In 1988, American actor Rob Lowe at the age of 24 was involved in a sex scandal over a videotape of him having sex with two women he met in a night club. One of the women was 16, the other 22. As the age of consent is 16 in Georgia, both women were of legal age to engage in sexual activity. They were videotaped with Lowe during the night before the Democratic National Convention in Atlanta. At the time, Lowe was campaigning for Michael Dukakis.
Another part of the same tape was leaked at the time, showing Lowe and a friend both having sex with a young American model in a hotel room in Paris. This part of the original tape was sold as one of the first commercially available celebrity sex tapes, damaging Lowe’s public image. Eventually, his career rebounded, and Lowe mocked his own behavior during two post-scandal appearances as host of Saturday Night Live.
It was after his 1988 scandal involving a sex tape and an underage girl that Lowe knew it was time to finally turn things around. “It ends up being the greatest thing that ever happened to me,” he said during an interview on Oprah in 2011. “What it ends up doing is accelerating my alcohol stuff to where I finally get sober and have been able to have the rest of my life that I’m so blessed with.”
Besides rehab, Lowe credits the positive influence of his wife, Sheryl, on his turnaround, calling her “the opposite of an enabler.” The couple married in 1991, just after Lowe became sober.
At 6:21 am on May 10, 2015 Rob Lowe celebrated 25 years of sobriety with an inspiring message.
The West Wing alum and married father of two, quit drinking in 1990 when he entered a rehabilitation clinic, which he described in his 2011 memoir Stories I Only Tell My Friends as “one of the most exhilarating, liberating and exciting four weeks of my life.” Lowe has been very open about his own sobriety and recovery of more than two decades. Lowe elaborated on his rehab experience while promoting his book on CNN’s Piers Morgan Tonight. “It was great. I loved it. Because I was ready,” the actor said. “Problem is, people go into rehab and they’re not ready. You want to get sober for your parents, you want to get sober for your job, you want to get sober for the cops, you want to get sober to protect your image. A lot of good reasons, by the way, but unfortunately, the only thing that works is that you have to want to get sober for you.” He continued, “I was ready. And so if they told me, ‘Hey, Lowe, you’ve got to go stand in the corner on your head,’ I would have done it.” Of going through rehab, Lowe says: ‘The charade was over – now I would be forced into being who I really was, for better or for worse. I knew who I wasn’t – I wasn’t that guy.’ He then stressed: ‘Oh my God I love rehab! I highly recommend it.’
Lowe says that looking back he is now able to see that the nightmare ultimately led to the beautiful life he now has – in part because it made him hit an all-time low he had to crawl back up from. ‘Let me just say this – sometimes being a trailblazer is highly overrated,’ Lowe quipped of what was the first celebrity sex tape.
A big tip of my hat to Mr. Lowe for being honest, open and willing to share his experience, strength and hope with the world, but truth be told there are countless other men and woman who are not Hollywood celebs but truck drivers, CPAs, and come from all walks of life who fight this fight every day. A tip of my hat to them as well.
“It works if you work it” is an old expression from the 12 step world.
Lo and behold news came out this week that Tiger Woods and Lindsey Vonn have split up after three years of dating because of a sex addiction relapse.
When Tiger Woods and Lindsey Vonn split over a week ago, the Olympic skier posted on Facebook the “PC” explanation that ‘both lead incredibly hectic lives that force us to spend a majority of our time apart.’
Daily Mail Online can now exclusively reveal that during one of those ‘times apart’ Tiger cheated on Lindsey – with a ‘faceless, nameless woman’, a friend reveals.
‘He had a relapse in the sex department,’ a close friend reveals to Daily Mail Online. ‘Lindsey found out about women again. Always while he’s on the road. Just like when he was with Elin.’
It was after Tiger was eliminated from the San Diego-based Farmers Insurance Open in February, somewhere near his old stomping grounds in Southern California, that Tiger had a one night stand, the friend divulged. Woods allegedly confessed the one-night stand to Vonn, which led to their breakup.
I tell my men all the time that they are a wink and a smile away from blowing up their lives and that wherever they go they have to make their recovery transportable. Your recovery, like your integrity, is only as good as what it looks like when no one is watching. I wonder when the last time was that Tiger went to a meeting?
All No More Secrets can ever offer anyone is a choice and chance. You can either become Rob Lowe, happy joyous and free, or stay Tiger Woods, back in the outhouse again drowning in a sea of well-intended “I promise I’ll never do it again.”
Give me a call if any of this resonates deep within your core. Don’t leave before the miracle!
NO MORE SECRETS 