Credit: kowarski

Flavor Flav has revealed he recently relapsed after being sober for over four years. The Public Enemy member has been open about his issues in recent years and took to social media on April 3rd to inform fans of his recent setback.

“I remain authentic to who I am and a large part of the past 4.5 years for me has been my sobriety journey. I think I’ve been an inspiration to many that if I could get sober, anyone can do it,” he wrote on Instagram Stories. “But just when you think it’s easy, it ain’t. I briefly relapsed. I say this to admit my mistake and publicly hold myself accountable.”

He added, “I am a human being who makes mistakes and it doesn’t make me a bad person. I hope those who are around me support my choice to be sober. I went back to day one, again. Time didn’t stop, my journey continues.”

During an interview with Akademiks on his Off the Record podcast in 2023, Flav admitted he was addicted to cocaine, crack, weed, alcohol and cigarettes “for 18 years straight” and spent a lot of money on substances.

“There was a time that I was spending $2,400 to $2,600 a day for six years straight, you do the math,” he said. “That’s how much I spent on drugs.” That equates to $5.5 million during the height of his addiction, with millions more over two decades.

Flav added that he “maintained [himself] very well” while he was doing so many drugs. “I guess God wanted me to live. And he knows that I’m a mouthpiece to the world,” he said. “So, I feel that God let me live through that, so that way, I could teach people about the mistakes that I made. And hopefully, they won’t make them later on in life.”

The 66-year-old has won six Grammy Awards as part of Public Enemy, who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020.