Ireland Baldwin went about a full year without talking to Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin as she attempted to use alcohol and other drugs to treat her eating disorders, she said on a “Red Table Talk” preview released on April 25. “I was self-medicating with Xanax and I was drinking … I went way too far with the drinking and taking pills because I couldn’t even go to bed at night,” she told co-host Willow Smith.
To hide the lifestyle she was leading, Ireland avoided seeing loved ones. “I had isolated all of my real friends. I isolated my family,” she said. And that included Alec and Basinger, the latter of which will appear with Ireland in the April 27 episode. “I saw them here and there, but I was ashamed of what I had become and how I was living. I just became this different person. I was emaciated in every way. I was lifeless,” Ireland said.
Ireland struggled with anorexia, bulimia, and other eating disorders for many years until she sought professional help, she noted on Instagram in August 2020. She chose that date because it marked six years since she completed a recovery program. In 2018, she opened up about her past struggles in a powerful Instagram Story (via People). “It took me a long time to find self love and acceptance! Trust me, all of that pain and destruction I inflicted on myself wasn’t worth it,” she wrote.
If you or anyone you know is struggling with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
