'They built rehabs because of me,' the actor, who died Wednesday of an apparent drug overdose, told us.
By Eric Ditzian, with reporting by Josh Horowitz


Cory Haim
Photo: Jim Spellman/ WireImage

Corey Haim made no secret of his past battles with drug addiction and his multiple stays in rehabilitation centers over the years. Now that the '80s star has died of an apparent drug overdose at the age of 38, MTV News went back into our archives to an August 2007 interview during which Haim spoke honestly and insightfully about his struggles with substance abuse and the day he finally got clean.






"They built rehabs because of me," he said during the interview in our New York newsroom.

Haim had submitted to various treatment programs time after time, but none ever instilled in him a true desire to get clean. "It didn't work at the beginning because I was doing it for everyone else," he said. " 'Mom, I love you, I'm going to get clean for you. Dad, I love you, man, gonna get clean for you, gonna go in here for you. I'll do it for you, I'll do it for you.' Everyone but me."

What changed? Haim woke up one day — describing the timeline as "years ago" — and literally couldn't look at himself in the mirror. "I know it's an old, boring story, but it was a day where I looked in the mirror," he said. "It was strange, not because I think I'm God. I looked in the mirror and was like, 'Man, you just don't look good.' And I didn't feel well accompanied with it at all. [His loved ones said] 'That's what we were trying to tell you!' 'Right, but now I get it for me. Not for you, not for you and not for you. For me, I get it.' "

"It wasn't a good day," he added. "But it was the best day of my life, if you want to flip the script. It was an eye-opener." If early reports are to be believed, however, Haim eventually seemed to have relapsed. He died of an apparent drug overdose early Wednesday morning and an autopsy is planned.

In the summer of 2007, though, in the midst of a comeback that had him starring in A&E reality show "The Two Coreys," Haim spoke of his drug addictions as if they were strictly in the past. "I think when a person gets it with themselves finally, however they get it, that's a great day for them, if they're still alive," he said.



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