Amy Winehouse's Parents Discuss Her Death: "She Hadn't Taken Drugs in Three Years"

Mitch Winehouse tells Anderson Cooper that his daughter had been clean, but not entirely sober

By Bruna Nessif Sep 10, 2011 3:50 AMTags

This Monday marks Anderson Cooper's premiere as a daytime talk show host, and he starts things off on a serious note, talking to the parents of Amy Winehouse.

Mitch and Janis Winehouse visited Anderson for an exclusive interview to discuss the demise of their musically gifted daughter for the first time (sort of), largely to reaffirm that drugs were not to blame for her death.

Here's what they said...

"I've been banging on about the fact that she hasn't taken drugs in three years," Mitch said. "Everyone thought I was in denial, I wasn't in denial, she hadn't taken drugs. She'd been clean for round about three years."

"Her problem was alcohol, the last few years of her life," Amy's dad continued. "You might argue, what's the difference? The difference is that what happened to Amy wasn't anything to do with drugs. It might be that drugs took its toll in the early years, but there were no drugs in her system at all."

Cooper followed up with a question concerning prescription drugs, and the couple admitted the thought of Amy abusing meds had slipped their mind. But Amy's father was quick to share that, yes, she was on one prescription drug, but it wasn't something that should be considered as a factor in her death.

"She was prescribed Librium [Chlordiazepoxide], which is a normal drug that is given to people who are detoxing and it kind of decreases the chances of having seizures. And she was continuing to take one of those pills everyday."

Catch the full interview on the Sept. 12 premiere of Anderson.