Actor Columbus Short was clearly going through some personal problems and he came clean about ALL of them via Access Hollywood Live and Instagram this week. Short says that while he was dealing with a tumultuous marriage to his now-estranged wife Tanee McCall, he was also drinking, which we knew, and doing cocaine, which we didn’t.
The actor, who played lawyer Harrison Wright on the ABC hit show Scandal until he was killed off last season, says that he’s profoundly grateful to the cast, who he admits covered for him. In an interview with Access Hollywood Live, Short said that despite the success of the show, he was struggling off camera.
“I’ll be candid: I was struggling with drugs. I had a lot on my plate, and you know, I was using unhealthy ways to kind of self-medicate and deal with a lot of heavy duty stuff in my life… I was doing cocaine and drinking a lot, and trying to balance a 16-hour work schedule a day, and a family, and I just lost myself back then.”
Short was accused of multiple instances of domestic violence with his estranged wife as well as an assault in a bar fight. He says that despite it all, Scandal showrunner Shonda Rhimes and the rest of the cast were very supportive.
“They protected me and they held me down,” he said. “And that was one of the real reasons – they just wanted me to get my stuff together. Sometimes the bottom has to be dropped out for you to really get it. So I moved to Atlanta. I’ve been living there for the last five months, five-and-a-half months, and it’s just been great. It’s been life-changing.
Short says that another actor’s tragic death was just another issue he was struggling with. Not only were there problems at home, but actor Lee Thompson Young, a friend of Short’s, committed suicide.
“That kind of started a spiral. I found out when I was on set, and it really just, it took my legs out from under me.”
Fortunately, Short says a change in venue has helped.
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