John Stamos blames Ambien for weird TV appearance.
Didn’t Paula Abdul use that one already?
John Stamos rose to fame playing the wholesome “Uncle Jesse” on Full House. But after several videos surfaced from a recent press trip to Australia, the actor found himself in the middle of a scandal that was far from family friendly.
On June 26, footage of Stamos, 43, slurring his words and acting spacey during an interview with a reporter from Sydney’s Daily Telegraph, was posted online. (The clip later appeared on YouTube and other sites.)
A second online video – from a June 26 appearance on Morning With Kerri-Anne, a local talk show- featured Stamos, who was there promoting ER, in a similar state: During the segment, the still-slurring actor made a lewd gesture with a glass head, held host Kerri-Anne Kennerley in a prolonged awkward embrace and then mocked the Daily Telegraph reporter, saying, “He has a small penis.”
Stamos has since apologized and blames the uncharacteristic behavior on a mixture of jet lag and sleeping pills. “There was no alcohol involved,” he tells Us.
The ER star says that his odd demeanor was simply “an hour of grogginess” from having taken the prescription sleep aid Ambien, and only getting a few hours of rest. (The drug is only meant to be taken when a person can devote eight hours to sleep.)
“I took Ambien at 5 a.m. and got up at 7 a.m.,” he explains. “I was OK and did a few radio interviews. Then I had a break at 10 a.m. I dozed off and couldn’t wake up. Security banged on the door, shook me and woke me up. They threw a jacket on me and put me in front of the camera. I did three or four interviews after that, and no one said a word.”
“It was a weird very out of character hour of my life,” he adds.
What was his family’s reaction to the interviews? “I got screaming calls from my mother and my sister asking, ‘Have you lost your mind? Do we need to fly over there?’”
Stamos tells US he is “very sorry it happened” and is also refuting rumors that he’s headed to rehab. “What?! I barely drink,” he insists. “I have probably had 10 drinks in the last year.”
The actor confides that he has yet to see any of the footage, telling Us, “I’m afraid to look at it.”
July 3rd, 2007 at 12:21 pm
Ambien can do that to ya. That’s how my mom acts when she takes it and doesn’t go to bed immediately afterwards.
July 3rd, 2007 at 12:58 pm
I’m going to believe him until I find out otherwise. It does seem really out of character for him.
July 3rd, 2007 at 4:05 pm
It might just be the crush I’ve always had on him dating ALL the way back to General Hospital, but I’m choosing to believe him.
July 3rd, 2007 at 8:23 pm
I will go with him on this one, that is a crappy flight down there and the jet leg is terriable!!!!! I can totally see how this could happen poor sod!
July 4th, 2007 at 12:09 am
I can’t buy jet lag, as he had purportedly been there a few days. However, I CAN buy Ambien, as I act REALLY weird on it if I don’t go to sleep soon enough after I take it. I’ve sent friends IMs and texts and posted away messages that I don’t remember writing or BARELY remember writing, that look as though I was drunk when I wrote them. I walk unsteady, and slur, too.
July 4th, 2007 at 7:05 am
that’s funny that someone said that about their mom b/c my mom does the same thing. She will tell my stuff when she takes it and then doesn’t go right to sleep, then she will tell me the next day she had a dream she told me whatever it was. She cannot tell the difference!
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