Bradley Cooper Gave Advice to Dax Shepard That Motivated Him to Open Up About His Relapse

Bradley Cooper motivated Dax Shepard to tell the public that he relapsed after 16 years of sobriety.

Shepard, 49, revealed in the Tuesday episode of Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s podcast Dinner’s On Me that Cooper, 49, helped him open up about his relapse in 2020.

The Modern Family alum, 48, asked the Parenthood actor how he decided to share that he had relapsed publicly. Shepard quickly confessed that he first considered not revealing this to the public “way more” than sharing the information. That was until Cooper brought it up and reframed the situation for him.

“The last thing I wanted to do was go in public, seven days after the collapse of everything, and share that with people. But it would have felt so dishonest,” Shepard began. “The bond and the agreement you have with the audience would have just felt like a huge violation of all these people who had been listening for years and maybe looking to me as a role model.”

Shepard then credited his conversation with Cooper as “kind of the tipping point” for him to reveal his relapse. “He said, 'Are you going to?' 'Cause I told him I relapsed. And then he said, 'Are you going to tell everyone?' And I said, at that point, I was like, 'I don't think so,'" recalled Shepard.

He continued to explain that opening up about this information would also impact his wife, Kristen Bell, and her public persona. “I don't want her to have to f-----g spend half of every interview, 'What's it like being married to an addict?' Like, it just doesn't feel fair to her,” explained Shepard.

As he continued to recall the conversation with Cooper, he confessed that at the time, he was “so afraid of losing that thing that people liked about [him],” adding, “that I might be helping people."

Shepard then shared Cooper’s candid reply: "And he said, 'Well, let me tell you this. There's nothing helpful about a guy that's 16 years sober, and married to Kristen Bell, and is rich. What's helpful to somebody is someone who just ate s--- and gets back up.'"

"And I was like, 'Wow.' So, if I'm sincere about what I like about it, [which] is that I'm being helpful, then I really have only a single option," added Shepard. 

Ferguson quietly interjected and added, "You have that obligation, sure."

"So, f--- it, I'll give him credit. He earned it," continued Shepard. "And he's so sexy, too. It'd be easier if he wasn't so sexy."

On Sept. 25, 2020, during an episode on Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast, he announced he had relapsed after 16 years of sobriety. He explained in the episode, which was recorded on Sept. 21, 2020, that he was seven days sober following a relapse with painkillers that occurred after a motorcycle accident. 

Cooper first got sober at 29 years old and has been open about his past addiction struggles.

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If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, please contact the SAMHSA helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.