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After a disastrous 2014 interview, Diaz implemented this one strict rule.
By Nia Tipton — Written on May 29, 2023
For the last 30 years, Cameron Diaz and Drew Barrymore have cultivated a close and loving friendship.
While Diaz and Barrymore starred together in the early 2000s"'Charlie's Angels" movies, the two actresses' relationship actually started years before that. "We met when I was 14 and she was 16," Barrymore revealed during an Instagram Live with the actress and talk show host in 2021, according to PEOPLE.
"I was working at a coffee house and she was a junior model. She's still my bestie." Both women are extremely protective of their friendship, to the point that even Diaz has an interview rule in place to protect Barrymore.
Cameron Diaz refuses to speak about Drew Barrymore's battle with addiction during interviews.
During a July 2014 interview, Diaz cut the segment early after one of the hosts made an extremely inappropriate comment about Barrymore's battle with addiction when she was still a teenager.
According to Us Weekly, Diaz appeared on an episode of the Australian radio program, KIIS 106.5's Kyle & Jackie O show to promote her film 'Sex Tape' alongside Jason Segel.
During the actress's appearance on the radio show, Jackie O mentioned that their daughter in the movie, Giselle Eisenberg, reminded her "a little bit" of Barrymore's character in 'E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial.'
"Aw, yeah!" Diaz agreed, bringing up her 'Charlie's Angels' co-star. "She does, now that you mention it. And she's as bright and lively as Drew is, as well. She's a sweet little girl." Shortly after, Kyle Sandilands, one of the other hosts, decided to make a snipe about Barrymore's addiction.
Photo: Featureflash Photo Agency / Shutterstock
"Let's hope she misses out on the Drew Barrymore drug years, because those were a great thing to watch, but not so good to be in, I'd imagine," Sandilands said. Immediately after that comment was said, Diaz clapped back and defended her long-time best friend.
"I'm sure, Kyle, you've never been through a drug phase, have you? Or alcoholism or anything like that? Pretty clean… always did it right? Congratulations," Diaz informed Sandilands. While Jackie O attempted to divert the conversation to something else, Diaz had heard enough and promptly ended the interview following that comment.
Diaz previously admitted to helping Barrymore work through her battle with addiction.
Following Barrymore's 2016 divorce from her husband, Will Kopelman, the 'Scream' actress moved from Los Angeles to New York. According to the LA Times, her depression worsened, which intensified her drinking.
Instead of turning a blind eye, Diaz told the news outlet that she had remained by her friend's side. "I knew that if we all stuck with her and gave her the support she needed, she would find her way," Diaz told the LA Times in a March 2023 interview.
"I have absolute faith in her. You can't even comprehend how hard it was to be her as a child, and then she shot out the other end with the ability to save herself."
Barrymore has been open about her struggle with drugs and alcohol that developed when she was only 11 years old. In a December 2021 interview with CBS This Morning, via CNN, Barrymore gave an update on her sobriety.
"I’m gonna say something for the first time in a long time – I have not had a drink of alcohol in two-and-a-half years,” Barrymore said. “It was something that I realized just did not serve me and my life.”
“Now it’s been long enough where I’m in a lifestyle that I know is really working on a high road for my little journey, and there’s so much peace finally being had where there were demons."
Nia Tipton is a Brooklyn-based entertainment, news, and lifestyle writer whose work delves into modern-day issues and experiences.