Michael Douglas' wild life: Abuse, affairs and drug deals are out in the open - but he still won't admit he's a nepo baby - in his explosive memoir One Helluva Ride

Having been raised by two movie stars and with a career spanning six decades, it's hardly surprising that Michael Douglas has some interesting stories to tell. Yet fans have been flabbergasted by the revelations in his explosive memoir, One Helluva Ride, in which he recounts being physically abused by his father, finally admits to an illicit affair, and clears up the rumours he's a sex addict. The actor, 82, is incredibly candid in the book, having finally decided 'it's time to tell my story on my own terms'.Explaining why now was the time to set the record straight, he vowed to share 'not the highlight reel, not the version shaped by headlines or box office numbers, but the real one'. Douglas continued: 'I've lived a life that unfolded in public while being deeply private at the same time, and there's a difference. This is about where I came from, what I fought against, and what I chose for myself. 'Fame can blur the truth; this is my attempt to bring it back into focus.'So what does Douglas reveal in One Helluva Ride? The wild world of Michael Douglas: From abuse to affairs to drug use - the actor's explosive revelations in One Helluva Ride - but he still refuses to accept he's a nepo baby!Abuse claims Douglas has explained that part of the reason he took so long to publish his memoir is that he couldn't have written it while his father Kirk was still alive. The honorary Oscar winner died in 2020 at the age of 103, with Douglas explaining that he spent much of his life trying to live up to his father's shadow and mend their fractured relationship. He explained in his book that he and younger brother, Joel, were afraid of Kirk growing up, penning: 'If we screwed up, he’d hit us… Dad was from the hitting generation, and when he raged, I learned early on to stay away and be quiet. 'I worked hard to stay off Dad’s radar and not anger him further when he was in a mood.'He added that even when he made it as a successful actor he struggled to mend the relationship, saying he was besieged by an 'ongoing internal conflict… I wanted to distinguish myself from my father; I wanted to be close to him. His existence hurt my confidence; his support made me feel closer to him.' Douglas told AP that he wouldn't have published his book if Kirk was still alive, explaining: 'I was very uncomfortable talking about the early years and his physical abuse. He was of a generation that hit; my mother used the hairbrush. He was tough. 'That was also one of the reasons why it took a little time to warm up as we got older, and to forgive him.' Douglas explained in his book that he and younger brother, Joel, were afraid of their father Kirk growing up, penning: 'If we screwed up, he’d hit us…' (pictured together in 1953) Drug dealing pastAfter briefly considering a law career, Douglas pivoted to acting and studied drama at the University of California.At that point, he was given a $10,000 trust fund by his father but it was not enough to cover his tuition and living expenses. So Douglas turned to dealing marijuana, filling two suitcases with 44kg of marijuana that he would buy for $75 a kilo in California and sell for $500 in New York when he visited his parents. He recalled: 'I could feel guilty, but it was the late Sixties to early Seventies. No one needed my help finding their way to drugs. 'And that was how I paid for my last two years of college and graduated with no debt. 'I’m not recommending this approach. It clearly would have been more responsible (and legal) to apply for a student loan, but that never occurred to me.'Kathleen Turner affair After decades of denying rumours, Douglas finally admitted to having an affair with co-star Kathleen Turner while married to Diandra Luker, with whom he shares son Cameron. The pair met while filming their 1984 action-comedy, Romancing The Stone, with Douglas recalling: 'Kathleen was smart, funny, and sexy with a deep, sultry voice that became her signature. I instantly liked her, and we were immediately attracted to each other.'He added: 'It wasn't a fly-by-night affair; it grew naturally from how closely we were working together, how much pressure we were under, how much we respected and cared for one another, and how attracted we were to each other.'Like every other guy in the world at the time, I was knocked sideways by Kathleen.'He then claimed that his marriage to Luker 'was in a bad place' and that he had been having an affair with Romancing The Stone screenwriter Diane Thomas prior to meeting Kathleen.Both Douglas and Turner, who was single but dating real estate mogul Jay Weiss – the man she would later marry – steadfastly denied the affair, too, even when Hollywood gossip reached fever pitch when Douglas's then wife Diandra became so worried that she flew to the Mexican set and confronted her.The pair kept their affair hidden from everyone including their co-star Danny DeVito and director Robert Zemeckis and Douglas' marriage to Luker limped on until 2000 when the couple divorced – with Douglas marrying Catherine Zeta-Jones that same year.He and Turner had a 'gentleman's agreement' never to discuss their relationship and for four decades both stuck to that pact. After decades of denying rumours, Douglas finally admitted to having an affair with Romancing The Stone co-star Kathleen Turner (pictured) while married to Diandra LukerStage fright woes While Douglas commands both the stage and screen, he revealed he suffered with crippling stage fright when he was starting out in small theatres. Terrified of living up to his father, Douglas confessed he would often be physically sick before stepping on stage. He explained: 'Meeting me, you wouldn’t have suspected confidence was a problem. It wasn’t… until I stepped into the spotlight my father had dominated. 'Right before I went onstage, I still needed to vomit into a bucket.'Even as he became an established actor, Douglas still struggled with his nerves, revealing that when he filmed Fatal Attraction with Glenn Close in 1987 he needed some liquid courage before shooting any intimate scenes. Addiction struggles Douglas entered rehab for alcohol and substance abuse in 1992 after first wife Luker caught him with another woman in an LA hotel room and issued the ultimatum: 'Rehab or divorce'. Until he entered the facility Douglas didn't believe he had a problem but noted that drugs were so normalised in Hollywood at the time. Douglas chose rehab for alcohol and substance abuse, but she filed for divorce three years later anyway, after which he dated many women.He revealed he would leave $100 in his car before a meeting at a talent agency, and its valet service would tuck a gram of cocaine into the central console. Douglas also claimed he would take drugs with OJ Simpson even during his football career and recalled falling asleep one night with a straw still hanging from his nose. He also revealed that he once got so drunk at a Golden Globes party he told Julia Roberts to shove her award 'where the sun don’t shine'. Douglas entered rehab for alcohol and substance abuse in 1992 but didn't believe he had a problem but noted that drugs were so normalised in Hollywood at the time (pictured in 1985)A colourful love life Douglas does not shy away from his sexual conquests in the book, revealing in the introduction: 'There will be some intimate relationships revealed here for the first time. I called each woman involved and received their permission to share our story.'He claims his 'sexual awakening' came on a summer job in the editing room at Universal, where he would eat his lunch in the room that Psycho was being put together. 'That was my editing bay of choice because we got to watch the out-takes of Janet Leigh in the shower scene. She was topless in some of them,' Douglas recalled. 'Now, Janet Leigh and her husband Tony Curtis were regular visitors to my dad’s house. I wish I could say the fact that Janet Leigh was a family friend made it awkward to spend so many lunch hours scrupulously reviewing that footage, frame by frame.'While trying to make it as an actor he lived with Danny DeVito in a one-bedroom flat in New York, with the pair letting the other know when a woman was home by hanging a sock on the doorknob. 'There were some periods where Danny found himself living more outside the apartment than in it!' Douglas recalled. Yet despite boasting of many sexual conquests – from a 'beautiful, olive-skinned' Israeli soldier to a 'Mrs Robinson' character in his youth, he stresses 'I was never a ***ing sex addict,' responding to reports in the Nineties that he entered rehab for sex addiction. With the book detailing his many flings over the years, and an anecdote that he needed to make 'five quick calls' when Zeta-Jones told him that she would only date him if he was monogamous, Douglas was asked by a British reporter if he ever wondered why he slept with so many women.Douglas responded: 'I don't know if I slept with so many women, I don't see it that way. No, not me, no. I was a healthy product of the Sixties.'He then added in an alleged 'accusatory' tone: 'My curiosity is why, of all countries, of all the press that I do, why are the Brits so consumed with the issues of sex?'When it was noted that his memoir is 'full of sex,' he responded: 'I didn't feel like it was. I mention a couple [of women] in the book.'Asked to clarify his anecdote about needing to finish with five women before committing to Zeta-Jones, 57, he told The Sunday Times Magazine: 'No, no, it's not what it was.'What Catherine said is, if we're going to continue this then I want it to be monogamous. And so I therefore, that evening, you know, made some calls to some people I was seeing, and that was that.'When asked if Catherine was nervous about his book coming out, he responded: 'She hasn't read it,' yet insisted their marriage was 'in good shape'. Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones wed in 2000 but in 2013 Zeta-Jones confirmed that the couple were 'taking some time apart to evaluate and work on their marriage (pictured in 2012)Catherine Zeta-Jones split Douglas put an end to his womanising ways after he 'fell in love' with Zeta-Jones the second he saw her in 1998's The Mask of Zorro. He mused: 'I didn’t have any intention of doing anything else – hell, I was 25 years older than she was. 'It might never have gone further than that, until I read an interview where Catherine said she liked older men. I said to myself, "Hey, I’ve got a shot".' The pair met that year at the Deauville film festival and after a night spent talking, he recalled: 'In a moment of temporary insanity, I blurted out: "I’m going to be the father of your children".' After nine months of speaking to each other long-distance they embarked on a relationship but Zeta-Jones warned him that she would only date him if he was monogamous – prompting Douglas to make 'five quick calls'. The pair wed in 2000 and welcomed son Dylan and daughter Carys. Yet in August 2013, Zeta-Jones confirmed that the couple were 'taking some time apart to evaluate and work on their marriage'. The separation came two months after Douglas blamed developing throat cancer on oral sex. His publicist later retracted the remarks and Douglas said he 'regretted the embarrassment' they reportedly caused his wife. Detailing their separation in his memoir, Douglas penned: 'From the second we separated, I never gave up hope that we would reconcile. I love Catherine in a way that I have never loved any other woman. 'She’s my wife, my best friend, and my life partner. I could never lose her.'The couple were back together within a year.Yet when questioned how 'he won her back,' Douglas snapped back to The Sunday Times: 'What, I won her back? It was a mutual… You know, we had our problems but I love her dearly and, 25 years, you know. 'Marriage is a lot of work, you know. And so, you know, we’re good. We’re in good shape. It’s all I can say.'Tension with his son In echoes of his relationship with his own father, Douglas' eldest son Cameron has previously spoken about their frosty relationship. Perhaps setting himself up for further tension, Douglas details how he found parenting a happier experience in his second marriage. Asked if he thought Cameron would find it painful to read, he mused: 'I love Cam, but we went through a really rough time. 'When I look back and try to review where I had my issues, where my drug habits were, and I look back on my marriage, I look back at what was going on with Cameron and I see all the different reasons why I would head there…'Cameron suffered from cocaine and heroin addiction and in 2010 he was sentenced to five years in prison for heroin possession and conspiracy to distribute drugs.He ended up serving seven after getting caught smuggling drugs into jail.Douglas funded his trial defence team but didn’t write to him in jail because 'I didn’t know what to say.' He added: 'The realities are you do everything you can for your kids, but I lost a half-brother from an overdose.'Douglas' half-brother Eric died of an accidental overdose at 46 in 2004, after battling with addiction for years. Kirk attended family therapy during this time. 'To watch your own father be in his eighties, dealing with group therapy sessions with his son?' Douglas recalled. 'I said I’m not going to do that. I said I’m not going to go into my seventies and eighties going to rehab sessions.' He added: 'I love my kids, but you know, I have an entitlement to a right to live a life.' In echoes to his relationship with his own father, Douglas' eldest son Cameron has previously spoken about their frosty relationship (pictured with Cameron and Kirk in 2018) Nepotism pushbackWhile he may have opened up about his mistakes, regrets and indiscretions in his memoir, there is one thing he will not admit to – being a nepo baby.He has condemned the term as 'snotty', insisting that in no other industry are parents criticised for 'helping their kids'.Douglas stated: 'In every other business, every mother and father helps their kids. We all know the companies, the names are 'so and so and son, or daughter.'His criticism of the term, an abbreviation of the word nepotism and usually used to describe offspring of famous actors and musicians, came just weeks after his wife Zeta-Jones called the term 'horrific'.'This horrific phrase 'nepo baby' is horrible because these kids didn't ask to be born into this, they're finding their own way in life,' she said.'But they love it, and they're good. Otherwise, Michael and I would be the first to go, "You know what? Maybe law school looks really good".'One Helluva Ride is out now