Travis Barker’s ex-wife, Shanna Moakler, is making startling new claims about the drummer’s past battle with addiction. In the upcoming documentary “Travis Barker: Love Is Louder Than Fear,” Moakler alleged the Blink-182 rocker once admitted to taking as many as 30 pills a day at the height of his substance abuse struggles.
The documentary premiered at the Tribeca Festival in New York City over the weekend, with Travis Barker and his wife, Kourtney Kardashian, in attendance ahead of its Hulu debut on August 13.
According to Us Weekly, Moakler opened up about Barker’s addiction during the documentary, claiming his substance use once reached alarming levels.
The former Playboy model, who married Barker in 2004 before the pair finalized their divorce in 2008, alleged the musician admitted to taking up to 30 pills daily during one of the darkest chapters of his life. Barker himself reportedly acknowledged the severity of his addiction in the film, revealing that those closest to him feared for his safety.
According to the documentary, one security guard would reportedly stay awake through the night to make sure Barker was still breathing.
The Documentary Revisits Trauma, Addiction, And Near-Death Experience
“Travis Barker: Love Is Louder Than Fear” offers an intimate look into the drummer’s personal struggles, career highs, and devastating setbacks. More than a decade in the making, the documentary follows Barker’s rise from a difficult childhood to becoming the drummer of Blink-182, while also exploring the emotional toll of addiction and trauma.
The film also revisits Barker’s devastating 2008 plane crash, which left him with severe burns and PTSD after four people died in the tragedy. According to the documentary, Barker spent years balancing what is described as a line between “survival and surrender” while processing grief and recovery.
Travis Barker Says Plane Crash Became His ‘Wake-Up Call’
Barker has previously been candid about how his devastating 2008 plane crash forced him to confront his addiction and ultimately quit painkillers for good. After surviving the horrific crash, which left him with third-degree burns on 65% of his body, Barker spent roughly three months hospitalized in Georgia, enduring 26 surgeries and multiple skin grafts during his recovery.
Looking back, the Blink-182 drummer said one of the first things he did after leaving the hospital was throw away every prescription medication he had. “People are always like, ‘Did you go to rehab?’” Barker told Men’s Health five years ago. “And I [say], ‘No, I was in a plane crash.’ That was my rehab.”
“Lose three of your friends and almost die? That was my wake-up call,” he added. “If I wasn’t in a crash, I would have probably never quit.” According to Barker, he flushed all of his medication down the toilet, “including stuff that I really needed.”
Barker Previously Revealed Addiction Left Him Waking Up During Surgeries
Before the plane crash, Barker admitted he relied heavily on marijuana and painkillers to cope with his intense fear of flying while touring with Blink-182.
The rocker said he would smoke “an excessive amount of weed” and developed a dependence on pain medication, eventually building such a high opioid tolerance that it complicated his medical treatment after the crash. As a result, Barker said he developed osteoporosis and, shockingly, woke up during surgeries while doctors worked to save his life.
Barker also revealed he struggled with severe post-traumatic stress disorder and survivor’s guilt in the years following the tragedy, admitting he was unable to sleep for weeks after being released from the hospital. “I was dark,” Barker admitted. “I couldn’t walk down the street. If I saw a plane [in the sky], I was determined it was going to crash, and I just didn’t want to see it.”
The 2008 Plane Crash Changed Travis Barker’s Life Forever
The 2008 plane crash remains one of the darkest chapters of Barker’s life.
The musician was one of just two survivors after a private jet crashed shortly after takeoff in South Carolina, killing both pilots as well as Barker’s assistant, Chris Baker, and security guard, Charles “Che” Still. Barker’s close friend Adam “DJ AM” Goldstein also survived the crash but died less than a year later from a drug overdose.
In the years that followed, Barker said therapy and time helped him slowly process the trauma. “The closer I was to [the crash], it felt like I was closer to the bad stuff than I am to the good stuff,” Barker said. “Now it’s been so many years, it’s getting easier for me. There are days where I’ll wake up and never think about it.”
