Natasha Lyonne Reveals Relapse After Nearly 10 Years of Sobriety: ‘Recovery Is a Lifelong Process’

Natasha Lyonne has relapsed after nearly a decade of sobriety.

“Took my relapse public, more to come,” Lyonne, 46, wrote via X on Friday, January 23, shortly before responding to a fan sending the actress support in the comments section. “Thanks, boss … for the grace, etc. Sending love back your way. May become a pothead or a nun. TBD.”

Lyonne, who previously quit drinking alcohol in 2006, further offered insight into her ongoing substance abuse and recovery journey.

“Recovery is a lifelong process. Anyone out there struggling, remember you’re not alone,” the Poker Face actress tweeted early on Saturday, January 24. “Grateful for love and smart feet. Gonna do it for baby Bambo. Stay honest, folks. Sick as our secrets.”

She continued, “If no one told ya today, I love you. No matter how far down the scales we have gone, we will see how our experience may help another. Keep going, kiddos. Don’t quit before the miracle. Wallpaper your mind with love. Rest is all noise and baloney.”

Lyonne received a number of supportive messages in her replies, which she responded to with love and heart emojis.

“Love ya back,” she wrote to one fan, and telling another, “We need better systems and to end shame — bill the Sacklers and stilettos or something but don’t @ me for getting honest.”  (The Sackler family, known for their ownership of Purdue Pharma, reached an $8 billion settlement in 2025 for their alleged role in over-prescribing the incredibly addictive pain medication, OxyContin, fueling the current opioid crisis.)

Lyonne has previously been candid about her addiction struggles, which began in the early 2000s.

“Spiraling into addiction is really, really scary. Some things have a very A-to-B scientific effect,” the actress recalled to Entertainment Weekly in 2012. “Like, alcohol is a depressant. Cocaine is a stimulant. And then, Cocaine plus heroin is bad! That’s the point of my story, that’s the moral. Coke plus heroin equals speedball. And speedball equals bad, you know?”

She continued at the time, “It’s weird to talk about. I was definitely as good as dead, you know? A lot of people don’t come back. That makes me feel wary, and self-conscious. I wouldn’t want to feel prideful about it. People really rallied around me and pulled me up by my f***ing bootstraps.”

Lyonne sought treatment at an in-patient rehab facility in 2006 and, once sober, eventually returned to acting in an 2008 off-Broadway production of Two Thousand Years.

“[The play] really got me back on my feet,” she told EW of her career. “It all sort of happened. I was on Pee-wee‘s, then I’m 16 and I’m in a Woody Allen movie. I never stopped to wonder if I knew how to act. I had to relearn it all and come by it in a much more honest fashion.”

As Lyonne restarted her career in Hollywood, she also remained candid about her substance abuse issues.

“I’m such an open book that I have no problem talking about it and speaking freely, but I’ve sort of said my piece on the subject,” Lyonne told The Guardian in a 2017 interview. “The truth is, at the back of that addiction are feelings that so many of us have, that don’t go away. Isn’t everyone entitled to a moment of existential breakdown in a lifetime? Adulthood is making peace with being kind to oneself when a response to life that’s so much more organic and immediate would be to self-destruct.”

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).