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CNN Live At Daybreak

Celebrities Have Problems Too

Aired August 10, 2001 - 07:55   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
VINCE CELLINI, CNN ANCHOR: Celebrities, we put them on pedestals, worship them as role models and then wonder why some of them break down or burn out.

COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN ANCHOR: CNN's Jodi Ross looks at this problem and finds there's hope.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JODI ROSS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mariah Carey just spent two weeks in a hospital for extreme exhaustion. Ben Affleck heads to rehab to treat his alcoholism. Rosie O'Donnell says she's suffering from depression. What seems like an epidemic is spreading quickly through Tinsletown.

DR. NORMAN SUSSMAN, NYC SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: There's a lot of stuff that goes on with being a celebrity that can make you burn out. A lot of that has to do with the drugs and alcohol and also it's a very insecure business. You can be very successful and you have one flop of a movie or you have one flop of a record and you don't have a career anymore, and I think a lot of people are very aware of that.

KEVIN RICHARDSON, BACKSTREET BOYS: We're concerned about his lifestyle changes in the past year.

ROSS: So bad for A.J. McLean that he's currently being treated for anxiety, depression and alcohol abuse, which has forced the Backstreet Boys to put the brakes on their summer tour.

Same goes for "Glitter," the Mariah Carey movie, which was set to open at the end of this month, has been pushed back to late September. Anthony Esposito was a producer on "Wise Girls," the other film Carey just finished shooting.

ANTHONY ESPOSITO, CO-PRODUCER, "WISE GIRLS": She's a total worker and nonstop worker. And I just think that as far as that, I don't even see the reality of everybody's talking about break downs and all of that. To me, that's not the reality. I just think that you have a lady that's a bit tired.

SUSSMAN: But to be admitted to a hospital and be -- and for it to be said that it's exhaustion, it's usually a code word for something else. Certainly in my experience, I can never remember anyone having been admitted for exhaustion. ROSS: Busy celebs can suffer all sorts of medical ailments due to busy schedules.

(on camera): After playing five nights here at Madison Square Garden, Madonna canceled a show in New Jersey due to laryngitis, and the flu has recently kept Janet Jackson off stage as well.

BUDDY ARNOLD, MUSICIANS ASSISTANCE PROGRAM: Staying up without artificial aid without sleep is very difficult, and coffee only works so long.

ROSS (voice-over): Saxophonist and former junkie Buddy Arnold is the founder of MAP, Musicians Assistance Program, an organization offering treatment for addiction to anyone in the music business.

ARNOLD: There is not the stigma attached to it that there was for so many years, you know. I think the times have changed and it's kind of OK to say, "I'm in trouble, I need help."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Problems are problems, everybody has them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And it just so happens ours are diagnosed under a microscope a little more than the norm.

ROSS: But can life go back to the norm once the disease has been licked? Experts say in most cases, absolutely.

ESPOSITO: People love her so I think that she's -- her future is by no means in doubt.

ROSS: Jodi Ross, CNN Entertainment News, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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