Doja Cat reveals: "I struggled with cocaine"
In a series of videos, American rapper Doja Cat opened up about dealing with online negativity, accusations of being "satanic," and her past battle with cocaine and alcohol addiction.
In a series of videos, Doja Cat spoke candidly about how she handles harsh reactions from fans and critics, and shared her personal story of overcoming addiction. The 30-year-old singer addressed her more than 29.1 million followers on TikTok, admitting that she was afraid to bring up the subject, but learned that healing requires doing something that scares you every single day.
"Many people on the internet believe that I am satanic—that I have demons in me—that there is evil in me," said Doja Cat, whose full name is Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini. According to her, if there is anything positive in these claims, it is the opportunity to discuss what she defines as "demons": addictions to drugs, alcohol, or social media, especially when they intersect with untreated or undiagnosed mental health issues.
Doja Cat explained that for her, the clearest example was using the internet to validate negative thoughts that already existed in her mind after drinking. "I never had a real problem with drugs, except for weed, but alcohol was something I definitely struggled with. I wasn't an alcoholic, but I certainly had issues," she said. She urged her followers to remain creative, take care of themselves, and remember that they are not invincible.
In another video, she spoke explicitly about cocaine: "I struggled with cocaine. I think it was maybe eight years ago, but I am way past that, so thank God." She returned to her main point: undiagnosed or untreated mental illness, when met with the pressures of social media, creates an extreme problem that is often misunderstood or overlooked.
She also addressed how negative social media comments hurt those already struggling: "If people write things that make you hate yourself, or confirm the things you already hate about yourself, know that first of all, you probably need help—and secondly, they probably need help." Doja added that she tries not to return poison to others, because she realizes much of it stems from despair and the person's own "demons." She defined the internet as a breeding ground for projection and asked people to think before they comment, considering whether their words are merely a reflection of their own internal struggles.
These revelations follow Doja Cat’s disclosure of her borderline personality disorder diagnosis, which she says makes it difficult for her to trust partners. In an interview with ELLE UK, she shared: "If I have a partner and he goes out just to run errands, my brain thinks he is breaking up with me." She explained that she has to fight this thought process and teach herself that she is safe. Doja Cat also admitted to using coping mechanisms in daily life to hide her vulnerability: "There are little things I do to make people think I don't care, or that I don't feel anything. I do these things on purpose to feel tough. And I am tough. But I'm not that tough. It's a mask."
