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Over the past few years, images of That’s So Raven actor Orlando Brown have floated around on social media with the actor appearing to be under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol. Viewers made fun as he repeatedly faced DUI charges and rambled about co-star Raven Symoné’s body parts, but it’s always been abundantly clear that the former child star was in desperate need of some kind of intervention to address his mental health needs.
Although his friends have staged interventions in the past, Dr. Phil recently offered his own expertise. The now 31-year-old actor who got his early start in the entertainment industry on shows like The Jamie Foxx Show and Family Matters appeared as a guest on his talk show on Friday. Although Brown claims he is four years sober, the actor appears to be under the influence of something and not completely present, sporting snake eye contact lenses and stating that he is still in contact with co-star Raven-Symoné and wants to marry her.
A portion of interview is actually more of an assessment, as it seems Dr. Phil questions Brown more in attempt to get an idea of his mental state more than getting to know more about his life post Disney Channel. His friend and manager Solomon Barron also makes an appearance sharing with Dr. Phil that Brown had “burned his bridges” with many of his associates and that he himself had reached his breaking point and kicked the actor out of his home.
Brown discloses that he has abused alcohol and experimented with marijuana and methamphetamine in the past. He says he became powerless under the influence of substances he started experimenting with out of boredom:
“Just the influence and the demons that come with that drug kind of took over.”
“A lot of drinking is what happened. I was drinking a lot. I just found myself in a dark place because I couldn’t really find everybody. It’s kinda like looking for your keys, when you stop looking, they’re right there type of deal. I started to realize what was in front of me. From there, now I’m good.”
Brown says a moment of clarity came when he woke up next to his drug of choice one morning and made a decision to get sober in order to maintain a relationship with his children. Unfortunately, when questioned further by Dr. Phil, Brown appears to struggle remembering their ages, names and how long pregnancy lasts generally:
“I got a 2-year-old, 4-year-old…5-year-old, 8 and 11… Two-year-old still in the belly. We don’t know [the name] yet.”
Later on in the interview which was taped in October, Brown states he actually hasn’t met all of his children and while parenting is indeed another challenge he wants to soon face, he references an interesting claim about his own father after Dr. Phil asks him if he can remember his own name:
“My full name is Orlando Brown Prince Michael Jackson Jr. aka Blanket.”
“My father was Michael Jackson, the great Michael Jackson.”
As promised, Dr. Phil makes a suggestion to Brown in order to truly get professional help to have a chance at a brighter future, despite the troubling state of mind that has seemed to take hold of his life:
“I think there’s a real good chance that what you’ve been through has caused you to have some neurological disruptions.”
“I think you need some treatment for that, and in a very short time, you can get back to being the Orlando that has been so successful in your life.”
Brown however was reluctant, and shared after previously being in treatment, he didn’t want to spend any more time away from his children:
“I just got out of rehab, out of the E.R., I’m not doing no more time away from my kids that I need to.”
“I can’t dedicate another 90 days of being monitored all my life… I want my kids to be with me in Neverland.”
Dr. Phil eventually convinced the actor to go to a dual diagnosis and treatment facility in Malibu and shared since the show Brown had “committed to treatment and has made great strides.”
You can check out a portion of Brown’s appearance on the show below:
