Veteran supermodel Beverly Johnson is opening up about the drug addiction she acquired in the 1970s due to a cocaine-led diet she was encouraged to follow in order to stay thin.
Johnson, 71, is celebrating the 50th anniversary of becoming the first Black woman to appear on the cover of Vogue and is speaking candidly about the early days of her modeling career where she consumed cocaine, a bowl of rice, and two eggs a week after fashion industry insiders encouraged her to look “chiseled to the bone” for photo shoots.
“We were led to believe that cocaine was not addictive,” she told Page Six. “We didn’t know cocaine was addictive. Everyone used drugs back in the day but that particular drug for models was used because we did not eat.”
“I remember eating two eggs and a bowl of brown rice a week,” she added. “I would be shaking in a cab, and I
would say pull over because I have to get a bag of M&Ms. I would just stop and get the shakes. We did not eat, and every time you came to work they would say, ‘Yes! Chisel to the bone girl. Yes,’ like congratulating you. Nobody really told you the truth.”Johnson’s eyes opened during a visit at home with her mother when she was placed in front of a three-way mirror and made to look at herself.
“It was the first time I saw my bones looking back at me,” she recalled. “It was a major wake-up call for me.”
In addition to celebrating her Vogue milestone, Johnson is celebrating 50 years of sobriety. Her current one-woman show, Beverly Johnson In Vogue, sees her reliving her modeling and acting career, growing up in Buffalo, New York, her family life, romantic history, and paying homage to the women that came before her.
The show is playing at the 59E59 Theatre until Feb. 4.
Johnson is also set to appear alongside her daughter Anansa Sims in the WeTV reality show Sims with the latter’s fiancé Matt Barnes. The show will follow their blended family and wedding planning journey.