she said. “I felt better when I drank, so I would turn to it.”
“There’s a reason we met that day,” Barrymore told the flight attendant after returning to her seat. “Thank you for letting me be so honest and transparent with you then and thank you for being that with me now. I don’t think we’re going to get anywhere unless we’re honest with ourselves.”
She added: “I love you and I’m so glad that we’re here today talking about this.”
Barrymore has spoken openly about her struggles with substance abuse over the years and her experience in rehab as a teenager. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times published in March, the star said she turned to alcohol amid her 2016 divorce from Will Kopelman, with whom she shares two daughters. She also revealed that her drinking problem got so bad her therapist quit on her.
Along with interventions from friends, Barrymore said that her talk show helped pull her out of her addiction and she stopped drinking after shooting the pilot. “I think the opportunity at a show like this really hit me. I was like, ‘I can’t handle this unless I’m in a really clear place.’”
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
