Jonathan Rhys Meyers has said alcohol “doesn’t suit” him as he spoke out for the first time since being detained in LAX airport
after a drunken meltdown.
The 40-year-old actor was held by police after getting into a verbal fight with his wife Mara Lane on an American Airlines flight from Miami to LA.
The Tudors actor, who was also travelling with his 18-month-old son Wolf earlier this month, confessed things spiralled when he turned to booze after some “frustrating” events during their journey.
Speaking on Larry King Now, the Cork star admitted he was “upset” by his actions but was thankful for the police at LAX for being “incredibly kind and understanding”.
Jonathan said: “My wife and I had been travelling since three o’clock in the morning from Peru back to Los Angeles and they gave away our tickets – it was just a problem with the airline.
“We had our baby, who was teething, and it was all kinds of frustrating.
“So we eventually got on the flight and my wife went to sleep and I very stupidly decided to order a drink. When my wife found I’d ordered a drink she got very, very angry with me because I shouldn’t drink. It doesn’t suit me and I had been sober for a long time.
“And so I felt that mistake and I got upset and I took out an e-cigarette.
“And the airline staff told me I wasn’t allowed to smoke an e-cigarette so I put it away.
“Then I spoke to the Los Angeles police once we got there, who were incredibly kind. Incredibly understanding. I apologised for my behaviour, and that’s the entire story.
“It is a good opportunity to apologise to anybody who was offended that that incident happened. I learned my lesson.
“As soon as I got off the airplane I went and spoke to somebody and I got back on track immediately.”
After news broke that Meyers had been held by police, Mara took to Instagram to say the actor’s behaviour on the flight was “out of character”.
She wrote: “8 months of sobriety and an unfortunate day of airline travel.
“We were in South America specifically working holistically through anger issues that result in these episodes.”
