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Well look who had a, “come to Jesus” moment. Ex-Scandal star Columbus Short is finally spilling the tea on why he left the hit ABC show. Short stopped by Access Hollywood Live on Dec. 10, where he admitted his addiction to cocaine led to him being let go from the series. Short stated:

I’ll be candid. I was struggling with drug. I had a lot on my plate, and you know, I was using unhealthy ways to kind of self-medicate and deal with a lot of heavy duty stuff in my life… The real drugs – I did cocaine. I was doing cocaine and drinking a lot, and trying to balance a 16-hour work schedule a day, and a family, and I just lost myself back then.

MUST READ: Get It Together: Columbus Short Arrested AGAIN!

For three seasons, Short portrayed the role of series regular Harrison Wright on the Kerry Washington political drama, before his character was killed off the show in April. A month earlier, Short was arrested for assault after punching a man outside of a Los Angeles restaurant. Short also faced domestic abuse charges from his estranged wifeactress Tanee McCall, after she filed a restraining order against him and accused the actor of threatening her life during a fight at their home. Short was later charged with misdemeanor spousal battery and a judge ordered him to stay away from his wife who later filed for divorce and sole custody of their daughter.

Short also confides cast members and Scandal showrunner Shonda Rhimes knew about his drug abuse at the time, and tried to help him to no avail.  Short confesses:

They protected me, and they held me down. And that was one of the real reasons — they just wanted me to get my stuff together. Sometimes the bottom has to be dropped out for you to really get it. So I moved to Atlanta. I’ve been living there for the last five months, five-and-a-half months, and it’s just been great. It’s been life changing.

Now that he’s clean and sober, Short also admits he would love to head back to Scandal. Um, didn’t he mourn Harrison’s journey to the Upper Room on Twitter? Short said:

I’m really ready to get back to work. As far as Shonda’s shows, I would love nothing more to go back to Scandal. It’s my family.

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Just Say No: Columbus Short Reveals Cocaine Addiction Lead To Scandal Departure  was originally published on hellobeautiful.com