Dirty John's Kevin Zegers Defends Letting His Young Daughters Call Him an Alcoholic

See what the actor had to say in a message to his critics

By Jess Cohen Jan 23, 2019 10:42 PMTags
Kevin ZegersFrazer Harrison/Getty Images

Kevin Zegers is responding to critics on social media.

On Tuesday night, the Dirty John star took to Instagram to post a video of his twin daughters, Blake and Zoe Zegers, calling him an alcoholic. In the video, which appears to be filmed by his wife, Jaime Feld, the girls are each asked their name, then, after they respond, the girls are asked, "What is daddy?"

"An alcoholic," the girls each reply.

"So where is daddy right now?" Blake and Zoe are asked, before being told he's at an alcoholic anonymous meeting. "Isn't that cool?"

"Yeah," the girls reply.

Zegers captioned the post, "Learning 'em young. #aameeting"

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After receiving backlash for the post, the Gossip Girl alum returned to Instagram on Wednesday to address the criticism.

"Some people seem to have taken issue with my previous post," Zegers wrote. "Let me clarify. Being in recovery is a part of my life. Being an 'alcoholic' doesn't mean that I drink. Quite the contrary. When I'm not home for bedtime, my girls often insist on knowing where I am. Instead of lying to them, or projecting an archaic stigma, we choose to tell them the truth. 'Daddy's at a meeting.'"

"Our hope is that we teach our girls some empathy and understanding about addiction," he continued. "That in spite of being an alcoholic they have a father who has chosen a healthy way to live his life. For 8 years, I've chosen to live a clean and sober life that involves much more than just not drinking. I choose to share this because too many people, like some commenting below, want to shame people with addiction and mental health issues back into the shadows. My choice is to crack the window open so others can see what's possible on the other side."

In response, Zegers has received an outpouring of love and support from his friends and fans.

"God Damn Son!!! Well said!!!" Dax Shepard commented on Zegers' post.

"Love you, bud," Sophia Bush wrote. "Well said."

Lily Collins also commented, "Couldn't love you more or be more proud. You constantly inspire me. Those girls are the luckiest to have you as their dad xx."