Artie Lange faces an uncertain future, with a new report claiming that the troubled comedian will be staying in rehab indefinitely and could face time in jail once he’s done there.
As Radar Online reported, Lange has been progressing through an in-patient drug program after a series of run-ins with the law, and has been working hard to stay sober. He is expected to remain in rehab at least through the end of the summer and through September, though it was not clear when he could complete the program and be released.
But once he’s done there, Lange will need to head to a New Jersey court where he could get jail time, the report noted. Artie Lange had been arrested in May for failing to comply with the terms of probation stemming from a March, 2017, drug arrest. He had originally been sentenced to four years of probation, the report noted, but was able to make a successful bid to go through a drug treatment program rather than going directly to jail.
As he battles legal issues and addiction relapses, Artie Lange has had the support of some of his famous friends. After Lange’s arrest last December for missing a court date, Dominic Barbara, a fellow Howard Stern Show alum, to wrote an open letter to the New York Post ‘s Page Six offering to pay for Lange to go to rehab.
“If you want to come, I will come get you and pay all your costs,” he wrote, pleading with Lange to “please save your life.”
This year, Howard Stern opened up for the first time since Lange left the show, Radar Online noted. Stern had some words of support, saying he hoped Artie could conquer his addiction issues.
Artie Lange is still in rehab, and will remain in treatment indefinitely. https://t.co/4erTkeWXyP
— Radar Online (@radar_online) August 29, 2019
“What’s happening with Artie makes me very sad. We’ve lost touch, and that’s my doing,” Stern said, via Radar Online . “I got my fingers crossed for the guy. And it wasn’t a clean break.”
“It was many years of wanting Artie to get help. I know that a lot of fans want me to talk about Artie and feel it’s a cop-out for me not to. I’ll take that. I don’t want to do anything that would rock his boat.”
Before Artie Lange was able to enter drug treatment, some close to the comedian said they were worried that he could end up in an early grave at the rate he was going.
