Former YouTube star Lia Marie Johnson says moving to LA at 17 led to a dark spiral of addiction and abuse: 'I was living in a whole other world when the sun went down'
Amanda Edwards
- Johnson rose to fame at 14 as a breakout star on the Fine Brothers' "Kids React" YouTube series.
- In a new video, she recounts her darkest years: "I tried almost every single drug you can think of, and lost everything I had."
- After various stints in rehab and jail, Johnson is 10 months sober and living in the English countryside.
Lia Marie Johnson, a 26-year-old multi-hyphenate most known for her early YouTube stardom, is currently living in the English countryside with her boyfriend, Charlie, and just marked 10 months of sobriety.
But for Johnson, who rose to fame at 14 for appearing in the Fine Brothers' "Kids React" YouTube series, it's been a long road to get to this point. In a video she posted to YouTube on Wednesday titled "This is my story," she recounts years she spent riddled with addiction, partner abuse, stints in various hospitals and rehab facilities, and a suicide attempt.
Johnson — who starred in the YouTube Original film "The Thinning," and whose 2016 single, "DNA," has accrued 21 million views — made the recent video to wipe the slate clean before she's set to release a new song on Friday, she said.
"My story has been misconstrued, exploited, sensationalized, but now I'm taking my narrative back and I'm going to tell you my story," she began.
She went on to describe "living in a whole other world when the sun went down" after moving to Los Angeles at 17 to pursue acting. "I was drinking, using drugs, and partying almost every night," she said.
At the time, Johnson was in a relationship with an ex who she said strangled her. At 18, she attempted suicide, Johnson said. After attending group therapy and getting back on her feet, Johnson signed to Capitol Records, but her drinking and drug use continued.
"The worst part was spending time in psychiatric wards due to falling into drug-induced psychosis," she said.
When she turned 21, Johnson left rehab but quickly relapsed. She said at this time she also fell in love with another abusive partner who would physically abuse her and left bruises all over her body.
After being dropped by her label around this time, Johnson started frequently going live on Instagram while drunk and high. "How I acted was the downfall of all I had worked for in my life," she said.
In 2020, Insider reported that an Instagram Live appeared to show Johnson kissing the 67-year-old music producer and photographer Steven Wetherbee. Johnson now says her former producer kissed her without permission, and that she'd used the Instagram Live as a kind of call for help for fear that "something more would happen."
In January 2020, she said she entered a relationship with a fellow addict who subsequently died by suicide.
What ultimately saved Johnson, she said, was a friend named Charlotte, whose family took her in and surrounded her with "so much love."
"I really can't believe I'm still here on this planet, alive and coherent," Johnson concluded, her voice tight with tears. "I tried almost every single drug you can think of, and lost everything I had. I've been to jail, psych wards, and rehabs. I've slept on the street and now I can tell you that the one thing that saved me was love. Real love. That's why I'm here...because love is so powerful."
Insider has reached out to Johnson's team for further comment.