Jon Hamm Breaks Silence About His Rehab Stint

On Tuesday, the news broke that Jon Hamm was in rehab for alcohol abuse prior to the start of this season of Mad Men, and everyone took the story and ran with it. Some took it to some pretty dark places — as in, they insensitively compared Hamm to his Mad Men character Don Draper because of the rehab stint — and some simply took it to some public places — as in, the story made its way onto every website that cares at all about celebrity news. However, Hamm is opening up about his rehab stay for the first time, and his confession comes with a request that I think it's only fair that fans of the actor try to follow.

According to E! News, Hamm opened up at AMC's Mad Men celebration in Los Angeles, his first public appearance since completing his rehab stint. He said:

Life throws a lot at you sometimes, and you have to deal with it as much as you can. I've been very fortunate that throughout the most recent 24-hour period, I've had a lot of family and friends support me... Obviously there can be a lot of discussion about how much of this is related to [my character Don Draper and Mad Men], and honestly I don't have much to say about that either. I've said in varying ways that acting can be a difficult endeavor, certainly not as difficult as the recent example I used [in GQ's April 2015 issue] of being a baby heart surgeon. It does present its own challenges, and so does life.

This is both the first and the last time that Hamm plans to speak about his time at Silver Hill Hospital. In his own words, "I understand it constitutes news these days, but it's between me and my family and not something for public consumption." And, quite honestly, that's fair enough. Hamm did not owe it to anyone to say even as much as he did to Australia's TV Week about his stay. Going to rehab, enrolling in the program, and seeing it through to the end are incredibly personal things that aren't easy on anyone. It was nice of Hamm to be so willing to discuss it even that much, but he didn't need to. He got the help that he needed out of the public eye, and I don't blame him for wanting to continue his recovery out of the public eye.

Thus, as fans of Hamm, of Don Draper, and of Mad Men, then we owe it to the actor to give him his privacy during his time. We owe it to the actor to respect his wishes and let himself and his family deal with this in relative peace. Yes, it constituted news, but the news has passed and Hamm deserves the chance to move forward. Let's all move forward with him.