Mascara Boy: Bullied, Assaulted & Near Death: Surviving Trauma and Addiction

Author Brandon Lee is a two-time Emmy winning journalist for his reporting on the opioid crisis. The irony is that Brandon was also a drug addict. Brandon's trauma, however, started as a child when he was sexually abused by his piano teacher and youth soccer coach. The tragedy is that Brandon held it inside because of shame and fear. It wasn't until the age of 37 when Brandon was reporting on a story about sex assault in the #MeToo era when he finally got the courage to break his silence about being a sex victim and how that trauma led him down a dark path of sex and drug addiction. At age 15, Brandon was snorting cocaine and drinking to blackouts all while attending Catholic school. The drug abuse got worse as Brandon got older. He would attend raves and circuit parties to get high. His drug addiction fueled his sex addiction. Brandon eventually created a double life. One as a professional news anchor. The other as a strung out druggie in the slums of Los Angeles. He describes the moment he took his first hit off the crack pipe. He felt invincible. Unstoppable. He describes it as breathing in the Devil. After nearly dying in a coma after an overdose, Brandon sought out a 12-Step program and has been sober ever since 2-22-2010. His story breaks every stereotype people have of a drug addict. Brandon's mission is to give other addicts hope that they can build a new life they never thought possible.