James Packer is set to tell all in a candid discussion about his mental health in an upcoming episode of 7NEWS in the spotlight.
The billionaire joins his good friend, English singer Robbie Williams, in conversation with journalist Liam Bartlett.
Packer confesses that “money is no guarantee of happiness” in a sneak peek of the episode, which airs Sunday.
“I’m not here to play the victim… it’s a journey,” Packer tells Bartlett in the video.
“You’re not interviewing someone who says, ‘I’ve got it all figured out and I’ve got all the answers,'” he continued.
“I’m not that person. I’m here to say that I’m doing the best I can.”
Williams will also talk about his own journey and in the trailer said he identifies with Packer’s struggle.
“It’s the same kind of disease that we share. It’s a disease of isolation,” Williams says.
James Packer is set to tell all in a candid conversation about his mental health in an upcoming episode of 7NEWS Spotlight (pictured)
In recent years, Packer has said he is now “happier” than ever, after losing 25kg in 75 days and stopping seven mood-altering medications he was taking to help his mental health.
“I’m about 130kg now and I want to be back to 100kg by the end of 2022. I want to swim with my kids in Bondi when we’re all together in Sydney next year and be 100kg,” she told The Weekend Australian from her home in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico at the time.
The businessman said he had come off antidepressants and antipsychotics prescribed to him in March and was now seeking to “rehabilitate” his reputation in Australia.
In the biography, Price of Fortune: The Untold Story of Being James Packer, the casino magnate spoke about his mental health struggles.
The billionaire is accompanied by his good friend, English singer Robbie Williams, in the conversation with journalist Liam Bartlett. All in the photo
The book also describes some of the darkest moments of his life and how he went from inheriting a fortune to battling anxiety and depression; he has recovered from nervous breakdowns three times.
There were multiple factors that contributed to its downward spiral.
Scandals marred his jet-set lifestyle, from a deal that put him under scrutiny based on his political ties in Israel to a legal quagmire in China when officials at Crown Resorts, where he served as a director, were detained in connection with illegal gambling charges.
Even his Hollywood dreams were marred by the $100 million collapse of his production company RatPac with Hollywood producer Brett Ratner.
Packer confesses that ‘money is no guarantee of happiness’ in a sneak peek of the episode, which airs Sunday
Williams will also talk about his own journey and in the trailer he said he identifies with Packer’s struggles.
In the midst of his despair, Packer reveals he turned to his old friend Warren Beatty and spent years living in the Hollywood star’s guest house, eventually calling him “Dad” – though he is quick to point out that this is meant as no disrespect to his future father, Kerry, who engineered much of the family’s runaway commercial success.
Packer counts numerous household names among his friends, from Robert De Niro to Leonardo DiCaprio, and from his youth he was firmly entrenched in the world of celebrity, even flirting with Scientology for a time before distancing himself from the church, in the vein of so many box-office-winning actors and actresses.
The book describes Packer’s personal torment, his drinking and his mental problems, which the billionaire describes as “very frightening.”
He says he realised his problems were only “getting worse”, making him “desperately worried”, according to The Australian.
Beatty is known for avoiding media interviews, but he decided to sit down and talk about Packer for the book, a sign of how much he values and cares about the man.
The actor is said to have helped Packer finally seek help, referring him to a top psychiatrist who immediately asked him: ‘Are you trying to commit suicide?’
“I don’t know if I started crying, but I thought, ‘I don’t want to be in another $1.4 billion of debt. Why am I doing this?'” Packer said at the time.
The father of three said he is now excited to begin his “third act” and plans to gradually return to public life in Australia.
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