Bow Wow Says Lean Addiction Put Him In The Hospital, But He Didn’t Want Everyone To Know

‘Like Mike‘ star Bow Wow has had a lot of ups and downs in his career, and while he’s currently good and sober, that wasn’t the case back in 2007.

The 36-year-old rapper/actor was on the ‘Art of Dialogue‘ podcast on Monday, and he revealed that his lean addiction was so bad in 2007 that he ended up in the hospital. At the time, his publicist told the media he was just dehydrated, but there was actually much more going on.

I was on lean. I was sipping so much syrup. I was drinking that s–t like crazy. I was losing my f–ing mind. That lean s–t had me f–ked up. My stomach was so f–ked up that I ended up going back home to Atlanta after the first show. I’m throwing up, I’m shivering in the bed, I’m sweating, I’m going through it. My stomach was so f–ked up. I felt like someone just had a knife [in me]. … I never felt this type of pain in my life.

He ended up collapsing onstage and was rushed to the local hospital. That’s when his publicist covered it up by claiming he was suffering from dehydration.

But Bow Wow says it was total B.S.

There] wasn’t no dehydration; I was f–ked up off lean. We didn’t want the world to know.

For those who don’t know, lean is a combination of promethazine and codeine cough syrup mixed with soda. It’s also been known as the “purple drank.”

These days, Bow Wow is in a really good place and has managed to turn his life and career around.