Stacey Dash shared a video of herself crying after discovering that DMX died more than a year ago, in April 2021, due to a cocaine induced heart attack.
In a clip posted to her TikTok, the 55-year-old actor told her followers how “ashamed” she was about not knowing that the rapper, whose real name is Earl Simmons, had died. She also addressed her own journey with sobriety.
“I didn’t know DMX died, I didn’t know, from a cocaine overdose,” she said, with tears in her eyes. “I am today six years and one month clean. It breaks my heart. Breaks my heart that he lost to it. He lost. He lost to that demon of addiction. Please, please don’t lose.”
The Clueless star explained in her caption that she became aware of the singer’s passing when “scrolling through” TikTok and found one of his songs that “saved [her] many times”. She also acknowledged that she learned about this news “late,” before expressing how wonderful she thought DMX was.
“He #OD, I am heartbroken,” she wrote. “He was such a great guy.”
Multiple people in the comments of the video, which has more than 64,700 views, asked Dash how she didn’t know about the musician’s death as he died at the age of 50 last year. The musician suffered from a heart attack that put him on life support.
“What, where have you been, it was everywhere that DMX passed away,” one wrote, while another said: “Wait, how come you found this out a year later?”
Many other viewers showed their support for Dash and praised her for being so candid about her history with addiction.
“Awww Stacey! Addiction is one of the hardest things to overcome. You did and we love that you’re still here with us,” one person wrote.
“We love you Stacey. Please stay strong for us. You are our inspiration,” another added.
This isn’t Dash’s first time opening up about her battle with drug addiction. Last October, during an episode of The Dr. Oz Show, she revealed that she first tried drugs when she was eight and that her mother, who was also addicted to drugs, gave her her first line of cocaine when she was 16. She also said that there was one point where she “was taking 18 to 20 pills a day” and no one knew.
At the time of the interview, the Mo’ Money star said she was officially five years sober and that she’d “become a better person”.
“I’m clean, five years,” she said, via E! News. “And in this five years, my blessing—the greatest blessing is that not only have I been able to be honest with myself and become a better person, I’ve been able to understand my parents and that they did love me and that they were doing the best they could and they were just sick. They were addicted.”
