It came out yesterday that Jon Hamm completed a stint in rehab for alcoholism just before filming the final season of *Mad Men - *and after the news hit, a spokesperson for the actor has confirmed the story: 'With the support of his longtime partner Jennifer Westfeldt, Jon Hamm recently completed treatment for his struggle with alcohol addiction. They have asked for privacy and sensitivity going forward.'
While it's unclear how TMZ obtained the information - whether it was Jon's people, or a leaked source - it's the sort of news that makes us sad. Mainly because, considering the fact that the final season has already been filmed, and Jon managed to keep his personal struggle very private all this time, it's pretty likely that he didn't want it to be in the public sphere. And now it is. Just so a couple of people can say, at parties, 'Oh, have you heard that guy from *Mad Men *has a drinking problem?'
Jon Hamm has managed to break out of being typecast in the 'Don Draper' role (for those who haven't seen Mad Men, Don Draper is the troubled lead character with a drinking problem and dark past) cropping up in a whole host of things on both TV and film, as well as being really entertaining on talk shows. We also interviewed him and he sorted out our lives and was basically a really, really cool guy. The fact that he had a problem with alcohol a while back doesn't feel like it's any of our business - it feels like, if he was going through something privately, this should have been honoured.
'Our names tend to come with something attached – an audience and an expectation, and I guess a price tag. The challenge is to choose the right things to do,' he's said in a past interview with The Observer. He also emphasised the difference between his own life and Don Draper's: 'I’m not that methody. I am very cognisant that I am playing a character. Don Draper is a pretty dismal, despicable guy, so why I would want to take him home with me I don’t know.'
The main thing is that he got the help he needed (something Don Draper would never do) and we hope that he's made a full recovery and kicked the addiction. He shot to fame pretty quickly, and that can do all sorts of things to even the most level-headed of people - Jon Hamm, we salute you. And thanks for helping us through our mid-20s crisis.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.