Instagram star (it’s really a thing) and YouTube personality Kyle Krieger has been very open about his past battle with substance abuse, but in a new video with fellow YouTube celeb Raymond Braun he goes into incredibly candid detail about what led him to seek out sobriety eight years ago.
Krieger, who also works as a hair stylist, talks how being tormented as an effeminate child led him to turn to drugs and alcohol to overcome the ongoing pain. He says he hit rock bottom in the usual way, which involved losing friends, family and resorted to putting tin foil on his windows and was held together by crack smoke and glitter. His moment of clarity came after he was stiffed by an unnamed pop star and her hard-partying entourage at a bar he worked at in Miami, which led to his doing an eight ball of coke, multiple shots of Goldschlager, walking 70 blocks (!) to a sex party, only to be deemed too messy to enter. That would do it!
Watch the two men converse below and scroll down to see a few of Krieger’s photos.
Still kinda in awe that @papermagazine had me do this self-portrait underwear story. Check the full story on their webpage! ???? A photo posted by Kyle Krieger (@kylekriegerhair) on
Shoutout to all those friends who still follow me and put up with me on this app. ?? @hiroclark #hiroclark A photo posted by Kyle Krieger (@kylekriegerhair) on
Peachy ? in @mrturk #SelfPortrait A photo posted by Kyle Krieger (@kylekriegerhair) on
S B Hadley Wilson
Congrats on your sobriety, Kyle Krieger!
Kangol
Who???
Ladbrook
barrel… meet bottom
Andrew Button
I’m glad he’s better
oregonduckbrad
Seriously, Queerty? How is this news, or even mildly informative. We can do better, as a community, other than detailing a hairdresser’s dalliances into crystal meth. Filing this one under “who the hell cares.”
Fvk847
apparently having 2k or more instagram followers that you don’t even know makes you a celebrity.
Xzamilio
I like him. He’s a soft spoken guy who turned himself around after being strung out on drugs. And after hearing him talk on different occasions, his self-awareness to the vanity and empty validation of social media praise leads me to believe he may have his head on his shoulders. Can’t listen to him talk for more than a minute, but he gets nothing but respect from me… and he has an ASS!!! A gay man on Queerty with proportion… that’s like a unicorn, or four-leafed clover, or good food in a vegan restaurant… you rarely run into it.
Robert Pimentel
Who is he ?
richard s
@oregonduckbrad: showing your age, darling. Let’s dial back the judgment and take a moment to realize that there is a younger generation of gay men who have different interests than you. I actually find it interesting when Queerty runs stories like this so that I can get an idea what’s going down in our big wonderful gay world. If you dont care for it than that’s cool but dont be so harsh. And really, his story may touch one young gay man’s soul and bring him to sobriety. How can you put that down?
ParisNat
Get a life!
richard s
sad to see many bitter judgmental comments about this young man. You may think this is fluff but if his story touches one person’s soul and they find sobriety than I’m all for it!!!
Spike
So who was the pop star that stiffed him?
oregonduckbrad
@richard s: @richard s: I’m hardly your “darling”. And don’t mistake boredom for judgment… Agreed, however, on exposing (a rather cliched, at this point…) story to the youngins.
richard s
@oregonduckbrad: darling…you’re still sounding judgey…
Rob Laughlin
Great video. Very important message. Reading the comments is disappointing, i.e. “who is he?”, and how is this news?. He’s one of us, could be anyone of us, and if any of the holier than thous think differently, you’re more at risk than you realize. Kudos to this man for getting his life on track and being open to educate others.
And yes, he’s kinda hot too 😉
Stache99
@oregonduckbrad: Seriously this is a great post. Drug addiction in the gay community is still a huge problem. They need to run more stories like this.
Stache99
I did kind of find it funny when he said they barred him from the sex party and he’s like I can’t believe they did that to me. Lol
sportyguy1983
This guy is another example of people’s desperate need for attention and fame.
richard s
@sportyguy1983: and this desperate need for attention and fame comes from where? Oh right…our society (especially the younger crowd) equates success with attention and fame. That’s a sad bit of reality.
DC Sheehan
Yes, ‘Instagram star’ is a thing. A stupid thing.
Stache99
@sportyguy1983: Actually, I take back what I said before. I went and looked at some of his Youtube videos. If you do the math this all happened when he like was 22-23 yo if you even believe that. Yeah, a year or two of partying and the final straw was when someone had the nerve to deny you access to a sex party and your friends won’t talk to you anymore. Wow. That’s a real rock bottom. Seriously, using that as an experience is a complete insult to those that have actually been there.
Like you say this is just someone’s desperate need for more attention.
Chris
@Ladbrook: I was thinking: kettle meet pot.
Chris
His demons were real; and he recovered from them. I say “good for you.”
And he’s a motivational speaker. I have had different life experiences so his story isn’t that motivating to me. But his life story can motivate even on young man to clean up his own act before he’s into the sort of downward spiral this man was in, then what’s wrong with that?
richard s
@Chris: that’s right…I say “good for you” too. I had different life experiences too. My experiences would be considered less important by many of the judgmental types here. Its cool because I got through it and am a happy healthy old gay at 48! I wish he and I were as perfect as others on here but hey…what can I say?
Robby Chambrella
I don’t care how good he looks, if he ever started talking in bed, my penis will turn soft and shrivel back in my body.
notevenwrong
Sobriety apparently doesn’t mean no steroids, but whatever works. But “crack and glitter,” that’s a funny line.
Cam
Any negative comments on this posts value as a storey are deleted. Why?
rickperryisgay
Im a hair dresser. I am from what once was the meth capital of the world. Why dont you do an article on me.
asby
@rickperryisgay: Only if you post half naked pics of yourself online
dtpm
INTERESTING
watching1
I’m surprised he didn’t talk about the biggest reason he got sober. He wasn’t there for his sister Ali Krieger in 2005? when she was in the hospital with pulmonary embolisms. They’re very close, and he’s said that was the start of his journey to sobriety. Ali is on the USWNT football team that won the World Cup in July–she’s a star, and way bigger than her brother. Also totally ripped–what a family. They do have a beautiful sibling relationship. I think they’re both pretty great people.
Tyler Evertsen
I would never reject him from sex!
Magembe Norman
hi am a 25 year old gay Ugandan currently depressed by the homophobic climate in Uganda. am therefore seeking a gay guy out there to love and make me believe that I also have a life to live
Jake Dufour
Now he’s held together by attention.
James R Carter
*unfollow*
Milton Appleby
Another attention seeker.