9 Real-Life People Who Claimed To Be Sex Addicts

Recently separated Russell Brand used to be a pretty fucked up bro, in all senses of the word. Back before he was Katy Perry’s husband turned ex-husband, he was known for his addictions to sex, heroin, and alcohol, something he recounted with candid detail in his surprisingly well-written 2009 memoir My Booky Wook. Apparently, at his lowest, he’d even hired a team of people who were actually paid to find women for him to have sex with. You know it’s gotten bad when you can’t even feed your addiction yourself.

David Duchovny is a very talented actor, but in his role as Hank Moody on Californication, perhaps his portrayal is so spot-on because the two actually share some common vices; mst specifically, they’re both unabashed sex addicts. Though Duchovny is married to Téa Leoni, rumors arose in 2008 that he’d once had an affair with his tennis r; this was, funnily enough, not too long after Californication’s series premiere. The affair was quickly denied by the instructor herself, but Duchovny still promptly checked himself into rehab to help treat a sex addiction. They do say art imitates life.

When someone admits that they have a problem, whether it be with drugs, alcohol, food, or sex, the next step is normally to seek help and begin the recovery process. After all, acceptance is the most important thing. In 2002, Billy Bob Thornton did accept his problem during his marriage to a then super-crazy Angelina Jolie, and in an effort to save their relationship, he went to therapy so he could get past his issues. This only led to him screwing his therapist. Not exactly the right kind of therapy for his specific problems, to say the least.

Interesting fact: In 2008, when fellow sex addict David Duchovny and wife Téa Leoni briefly split, rumor has it that the reason wasn’t Duchovny’s freaky problem—it was because Duchovny had discovered a bunch of sexts on Leoni’s phone from none other than Mr. Thornton. What the what?

Most recently known for her stint on VH1's Celebrity Sex Rehab With Dr. Drew, Amber Smith claimed that, on top of her drug and alcohol addictions, she was a sex addict. At her lowest, she used sex to get drugs, but she says that her real addiction didn’t actually appear until she got her drug and alcohol use in check. Yet, that's not the worst part. Apparently, Smith’s obsession with males only applies to one specific type, and that’s men who resemble her father. "Daddy issues" doesn’t even begin to cover it.

Kanye West is, perhaps, the only person on the list who actually credited his addiction to sex as helping him gain success in life. The hip-hop megastar was quoted in a 2009 issue of Details as saying, “People ask me a lot about my drive… I think it comes from, like, having a sexual addiction at a really young age. Look at the drive that people have to get sex—to dress like this and get a haircut and be in the club in the freezing cold at 3am, the places they go to pick up a girl. If you can focus the energy into something valuable, put that into work ethic.” Whatever works, right?

Though no one ever called John F. Kennedy a straight-up sex addict, because it was pretty common for men of importance to have numerous mistresses during their terms, the man who got it in with Marilyn Monroe was indeed notorious for all of his physical encounters. Sexual addiction as a problem is actually a fairly new concept; in Kennedy’s time, the early '60s, when he stepped out on his wife he was just cheating.

Cheating a lot, but cheating nonetheless. Kennedy himself did address his own issues, however; it’s said that he once told British now ex-Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, “I wonder how it is for you, Harold? If I don't have a woman for three days, I get terrible headaches.”

Another one-time participant on Celebrity Sex Rehab With Dr. Drew, Kari Ann Peniche is a former teen beauty queen who had her title stripped from her when she stripped for Playboy. This wasn’t the only time she ended up in the news, though; in 2006, Peniche, who just so happened to be Backstreet Boys member Nick Carter's ex, famously got engaged to his younger brother, Aaron, for six days despite having only known him for five days, and in 2009 she starred in a leaked video with married couple Eric Dane (Grey's Anatomy) and Rebecca Gayheart (the old Noxzema girl), which featured the three of them naked, though not participating in any sexual acts. On Sex Rehab, she said that she’d had hundreds of lovers, but found herself incapable of having emotional relationships with any of them.

Mr. Spitzer, the former New York Governor turned shamed ex-governor, was caught in the middle of a giant prostitution scandal back in 2008 when it was discovered that, for several years, he’d been stepping out on his wife to do the dirty with very expensive call girls. Spitz may have even spent up to $80,000 over the time he was hiring prostitutes to sate his addiction, and, when he was caught, he had paid call girl Ashley Dupré about $4,300 for one night. After he was caught, the kinky politician was threatened with impeachment, which ultimately led to his resignation and admission into rehab.

Doing his part to ensure New York-based politicians have the best reputation ever, Anthony Weiner was NY office-holder -representing his way right into rehab for sex addiction. Weiner’s extramarital affairs, which he conducted even while his wife was pregnant with his child, were discovered when he accidentally published a racy photo of himself on Twitter that was meant to be sent to one of his mistresses privately.

Though he and the woman that the picture was meant for initially denied any wrongdoings, Weiner eventually admitted that he had been stepping out on his wife in a surprise afternoon press conference. Chat transcripts of his sexts and numerous women talking to the tabloids led to his resignation as U.S. Representative of New York City’s 9th congressional district (covering parts of Brooklyn and Queens). He checked himself into therapy for his problems soon after.