‘Jersey Shore’ Star Mike Sorrentino Says He Spent $500,000 On Drugs Amid Addiction, Was Confronted By “Loving” Whoopi Goldberg And Robert Downey Jr. 

Mike Sorrentino had several celebrities looking out for him while he was struggling with addiction. According to the Jersey Shore star, Whoopi Goldberg, Jay Leno and Robert Downey Jr. were among those who clocked his situation early on.

In his new book Reality Check: Making the Best of The Situation, Sorrentino reflects on his addiction to prescription painkillers.

By the time the original run of Jersey Shore ended in 2012, the partier was consuming “hundreds, if not thousands, of pills. Every day, all day,” he writes in his book, per People, adding that he had “access to an unlimited supply of Percocet, Vicodin, oxycodone, and Roxicet, not to mention Xanax, Valium, and Klonopin.”

During his time on the MTV series, Sorrentino’s lawyers and accountants estimated that he spent “a staggering $500,000 on drugs, mostly cocaine and oxycodone.”

In fact, his addiction became so apparent that Leno “pulled [him] aside” after his guest appearances on The Tonight Show.

“I could see the concern in his face. He’d witnessed it before and wanted to straighten me out,” Sorrentino writes. “‘You’ve got to make better decisions,’ Jay Leno told me on more than one occasion. He was a super nice guy, and I felt he was looking out for me. ‘You’re never going to last in this business going the way you are.'”

He adds that Goldberg was another talk show host who “spotted the tell-tale signs” of his addiction and “tried to call attention” to his actions.

“Many times, she graciously reached out to warn me that I was moving too fast,” he recalls. “She had a very loving and caring manner about her that I will never forget.”

While he “wasn’t ready to listen” at the time he spoke to Leno and Goldberg, Sorrentino writes that his conversation with Downey Jr., who previously struggled with addiction himself, “left an impact” on him.

“As someone who had gone through the same addiction issues I was grappling with at the time, he recognized the signs: glasses tipped low, pupils pinpointed, my energy douchebag on blast,” he says. “Ours was a quick run-in, but the pleasantries quickly turned into a serious conversation. I remember he showed concern for my condition and implored me to be careful.”

Nowadays, Sorrentino is eight years sober — and he says, “I will never stop working to ensure that the old Sitch never claws his way out and rears his ugly head.”

If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, call the SAMHSA National Helpline at 1-800-662-4357.