SerpApi.Org
The epic highs and lows of Riverdale weren’t just taking place in front of the camera. Behind the scenes, KJ Apa was seriously struggling, revealing that his drug use had gotten so bad at one point, his co-star physically hit him to try to snap him out of an addiction cycle.
Apa opened up about a dark period in his life during his July 21 appearance on the Wildmen podcast, which is co-hosted by Dylan Sprouse. As Apa reflected on the bond he built with Dylan’s brother Cole Sprouse on Riverdale, he revealed a tense moment where the two “almost got into a fight.”
“He punched me in the face!” Apa said. But the altercation wasn’t as cruel as it sounds — Apa said that Sprouse was trying to knock some sense into him after a distressing discovery. “He hit me because we were in a strip club and, at this time, I was doing a lot of drugs and a lot of my close friends were worried about me,” Apa said. “And he had learned that I was doing drugs again.”
“It was a love punch,” Apa concluded, before he and Dylan agreed “it was kind of a wake-up punch.”
Elsewhere in the conversation, Apa confirmed that he’s now been sober for a year and a half. The actor has previously spoken about struggling with substance use during his time on Riverdale, though rarely in such specific detail. He’s credited the birth of his son, Sasha, as the pivotal factor in his sobriety.
Sasha was born in September 2021. A few years later, Apa spoke about how becoming a young dad “forced” him “to get sober.” “A lot of things that I realized I had to button up, I buttoned up. Yes, and I realized that there's no other way for me to do it,” he said in a 2025 interview.
“Sasha’s a gift that saved my life,” Apa said at the time. “I truly believe having Sasha saved my life.”
