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Jessica Simpson has opened up about her battle with alcoholism, sharing an "unrecognizable" photo of herself while marking four years of sobriety.
The singer and clothing designer, 41, took to Instagram on Monday to share a four-year-old snapshot that showed her wearing no makeup as she sported a pink sweatsuit and sat in a dark room.
Captioning the image, the mother-of-three wrote: "This person in the early morning of Nov 1, 2017, is an unrecognizable version of myself. I had so much self discovery to unlock and explore.
"I knew in this very moment I would allow myself to take back my light, show victory over my internal battle of self respect, and brave this world with piercing clarity.
"Personally, to do this I needed to stop drinking alcohol because it kept my mind and heart circling in the same direction and quite honestly I was exhausted. I wanted to feel the pain so I could carry it like a badge of honor.
"I wanted to live as a leader does and break cycles to advance forward - never looking back with regret and remorse over any choice I have made and would make for the rest of my time here within this beautiful world."
The Texas native then went on to address the anniversary of her sobriety, as she stated that a lack of self love propelled her issues with alcohol.
"I can't believe it has been 4yrs!" Simpson continued. "It feels like maybe 2. I think that is a good thing. Ha. There is so much stigma around the word alcoholism or the label of an alcoholic.
"The real work that needed to be done in my life was to actually accept failure, pain, brokenness, and self sabotage. The drinking wasn't the issue. I was. I didn't love myself. I didn't respect my own power. Today I do."
She concluded: "I have made nice with the fears and I have accepted the parts of my life that are just sad. I own my personal power with soulful courage. I am wildly honest and comfortably open. I am free."
The Employee of the Month star wrote about her past struggles in her memoir Open Book, which was released in 2020.
Simpson stated in the book that she had been sexually abused as a child by a family friend. She wrote that the trauma from her abuse, as well as the pressure from her career led to a dependency on drugs and alcohol.
"I was killing myself with all the drinking and pills," she wrote in her book, per USA Today. "Giving up the alcohol was easy. I was mad at that bottle. At how it allowed me to stay complacent and numb."
About the writer
Ryan Smith is a Newsweek Senior Pop Culture and Entertainment Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on ... Read more