Columbus Short Reveals Struggle With Cocaine On ‘Scandal’ Set

Sadly, this explains so much of his behavior earlier this year. Apparently Columbus Short was dealing with so much depression (triggered by the sudden and tragic suicide of his good friend Lee Thompson Young last year) and a busy work schedule that he turned to drugs and alcohol to ease his pain. Via HuffPost:

Last April, ABC confirmed that Columbus Short would not return to “Scandal” for Season 4. He had been charged with misdemeanor spousal battery against his wife, Tuere Short, who filed for divorce soon after. Now, in a new interview with Access Hollywood, Short revealed that he had been abusing drugs — specifically cocaine — during that time.

“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,” he said in the interview. “I was doing cocaine and drinking a lot.”

Short confirmed that his “Scandal” co-stars and showrunner Shonda Rhimes were aware of his activities. “If we’re going to be fully transparent, they protected me and they held me down. 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.”

Since getting fired, Short has moved to Atlanta and has been working on an album, though he’s live tweeted the show — including the episode in which the Gladiators mourn his character’s death — and even held a season premiere party for its return in September. “I would love nothing more to go back to ‘Scandal,'” he said. “It’s my family.”



Wow. Well, we’re certainly happy he’s found a better outlet and is on-track to getting better. It would be great if he could get a second chance on the hit show…but we don’t see how that could really be possible with his ‘Scandal’ character being put in the dirt at the beginning of this season.