As sad as it is, I think it’s really good that more and more public figures are coming out and talking about their battles with mental illness. It takes the stigma off of it, and lets the rest of us know that we shouldn’t feel ashamed or alone, and that everyone, no matter how successful, goes through times of struggle. Nicole Richie’s ex-fiancé, DJ AM (nee Adam Goldstein) recently gave an interview to Glamour magazine in which he talks about his past struggles with drugs, alcohol, obesity, and depression. Goldstein says his addictions and mental illness had gotten so out of hand that he tried to kill himself, putting a loaded gun into his mouth.

Addicted to crack cocaine, overweight, and miserable, “at 24 I felt like my life was over,” the hot Hollywood deejay, who has dated Nicole Richie and Mandy Moore, tells Glamour magazine.

“I went into my living room, reached into a cabinet above my TV and grabbed my gun, a loaded .22,” recalls the now 34-year-old. “I sat back on my heels, cocked it and put it into my mouth. I pulled the trigger. The gun didn’t go off. I thought, ‘Are you kidding me? I’m such an [expletive] failure I can’t even kill myself? I dropped the gun and broke down. That was the turning point in my life.”

[From People]

After that, DJ AM went into a recovery program where he worked on his addictions and began watching what he ate and exercising. Though he relapsed three months later, he started over again, knowing that his only options were to “recover or die.” He eventually had gastric bypass surgery, and has maintained both his sobriety and his weight loss.

“I no longer needed a trophy girlfriend or drugs to feel good about myself,” he says. “It’s been nine and a half years since I’ve had a drink or taken drugs. But every day I have to remind myself that no matter how much time I have behind me, I’m still a drug addict. At any given moment, I’m five seconds away from walking up to someone, grabbing their drink out of their hand and downing it. And if I do that, within a week, tops, I’ll be smoking crack.”

[From People]

Goldstein, who is equally known for his on-again, off-again relationship with Nicole Richie (who’s no stranger to drug addictions and weight issues herself), seems to be appreciative of what he has. Whenever his ego gets a little too big, he says, “I have to remind myself [that I’m] a fat crackhead who’s lucky to be alive.”

Picture note by Jaybird: Here’s DJ AM at the Paris and Nicky Hilton-hosted New Year’s Eve 2008 Party at LAX Nightclub in Las Vegas. Images thanks to PR Photos.

It looks like unlikely hookups are dominating the news lately, because now Mandy Moore has been linked with DJ AM. DJ AM?

Just when you thought Mandy Moore and Wilmer Valderrama were headed for a reunion, now comes this: Moore and Adam “DJ A.M.” Goldstein are in the early stages of dating, a source close to the deejay tells PEOPLE.

Moore, 22, and Goldstein, 33, have known each other for years, the source says, but started spending more time together after running into each other at a New Year’s Eve party in Miami.

“It’s really new. They’re in the beginning stages of getting to know each other,” says the source. “They’re very into each other. It’s very sweet.”

There are photos of these two looking clingy with each other, so it’s possible that People’s source is bogus, but I hold them to a higher standard than the other gossip rags and believe that someone blabbed. AM could probably use the publicity.

The last we heard of Mandy she was back dating her ex, fuck ‘n tell Wilmer Valderrama, so clearly she’s desperate. AM seems to be a nice guy in comparison, judging by how long he kept going back to Nicole Richie and how little he bragged to the press about how she was in bed.

DJ AM was said to be bitching recently because he’d gained 20 pounds and wanted to tighten up his gastric bypass. Mandy Moore is recording a new album, tentatively called “Wild Hope,” due out in 2007.

Nicole Richie and DJ AM were first engaged in February, 2005, split up in December, 2005, and then reconciled at the end of February, 2006 and were said to be planning a July wedding.

Richie and AM split for the second time back in mid-May, with both of their reps confirming it. AM supposedly was fed up with Richie’s deathly-thin look, leading him to dump the tiny socialite. She does look slightly better lately and has been keen to show it off by posing for the paparrazi in her bikini. This may be enough for AM, because he was spotted having lunch with her yesterday at Le Conversacion in Beverly Hills.

This couple is getting to be like Jude and Sienna and we’re tired of them.

The first four photos below are high res [via] and the rest are smaller. [via]

The NY Post is reporting that DJ AM and Nicole Richie broke up for the second time because Richie didn’t gain weight and stop partying as AM requested:

This was said to be the reason they broke up the first time, so it’s not surprising. Nicole Richie knew that she needed to gain some weight to save her relationship, and she still couldn’t do it. That reveals how much of a problem she has. She needs to check herself into a clinic. If she gained 20 pounds she would look so much better, and she needs to do it for her health.

Sky News quotes Richie’s dad as saying that she’s planning a wedding that he will be more than happy to pay for. He must not have heard the breakup news:

Richie will have to have a talk with her kind dad. Here she is shopping for shoes at Barneys on 5/19. Does she look healthy to you?

Pictures [via]

Nicole Richie recently redesigned her engagement ring from AM from their first go-around, preserving the stone to use in a new setting. The couple is said to be making it official this July:

That sounds romantic, although we have to disagree that Nicole has put on weight. The couple broke up in December, 2005, and reconciled about two months ago.

Richie must be feeling particularly tender toward AM. He is recovering from “follow-up” work for his 2003 gastric bypass surgery, widely rumored to be plastic surgery to remove excess skin.

Here is Richie leaving Jack and Jill restaurant in Beverly Hills, and a pictures of her and AM outside the hospital [via] [via]

Nicole Richie is redesigning the engagement ring given to her by DJ AM in February, 2005 for their first engagement. The couple broke up in December, 2005, and reconciled six weeks ago. Richie will save AM money by using the stone from her original ring in a new setting. Apparently she’s “superstitious,” but we just think she’s pushing AM into another engagement and doesn’t want to wait for him to get her a new ring:

“Unoffically engaged” is like being a “little bit pregnant” - it doesn’t exist except in the minds of people who really want to make it happen.

Here are AM and Richie in NY City on April 13th. Remember how we said AM was surprisingly hot? Yeah, we take it back.

DJ AM’s surprise birthday party was held on April 1st at Pure nightclub in Las Vegas. AM turned 33 on March 30th. AM’s girlfriend, Nicole Richie, 24, was there along with guests pictured including DJ Jazzy Jeff, Tone Loc, Vanessa Traina, and Richie’s stylist, Rachel Zoe. The cake featured an edible old school turntable complete with vinyl-looking record.

Three more pictures after the jump.

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So after AM partied it up at the Winter Music Festival in Miami, he headed down to Mexico to enjoy some alone time with Nicole Richie. The two were spotted smooching and hanging out on the beach.

Nicole Richie is set to write a style guide that will rival the newly announced “Fashion Bible” by illiterate Victoria Beckham.

Richie is said to be considering the boring title “Nicole Richie Style” and the content is predictable:

It will undoubtedly be better than her last book. Here are Richie and AM in Mexico. [via]

Four more pictures after the jump.

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Nicole Richie’s ex (or current boyfriend although we haven’t seen pictures of them together in over a week), DJ AM, is in Miami as part of the Winter Music Conference. The Winter Music Conference is an international event for the dance music industry and features top-tier DJ performances as well as standard conference-type meetings and product hawking. The WMC has arranged shows in clubs around Miami that are open to the public. It sounds like a lot of fun for a business conference.

Here is DJ AM on “Betty Ford” night, Thursday, at Prive. He looks good close up. We didn’t realize how cute he was until we saw these pictures.

Update: 3 more pictures of AM, taken at the DKNY Swim party on Friday night in Miami, are after the jump.

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