Entertainment

Stacey Dash says she ‘lost everything’ after getting addicted to painkillers

The actress is best known for starring in 1995 classic teen comedy Clueless.
The actress is best known for starring in 1995 classic teen comedy Clueless.

Clueless actress Stacey Dash said she “lost everything” after becoming addicted to painkillers.

The star, 54, said she was taking up to 20 pills a day when hooked on the highly addictive Vicodin.

Dash, who shot to fame after playing Dionne Davenport in classic 1995 teen comedy Clueless, revealed her addiction during an interview on US TV.

Speaking on The Dr Oz Show, she said: “I was taking 18-20 pills a day.”

The host said, “18-20 Vicodin a day, that’s expensive,” leading a tearful Dash to respond: “Yeah, I lost everything.”

Dash said she recently celebrated five years of being sober and her addiction gave her a different view of her parents, who also struggled with drugs.

She said: “The greatest blessing is that not only have I been able to be honest with myself and become a better person. I’ve been able to understand my parents and that they did love me, and that they were doing the best they could and they were just sick. They were addicted.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Dash said she used to be in an abusive relationship.

She said: “He would beat me so bad, I couldn’t get out of bed for two weeks. I couldn’t walk — (he broke) my arm, tied me to the bed for three days.

“Some part of me thought that’s what I deserved.”

Dash, who is the cousin of Roc-A-Fella record label co-founder Damon Dash, has branched out from entertainment to politics.

She has appeared as a conservative commentator on Fox News and unsuccessfully ran for Congress in California in 2018.