Emmy-nominated actress Sanaa Lathan shared a deeply vulnerable moment from her life before a large audience.
Lathan is known for starring as the lead in “Disappearing Acts” with Wesley Snipes, “The Best Man” with Morris Chestnut and Terrance Howard, and “Brown Sugar” with Taye Diggs.
After more than 30 years in Hollywood, she admits her addiction nearly cost her everything she worked hard for.
Lathan opened up about the emotional toll of carrying unresolved trauma, explaining that years of anxiety eventually took a physical toll.
That realization led her to therapy, retreats, and ultimately sobriety.
“For me, I needed a tool box,” she told Keke Palmer, who hosted a special livestreaming experience at the Essence Festival of Culture in New Orleans this weekend.
Palmer then asked about the challenges Lathan mentioned in a Substack article, where she touched on her ties to alcoholism.
She went from living a regular life to being a working actress in Hollywood, but never stopped to deal with her trauma.
Lathan described herself as an “HSP,” a highly sensitive person and extreme empath who “loves the craft.”
some of sanaa Lathan roles she played in. Which one is your favourite? pic.twitter.com/2lxhndZblc
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She effortlessly stays off the media circuit, returning to red carpets only for movies she stars in or directs because she hates the “schmoozing” of the industry.
“If I had a little shot of tequila before, I’d be good, right? It’s like liquid courage. A lot of people do it,” Lathan confessed. “It’s so a part of our culture.”
Bigger than culture, alcoholism showed up as a direct tie to her family following a January appearance on “Finding Your Roots.”
The show helps guests trace their family’s ancestral lineage, using historical documents, genealogical research, and DNA testing to uncover hidden secrets — known and unknown.
“My father broke the cycle. My father got sober when I was probably like 15,” Lathan shared. “His father died of alcoholism when he was 4. And then I found out on ‘Finding Your Roots,’ that his father died of alcoholism.”
Finding out that two generations of her family had faced the same battle, and now she was the third, was a hard pill to swallow.
Sanaa Lathan with her father, the legendary director & producer Stan Lathan.
Beyond being a beautiful father-daughter moment, Stan Lathan is the brilliant mind who directed classics like ‘Stanford and Son,’ ‘Martin,’ and ‘Moesha,’ while also co-creating ‘Def Comedy Jam’.… pic.twitter.com/SuklJ3g9KS
— Bob Manager (@OfficiaBob) July 1, 2026
“And this is why I never judge anybody with addiction; it is a genetic thing,” Lathan explained. “You have to have compassion for these people because something that might be easy for you, is not easy for the next person. It is in your DNA.”
When it came to her battle with sobriety, the actress said, “Whatever that gene was, I just loved it, pointing back to her family pattern.”
She admitted that life is and has been hard, but giving up alcohol has been the most transformative decision of her life.
“There’s a joy and a peace that I have now that I could never have had if I was poisoning myself every day,” she said.
The aging process has quite literally skipped Sanaa Lathan. Absolutely stunning at every single stage.
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— Bob Manager (@OfficiaBob) July 3, 2026
Lathan said she wasn’t an alcoholic in the sense that she drank all day at home because she never would keep liquor there.
But when she goes out, she’d have “five heavy martinis” instead of two drinks like her friends.
She struggled the most with her sobriety while working in New Orleans, a place where you can get daiquiris or Incredible Hulk drinks at 10 a.m.”
She also struggled while shooting the 2024 Hulu adaptation film, “The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat,” as the older version of Barbara Jean Maxberry. Her character was a spiraling alcoholic who battled grief following the tragic death of her husband and son.
But more importantly, she considered her age at 54 and how alcohol can lead to a “bad brain and heart.”
“Because I also knew about history, I was like I gotta stop it. It’s been eight years now. And I couldn’t imagine stopping,” said Lathan. “There’s so much that I’ve done that I would have never been able to do when I was drinking.”
