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It looks like Vanity Fair’s strategy of denying stars the cover unless they dish lots of dirt has worked, because Hilary Swank blabs in an upcoming interview with the magazine that her ex, Chad Lowe, is an addict! She says he’s been sober for three years, but that his battle with substance abuse caused a serious rift in the relationship that they couldn’t repair.
“I knew something was happening but I didn’t know what” Swank tells Vanity Fair in the August editions set to hit newsstands today.
“When I found out, it was such a shock because I never thought he’d keep something from me. And yet, on another level, it was a confirmation of something I was feeling that was keeping us from being completely solid.
“He’s sober now. I don’t want to make it seem like that’s the sole reason; there were other factors. But that just kind of blew it open. It made me look at things a lot deeper. That’s when you realize it’s not going to work.”
Lowe, 38, and his managers could not be immediately reached for comment yesterday.
Although Lowe’s struggle touched off their marriage’s downhill slide, Swank said she’s proud of her soon-to-be ex’s three years of sobriety.
Vanity Fair does not detail the actor’s substance of choice.
“It’s an enormous obstacle to overcome, and he’s doing it. He’s living a sober life,” said Swank, who married Lowe in 1997. “I know how difficult it is, and I’m really proud of his sobriety.”
The actress says she had to stay with Lowe when his substance abuse came to light.
“When I found out, I wanted to be there,” she explains. “I knew it was the most important time of his life. That’s when he needed me most.”
It sounds like once Chad beat whatever drugs he was on things were never the same between them and it was impossible to overcome.
This happened to a friend of mine who was with her husband for over ten years. He got addicted to Oxycontin for back pain and completely changed. He became uncommunicative and withdrawn. They had a big blowout and ended up getting divorced. He has a new girlfriend and is still addicted to painkillers.
For an actress with two Oscars Hilary Swank doesn’t get a lot of attention in the press. This revelation will make people interested in her for a week or two. She’s sporty, down to earth, and normal and people don’t think that’s particularly exciting. She should follow this up by going shopping on Rodeo Drive and having dinner at The Ivy with a hot new guy.
In the upcoming interview, Hilary addresses the problems between her high=profile Hollywood career and her soon-to-be ex-husband’s lack of prospects, saying, “I think that any frustration for him stemmed from the lack of opportunities in his own career.”
Swank, 32, says she’s wary of the dating scene, “I thought of it - of that whole world - I can’t imagine it! I can’t imagine going out right now and trying to find someone else to be with.”
Relationship guru John Gray recommends that men and women do the opposite of their natural instincts when trying to recover from a breakup. Women should start dating right away while men should take time to nurse their wounds instead of jumping into another relationship. Maybe Hilary should take a page from Charlie Sheen and start looking online.
Here is Hilary in new ads from Clavin Klein and at a party for the perfume giant Guerlain, which she also represents, on 6/14. [via]
