Actor Columbus Short is opening up about his abrupt firing from "Scandal."
In an interview with "Access Hollywood Live" he admitted to struggling with drug abuse at the time of his departure from the ABC series. The 32-year-old was booted from the show in April after repeatedly making headlines for getting into fights and allegedly attacking his now soon-to-be ex-wife, Tanee McCall-Short.
"I'll be candid. I was struggling with drugs," he said. "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... I was doing cocaine and drinking a lot, and trying to balance a 16-hour work schedule a day, and a family, and I just lost myself back then."
In April, McCall filed for divorce claiming Short threatened to kill her and then commit suicide. The actor was also arrested for fighting a fellow patron at a restaurant. The brawl left the unidentified man in the hospital.
Short said the cast of "Scandal" and the creator, Shonda Rhimes, knew about his drug problem.
"And if we're going to be fully transparent, they protected me and they held me down," he said. "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. So I moved to Atlanta. I've been living there for the last five months... and it's just been great. It's been life-changing."
Short said that he was going through a lot with his marriage and that the death of his best friend Lee Thompson Young, who committed suicide last August, acted as catalyst for the drug abuse.
"That kind of started a spiral," Short said. "I found out when I was on set, and it really just, it took my legs out from under me."
He also added that he wouldn't mind coming back to "Scandal" but Rhimes killed his character, Harrison, off in the first episode of Season 4.
"As far as Shonda's shows, I would love nothing more to go back to 'Scandal.' It's my family," he said.
