Michael Douglas clarified a rumor that he once went to rehab for sex addiction in a tense interview about his new memoir.
Douglas, 82, spoke with London’s The Sunday Times for a profile published on Sunday, October 4, that referenced an excerpt from his book, One Helluva Ride, in which the actor shared that he had to end things “with five women” before committing to now-wife Catherine Zeta-Jones.
“No, no, it’s not what it was,” Douglas explained. “What Catherine said is, if we’re going to continue this, then I want it to be monogamous. And so I therefore, that evening, you know, made some calls to some people I was seeing, and that was that.”
The reporter, meanwhile, noted in the article, “In the following silence, his expression suggests that he thinks he’s just corrected me.” Douglas also denied sleeping “with so many women” throughout his life by saying he didn’t “see it that way.”
“No, not me, no. I was a healthy product of the ’60s,” he said. “My curiosity is why, of all countries, of all the press that I do, why are the Brits so consumed with the issues of sex?”
According to the profile, the writer found Douglas’ tone “accusatory.” Things continued to take a turn when Douglas was asked about a rumor that he went to rehab for sex addiction in the ’90s, which he said was not true.
“A British tabloid editor came up with this story, which, thank you very much, here we are talking about at 82,” he replied. “It happens with the tabloids and, well, I won’t blame your country alone, but you’re probably better known for it than most. It wasn’t true.”
The Sunday Times referenced a section in the actor’s book in which he said he “was never a f**king sex addict.” Elsewhere in the memoir, Douglas recalled his brief split from Zeta-Jones, 57, in 2013.
Douglas was asked by the outlet how he “won her back” at the time, to which he said, “It was a mutual. … You know, we had our problems, but I love her dearly and, 25 years, you know.”
The reporter once again noted in the profile that Douglas had narrowed his eyes.
“I mean, I don’t know about your marital status, but marriage is a lot of work,” he added. “And so, you know, we’re good. We’re in good shape. It’s all I can say.”
Elsewhere in One Helluva Ride, Douglas made a confession about how he had secretly dated his Romancing the Stone costar Kathleen Turner after meeting on the set of the 1984 film.
“The chemistry I had with Kathleen Turner was so strong, audiences have been certain for years that we were in a relationship together while making the film,” he wrote in an excerpt. “We both denied it through Romancing the Stone, Jewel of the Nile [in 1985], War of the Roses [in 1989], and even while doing press a few years ago for The Kominsky Method [in 2021].”
He continued: “The truth is that during the production of Romancing the Stone, Kathleen and I fell hard for each other and began a relationship. It wasn’t a fly-by night affair; it grew naturally from how closely we were working together, how much pressure we were under, how much we respected and cared for one another, and how attracted we were to each other.”
Douglas wrote that he and Turner “never hit a rough spot” in their relationship.
“We found each other first as friends, then as costars, and finally, as lovers,” he recalled. “Following an exhausting day of shooting in the jungle, we’d go out and have a meal, or head out with the group and afterward I would sneak into her hotel room after everybody was asleep. There were no cameras in elevators, no assistants using cell phones to take pictures. As [our characters] Jack and Joan were falling in love, Kathleen and I were keeping the chemistry alive. We kept our involvement hidden.”
Turner, 72, later responded to Douglas’ confession.
“Good heavens, what a fuss about something 40 years ago!” she told People in a statement. “I love Michael, and I look forward to enjoying the book.”
