Megan Rapinoe & Other Celebs With Siblings Who Struggle With Addiction
In Megan Rapinoe's memoir, One Life, she recounts her humble childhood with four siblings in a small rural town of northern California. Besides her twin Rachael, she has two other sisters and a brother, Brian, who began using drugs and alcohol when he was 15 and has been in and out of prison for years. Megan speaks of him with utmost affection and compassion, acknowledging his missteps and applauding his tenacity (he is now out of prison and happily clean and sober).
Most memorably, she notes the stark difference between the way her life turned out and the way his did, saying, "We're the classic American family," citing the country's problem with opioid addiction and its ability to destroy families and futures. And Megan's not the only celeb who rose to excellence while her sibling floundered. Today we're shining a light on Megan Rapinoe and 9 other celebs with siblings who have struggled with addiction. Some have happy endings, we promise.
10 Megan Rapinoe
Megan Rapinoe is extremely close with her twin Rachael, who was also a professional soccer player, but she's just as admiring of her older brother Brian despite his years-long battle with drug addiction. He's been in and out of prison since Megan was a child, but faithfully watched all of her games from the TV in the prison recreation room. He's since been released and remains clean today.
9 Madonna
Anthony Ciccione reports that he and his megastar sister have never been close, and they certainly lead very different lives. Madonna's brother has been homeless for years and struggled with alcoholism to the extent of being arrested for intoxication multiple times. He had previously worked at their dad and stepmother's vineyard but was fired for drinking on the job.
8 Nicki Minaj
Though Nicki Minaj and her brother aren't close anymore, she spoke out in 2017 against long and inhumane prison sentences for drug use and praised Barack Obama's visits to prisons to talk to inmates and share support and compassion. More recently, her brother was sentenced to 25 years to life for sexual assault, driving a wedge between them.
7 Prince
Tyka Nelson owes her life to her late brother, Prince, and she doesn't forget it. She remembers how she sold all her possessions, including her kids' toys, to fund a drug habit and worked as a prostitute as well. It was Prince who sent her to rehab, where she got clean and she remains healthy and sober today.
6 Mariah Carey
Alison Carey has a tumultuous relationship with her pop diva sister, Mariah Carey. She has struggled with crack addiction since the 1980s and has mostly been living on the streets since that time. Alison has been institutionalized for observation after her addiction caused brain damage, which often made her forget to take her medications and left her unable to take care of herself.
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5 Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo DiCaprio's brother Adam Farrar struggled with addiction for years before getting clean in 2013, but was on the run from police as recently as 2016, when he was wanted for theft and missed his court date. He told the Daily Mail that they were close, but said he understood why Leo had had to put his foot down and keep his distance in the last few years.
4 Jamie Lee Curtis
Jamie Lee Curtis's father struggled with addiction and evidently he passed it onto his kids: not only did her brother struggle with opiate addiction and pass away from an overdose in 1994, Jamie herself was addicted to alcohol and pills. She stands tall today, clean and sober, and enjoys life with husband Christopher Guest and their two kids.
3 Gordon Ramsay
It must be tough to live in the shadow of one of the most prominent chefs in the cooking industry. Ronnie Ramsay took after their alcoholic father and has used heroin for years, even getting arrested in Bali in 2007 for possession. He accuses Gordon Ramsay of abandoning him, though the chef tried to help him for many years to no avail.
2 Alec Baldwin
Like many celebs before him, Daniel Baldwin struggled with addiction during his ascent to fame as his access to drugs and partying increased. The actor had four children by five women, one of whom he met when she was a chef at his rehab center. Cocaine addiction continued to plague him for years; he's clean now, and he and his brothers have been in talks about opening a rehab center in New York, though it doesn't seem to have materialized quite yet.
1 Paris Hilton
While his sister Paris was living it up in clubs and on red carpets, Conrad Hilton was cultivating a life of addiction and crime, abusing alcohol and cocaine. He was arrested in 2015 for threatening the flight crew while flying from London to LA and recently violated his parole for that offense, disappointing the family, who is looking forward to the arrival of Nicky Hilton's first daughter this month.
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