WHEN IRISH ACTOR Jonathan Rhys Meyers was travelling from Miami to Los Angeles at the start of this month, he ended up in a fight on his American Airlines flight, which resulted in his arrest.
The 41-year-old Tudors actor was travelling with his wife Mara and their 1-year-old son when the couple got into an argument, which caused upset to other passengers. According to TMZ, other passengers noted that Jonathan had also been smoking an e-cigarette on the flight, which is illegal, but he put it away after stewards on the flight told him to stop vaping.
Police were waiting for the actor on the tarmac when the plane landed. Mara Lane Rhys Meyers shared a candid apology to her Instagram profile after the incident, where she wrote:
8 months of sobriety and an unfortunate day of airline travel. We were in South America specifically working holistically through anger issues that result in these kinds of episodes. When in it… He is not in a frame of mind where he can really even comprehend the repercussions and necessary response to his own actions.
We are home safe and he is feeling deeply sorry for any remote disrespect afforded to me, attendants, onlookers or officers. Thank you for your compassion on this ongoing battle with addiction we are in.
Jonathan later thanked his wife for her support and said she’s “a superior woman. She’s incredible”. He explained that he had been traveling for hours from south America with a teething baby, and that before boarding the flight there was issues with his tickets and the airline which made him increasingly frustrated.
However, last night Jonathan Rhys Meyers spoke out about the incident which occurred earlier this month, to the Mail on Sunday. The actor denied having trouble with alcoholism, and instead explained that he is allergic to alcohol.
I actually don’t like the taste of alcohol.
I would be known as somebody who relapses with problem drinking, not alcoholism. I don’t suffer from alcoholism – I suffer from an allergy to alcohol every time I drink it.
The actor said that when he drinks “the consequences are so devastating that it is a problem”, but he feels he is different to an alcoholic as he never craves alcohol or needs a drink.
Airports are a trigger for me, because they make you sit there for three hours and you can’t smoke and you’re surrounded by alcohol. That is not an excuse, there’s never an excuse for me to drink.
Finally, Jonathan Rhys Meyers assured Mail on Sunday that he’s seeking professional help, and that he has been at meetings with “politicians, High Court judges, one of the richest men in the world and a homeless man.”
