Former Florida gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum has released a statement following his stint in rehab.
Gillum entered rehab following an incident in March where he was found drunk and naked in a Maimi hotel room. Two other men were also found at the scene, including a gay adult film actor and escort named Travis Dyson who had overdosed on crystal meth. Leaked photos of the scene show Gillum naked and passed out, as well as baggies containing a white powdery substance that resembles meth, though the contents were never officially identified. Police did not arrest any of the three men at the scene.
Related: Photos of Andrew Gillum nude at overdose scene leak online
Now, in an 11-minute Instagram post, Gillum has opened up about his personal struggles. “I am thankful to so many of you who have wished me well during this especially challenging time,” Gillum said in the post. “I wanted to provide a personal update on how I have been doing. Take good care of yourselves during this season and I will see you on the other side.”
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In the video, Gillum goes on to detail the embarrassment of the incident and the forces which caused it. “I decided to take some time away to deal with myself…some issues I was having,” he says. “I went to rehab to focus on some issues I was having with alcoholism.”
“I had totally underestimated the impact of losing the race for governor had on my life, and the way those impacts started to show up in every aspect of my life,” he also admits.
Of the incident in Maimi itself, Gillum doesn’t address specifics. “My stuff had to be public and cause great embarrassment and lots of rumors, some false, some true, the shame that I felt from all of that, from the harm I had caused was tearing me up,” Gillum confesses. “I needed real help to try to unpack that.” He adds that his wife “knows what I am and knows what I am not. She chooses to love me anyhow.”
Gillum entered the national stage as Mayor of Tallahassee in 2014. He lost the 2018 election for Flordia Governor to Ron DeSantis by less than one percentage point.
Donston
He’s pretty much suggesting that the stress over getting into political office and losing the race equated to hard drug use and hooking up with dudes. That’s just dumb. That may have instigated a downward spiral and a no fvcks given attitude, but that doesn’t explain the behaviors.
Whatever his struggles are are his struggles. Whatever his life’s motivations are are his to know. Whatever his sense of self is or where he fits in the romantic, affection, sexual, emotional investment, relationship contentment spectrum is his business. He doesn’t owe anyone (beyond his wife) anything, especially since he’s not even in office. Just don’t feed people bullshit.
Matthewnow
S*ck me. F*ck me. But don’t kiss me. I’m straight. Blah blah blah.
Kangol2
I said before I feel for him. I think he was a DL/closeted (though that door was blown off its hinges) politician who tried to present a perfect, hetero front for voters and himself, and the loss of the election, by an incredibly close margin, to Ron DeSantis sent him into a tailspin of depression and recklessness. Maybe he does have a drinking problem that the loss exacerbated; certainly the stress of politics, the pain of that razor-thin loss, and the struggle of upholding that hetero perfect family facade without a new position to show for it got to him. I get all of that and again, feel bad that it turned out this way. Even with his problems I think he would have done a better job than Ron DeSantis with this pandemic because he probably would have followed the standard Democratic governor playbook, which is to pay attention to the scientists and tune out Don the Con.
That said, he sidesteps the issue not only of his sexuality but of that meth use. Yes, there have been rumors, but the hotel meth scandal, even viewed as sympathetically as possible, was a mess. He probably was set up, but those images are irrevocable. I am assuming, and I could be wrong, that he’s told his wife he’s attracted to men and women but is committed to her, and probably is going to seek couple’s counseling or extend his therapy, not just for the alcohol and depression, but for the meth and to figure out how to keep the marriage together given their three small children. I hope they figure out what works for them. The tragedy is that had he not had such a breakdown people would probably be calling for a recall with DeSantis, who has been a total disaster, and he might even have been in the best position to be governor sooner rather than later. As things stand, that’ll never happen now.
Donston
Having ambitions to be a powerful politician and presenting a “perfect” hetero family is no doubt at least partially instigated by his insecurities concerning struggles with trauma, mental heath, drugs, sexuality and where he fits in the orientation spectrum. However, I sympathized with him more before this statement. He still wants to make this all about alcohol addiction, and that ain’t what people are talking about. He would have been better off not saying anything else. If you’re not gonna directly speak on the topics everyone is talking about then a ten minutes video statement is kinda pointless and mostly just works to try and clean up your image.
ThinkPIease
I would have voted for him if I lived in Florida. We have all done drugs with a hooker in a hotel. I think the republican set him up.
HDTex
I sucked him off and swalled him whole.
Man About Town
We’ve all done drugs with a hooker in a hotel? Really? If I’ve done this, why didn’t anyone tell me?
butchqueen
Does she know that he is a pig bottom?
Kangol2
That image just made me schwing!
Creamsicle
Internalized homophobia is a hell of a drug.
jussayin2
and gabapentin is used to bring you down after tweeking.. they knew what they were doing..
nitejonboy
Never knew that, I take it for my bipolar disorder. I wonder if it’s bringing ME down ? Lol
Jared MacBride
If his wife is good with him swinging both ways, hurray for them. But I doubt she’d good with the drugs.
nitejonboy
Who the hell writes this shit ? You misspelled the city of MIAMI TWICE in a row for gods sake ! How do you do it twice ?? It is not spelled MAIMI !! No wonder no one takes you seriously !!
Kangol2
They might have been twEaKing!
skyboy63
I would still bed him.
Smith David
@HDTex….Uuummmm…Ok! Ok! Ok!..Wow!
ScottOnEarth
If you’ve seen the photos of him passed out in his underwear, you can never look at him the same again.
Kangol2
I saw the photo of him passed out nude, uncut piece and all. Suited, in casual clothes or nude, he’s hot.