Kevin McEnroe, son of actress Tatum O'Neal and tennis legend John McEnroe, has spoken candidly about the profound effects of his mother's long-standing addiction to alcohol and heroin on his life and his siblings.
McEnroe, who is now seven years sober from his own struggles with Xanax, vodka, and heroin, told People that his mother's addiction created a significant chasm between her public persona as a Hollywood actress and her private reality. He recalled instances where O'Neal would leave their home in the middle of the night to use drugs, sometimes disappearing before her children woke up, an experience he described as frightening.
After his parents' divorce in 1994, when he was six, Kevin and his siblings Sean and Emily split their time between their parents. However, O'Neal's intensifying drug dependence led to her losing custody of the children in 1998.
In an essay for The Small Bow, McEnroe reflected on his childhood, writing that his mother was his mom when she was clean but that she was using heroin when he was little. Despite the difficulties, he felt a deep connection to his mother, believing that losing her children would lead to her death. O'Neal has faced multiple overdoses, including one in 2020 that resulted in a stroke, necessitating a recovery that involved relearning to read, speak, and walk.
O'Neal expressed pride in her son's honesty, telling People, "He has brutal honesty, which is beautiful."
McEnroe's own journey toward recovery began after he secured his first book deal at 27. Shortly thereafter, he was arrested for buying cocaine and prescription pills. Faced with a choice between rehab or jail, he chose treatment. However, he struggled with sobriety for several years, relapsing and eventually using heroin, which he described as using "like my mom did."
A visit from his father, John McEnroe, who found him amidst scattered bottles of alcohol, served as a significant wake-up call. His father's tearful embrace and expression of love, without insistence on rehab, deeply affected him. This, along with encouragement from a girlfriend, led him to seek hospitalization in October 2019. At that point, McEnroe was nearing the need for an organ transplant.
McEnroe, who is currently writing his memoir, stated that recovery has brought his family closer. He acknowledged how close he and his mother were to death and how their recovery has created a positive, unifying force within the family. He hopes his story of survival and recovery can offer hope to others facing similar challenges.