Andre Agassi Tops List of Celebs Addicted to Meth

Oct. 28, 2009 — -- Sometimes, it seems like substance abuse and celebrities are like that old song about love and marriage: you can't have one without the other.

Andre Agassi's the latest star to admit a predilection for drugs. In his upcoming autobiography titled "Open," the eight-time Grand Slam champion reveals that he used crystal meth in 1997, around the same time he married actress Brooke Shields, and lied to tennis authorities when he failed a drug test, claiming he "unwittingly" took the substance.

According to an excerpt of the autobiography published today in the Times of London, Agassi writes that he sent a letter to the ATP tour to explain the positive test, saying he accidentally drank from a soda spiked with meth by his assistant "Slim."

Agassi also writes in his book that "Slim" was the person who introduced him to crystal meth, dumping a small pile of powder on the coffee table.

"I snort some. I ease back on the couch and consider the Rubicon I've just crossed," Agassi writes.

"There is a moment of regret, followed by vast sadness. Then comes a tidal wave of euphoria that sweeps away every negative thought in my head. I've never felt so alive, so hopeful -- and I've never felt such energy."

"I'm seized by a desperate desire to clean. I go tearing around my house, cleaning it from top to bottom. I dust the furniture. I scour the tub. I make the beds."

Now healthy and happy with current wife and fellow tennis champion Steffi Graf, Agassi hopes his fans won't change their opinion of him after reading about his low point in life.

"I was worried for a moment, but not for long," he told People magazine. "I wore my heart on my sleeve and my emotions were always written on my face. I was actually excited about telling the world the whole story."

Below, check out four other celebrities who've been mired in crystal meth:

Jodie Sweetin

"Full House" sweetheart Jodie Sweetin didn't grow up to resemble her goody-two-shoes character at all. At age 22, the child star developed a debilitating daily meth habit that she kept a secret from her then-husband, LAPD officer Shaun Holguin.

In 2005, after a night of partying landed her in the hospital, Sweetin sought treatment. Once sober, she divorced Holguin and married Cody Herpin, the father of her daughter Zoie.

But in November 2008, Sweetin split with Herpin, and now she's out with the book "unSweetined," in which she reveals she kept the meth, cocaine and ecstasy binges going while she claimed to be sober. In one passage, she talks about breaking into tears while addressing a crowd at Wisconsin's Marquette University about her "trials and tribulations."

"I talked about growing up on television and about how great my life was now that I was sober, and then midspeech I started to cry," Sweetin writes. "The crowd probably thought that the memories of hitting rock bottom were too much for me to handle. Or maybe they thought the tears were just a way for an actor to send a message that drugs are bad. I don't know what they thought."

"I know what they didn't think," she continues. "They didn't think I was coming down from a two-day bender of coke, meth, and ecstasy and they didn't think that I was lying to them with every sentence that came out of my mouth."

Ryan O'Neal

The love of Farrah Fawcett's life also had a dangerous affection for crystal meth. Ryan O'Neal's latest public run-in with the drug happened in September 2008, when he was arrested at his Malibu home after Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies doing a probation search on his son, Redmond, found drugs in the "Love Story" actor's bedroom.

In January 2009, O'Neal pleaded guilty to felony possession of meth, but was told the charge will be wiped from his record if he completes a court-approved drug diversion program.

Fergie

The Black Eyed Peas singer used to rely on something other than fame, fortune and a fabulous voice to make her feel "Fergaligious." In 2001, Fergie dealt with a deep-rooted addiction to crystal meth. "It was the hardest boyfriend I ever had to break up with," she told People magazine in 2008. "I dug deep as to why I got there. It's the drug that's addicting. But it's why you start doing it in the first place that's interesting. A lot of it was being a child actor; I learned to suppress feelings."

Amy Winehouse

Troubles follow soul singer Amy Winehouse no matter where she goes, and a proclivity for meth seems to be one monkey she can't get off her back. In September 2008, the Daily Mail reported that doctors feared that Winehouse had brain damage after suffering two major overdoses in one year from crystal meth, heroin and cocaine.

"No one has mentioned her meth use before -- but that stuff is truly nasty," a friend of the singer told the Sun newspaper. "She is in need of years of psychiatry and medical treatment if she has a hope."