Make a comment
Larger Text
Print
E-mailJonathan Rhys Meyers: I was not in rehab!
"Tudors" actor just "needed time off"
Don't miss our gallery of rehabbed Irish celebs... Click here
Irish actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers is defending his reputation, claiming he did not have another stint in rehab for alcohol abuse this February.
The star, who plays King Henry VIII in the hit Showtime series “The Tudors,” came under fire last month after he pulled out of a New York press campaign for the hit TV show.
Rhys Meyers said he was too "ill" to appear on scheduled U.S. TV talk shows, but many critics had commented on his disheveled appearance at the premiere party for “The Tudors” in New York. He also skipped out on two galas in L.A. and Dublin where he was set to collect awards for his work.
The press reported that the actor had checked into a recovery center in England to once again deal with his alcohol addiction.
Now the Dubliner is speaking out against these reports, denying he was rehab, but admitting he spent some time with a counselor in England.
Rhys Meyers said: "I just felt I needed time off and I didn't need to go to awards ceremonies. You can get slightly waylaid as an actor doing that sort of thing and I'm never that comfortable at them anyway."
Rhys Meyers’ problems with alcohol have long been in the public eye. He checked into California’s Promises rehab facility in 2005. In April 2007, it was reported he checked into rehab again, and then, in November of that year, the actor was arrested in Dublin Airport and charged with public drunkenness.
But the “Tudors” star says that the media is blowing his “wild child” reputation out of proportion, stating: "I live an incredibly low-key life. I think people would like to think I'm a hell of a lot naughtier than I am actually. I am actually quite a boring guy.
"I spent the last week and a half playing bloody golf. Me, Jonathan Rhys Meyers! If anyone saw me in those stupid golf clothes on the golf course, there would have been a different story written!”
See more: irish gossip, irish celebrity gossip, irish entertainment, ireland entertainment, jonathan rhys meyers, the tudors, rehab, alcohol abuse
