Hunter Biden, the son of former President Joe Biden, is reflecting on his crack cocaine addiction in a podcast interview with Candace Owens.
“I’ve done horrible things in my addiction in terms of what I did in terms of my relationships and decisions that I made,” Hunter, 56, told Owens, 37, in an interview uploaded via YouTube on Thursday, May 21. “More than anything is just removing myself from being present for the people that love me. What happened to me and I really mean this that the exposure, not peace meal, but the total exposure, my digital footprint stolen from me … every text message, every picture, all of the things you’d be ashamed of became front page news.”
The former president’s son continued, “It forced me into a choice and the choice was do I get out of bed and live or do I die? And it became that much of a dichotomy. And I chose to live. It wasn’t easy and maintaining sobriety in that kind of pressure cooker is often the thing that triggers you. But something broke me in a good way, which was, I no longer have any fear.”
Hunter added that he has a “community of people” that he genuinely wants to “be of service to” now that he is on the path of sobriety.
Owens asked Hunter if the cocaine previously found at the White House in 2023 during his dad’s time in office was his, which he denied.
“After six years of this, I’ve been sober since June 1st of 2019 – clean and sober…. Verifiably so, by the Bureau of Probation, which I was drug tested for two years,” he said on Thursday. “Beyond that, I wasn’t even [at the White House] where that cocaine was found, you know the visitor’s entrance, [that’s where it was found].”
After Hunter spoke about his addiction struggles, Owens opened up about how members of her family have gone through similar situations.
“Many men would write and say they are suffering with various things but they don’t speak about how they are quietly suffering,” she reflected. “I don’t think there are enough conversations about it … There needs to be more dialogue about it. I grew up with tons of addicts in my family.”
Owens added that her personal connection to those who have suffered from addiction may have played a factor in her past critiques of Hunter.
“There is a natural anger people have when they for some reason believe,” she recalled. “And I think this was some of the anger I had with you … you think when someone has money and connections, you think it removes them from the various [addictions in life] … You see someone from a life of privilege and you see [addiction] can happen.”
Hunter added that the public scrutiny he faced in the aftermath of his struggles made him stronger.
“They tore off all my clothes, tarred and feathered me, and put me in the center of town, and said look at him,” he said. “I survived.”
Owens apologized to Hunter for her participation in the public outcry against him.
“I’m sorry I contributed to that,” she said. “I feel s***ty… I genuinely am so sorry that I didn’t even consider, ‘He’s a crackhead.’ That’s a very relatable thing.”
Two days before the interview, Hunter made headlines when he created an X account. “I’m Hunter Biden,” he wrote in a Tuesday, May 19, post. “You’ve never actually heard from me.”
His debut on the social media platform came one day after Owens shared a teaser for her interview with Hunter that included a clip of Joe, 83, announcing that he would not pardon his son. (In 2024, Hunter received a presidential pardon from Joe after being convicted of federal gun possession and tax evasion charges.)
“Hunter Biden, welcome to the Candace Owens Show,” Owens said in the trailer, while Hunter replied, “I’ve heard you call me a crack head many times. And the truth of the matter is, I was a crack head.”
Elsewhere, Hunter recalled how his marriage “fell apart.” (Hunter was married to Kathleen Buhle from 1993 to 2017. The pair welcomed three children together. Hunter went on to have children with stripper Lunden Roberts and filmmaker Melissa Cohen, whom he tied the knot with in 2019.)
“It just started a really, really dark cycle. My brother called me and said, ‘This has got to stop.’ It forced me into a choice. The choice was: Do I get out of bed and live, or do I die?”
At the end of the clip, Hunter referenced a quote from The Acts of John. “‘You must learn to suffer as I do, in order to be able not to suffer.’ And that is the greatest lesson of everything,” he said.
“This Thursday. Hunter Biden and me,” Owens wrote via X, which Hunter reposted and wrote, “She’s got questions. I’ve got answers. Thursday.”
Joe welcomed Hunter with his first wife, Neilia Hunter Biden. In 1972, Neilia and the couple’s three children — including Hunter — were involved in a car accident. Neilia and 13-month-old Amy were killed in the accident, while Beau and Hunter survived with injuries.
Years later, Joe tied the knot with Jill Biden in 1977. The couple welcomed daughter Ashley in 1981. In 2015, Joe’s son Beau died after a battle with brain cancer.
Joe went on to become the 46th president of the United States in 2020. He dropped out of the 2024 presidential race to endorse his Vice President, Kamala Harris, who ultimately lost to Donald Trump.
