Monday marked 12 years since Eminem became sober.
The rapper took to Instagram to celebrate the moment, sharing a photo of his 12-year Alcoholics Anonymous coin, which is inscribed with the AA triangle and the words “Recovery,” “Unity,” and “Service.”
“Clean dozen, in the books!” he captioned the post. “I’m not afraid.”
This is the third year in a row that Em has taken to social media to celebrate his anniversary of becoming sober. Last year, he shared a similar image and sentiment, writing, “11 years - still not afraid.” Two years ago, he posted an image of him holding his medallion to the camera with the message, “Celebrated my 10 years yesterday.”
Eminem's struggles with substance abuse have been well-documented, having almost died from an accidental Methadone overdose in 2007. At one point, he was taking up to 20 pills like Vicodin, Valium, and Ambien a day. Though he attempted rehab at the time it didn’t work for him.
“I felt like Bugs Bunny in rehab,” he told The New York Times in 2010. “When Bugs Bunny walks into rehab, people are going to turn and look. People at rehab were stealing my hats and pens and notebooks and asking for autographs. I couldn’t concentrate on my problem.”
He instead sought help from a rehab counselor. In 2015, he revealed to Men’s Journal that he replaced “addiction with exercise.”
“When I got out of rehab, I needed to lose weight, but I also needed to figure out a way to function sober,” he said. “Unless I was blitzed out of my mind, I had trouble sleeping. So I started running. It gave me a natural endorphin high, but it also helped me sleep, so it was perfect.”
