Renee Graziano is opening up about her journey through addiction and the darkness she managed to overcome.
The 56-year-old "Mob Wives" alum, who is now sober, shared her story on a recent episode of PageSix’s "Virtual Reali-Tea" podcast, reflecting on her past struggles with substance abuse.
“Addiction is a dark world. I wasn’t addicted to drugs in the way most people think. I was addicted to power, to men, to my world, my lifestyle,” Graziano said. “Drugs were my comfort; they were what kept me going.”
Graziano admitted that drugs felt like the “solution” to her problems, particularly in coping with the loss of her father, Anthony Graziano — former consigliere of the Bonanno crime family — and the breakdown of her marriage to Hector Pagan Jr.
“In a strange way, I think self-medicating kept me alive,” she confessed. “Because if I had to face everything without it, I might not have survived. That’s the truth, even if it’s hard to say.”
She took full responsibility for her addiction, adding, “I can’t blame anyone else for my addiction. I’d like to. My ex-husband, my lifestyle — they all played a part, but ultimately, it was my choice. I’m very clear on that.”
In March, Graziano shared more details about her near-fatal overdose in 2023 on Bunnie XO’s "Dumb Blonde" podcast, revealing that she was hospitalized after ingesting drugs laced with fentanyl.
“I just lost it,” she recounted. “On September 18, I was given a bag of fentanyl. I died in a restaurant in Florida, was intubated for three days, and spent nine days in the hospital learning to walk again. My family didn’t come, and that was a turning point.”
“That was the breaking point for me,” she continued, admitting she has no memory of those three days. “Those three days are just gone from my mind. I have no idea what happened.”
The experience of nearly dying, combined with her family's absence, pushed Graziano to make a change and seek rehab soon after. “They were told I wasn’t going to make it, and they just couldn’t handle it,” she said. “And I don’t blame them; I put them through so much.”
Now, Graziano is celebrating nine months of sobriety since that life-altering moment.
The Quran - Chapter Al-Qalam : 40 - 41
Ask them ˹O Prophet˺ which of them can guarantee all that.
Or do they have associate-gods ˹supporting this claim˺? Then let them bring forth their associate-gods, if what they say is true.
