It’s often too true that once a notable public figure dies, they become martyred. Any past indiscretions or mistakes are glossed over and quickly forgotten, especially in the case of rock stars. Late Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland’s troubled history, though well-documented, was thought to have come to an end in the past few years. Not so, claims Weiland’s ex-wife (and mother of his teenage children) Mary Forsberg Weiland.
Forsberg Weiland wrote a stunning, laid-bare letter to Rolling Stone magazine, revealing that Weiland’s issues were far from over, detailing his paranoia, absent fatherhood and addictions.
Even after the couple split, Forsberg Weiland found herself responsible for his care, essentially forcing him to be a father to his two kids — and even then, it was an uphill battle.
Even after Scott and I split up, I spent countless hours trying to calm his paranoid fits, pushing him into the shower and filling him with coffee, just so that I could drop him into the audience at Noah’s talent show, or Lucy’s musical. Those short encounters were my attempts at giving the kids a feeling of normalcy with their dad. But anything longer would often turn into something scary and uncomfortable for them.
Things got worst post-divorce, with Weiland getting remarried and almost disappearing off the map entirely.
When he remarried, the children were replaced. They were not invited to his wedding; child support checks often never arrived. Our once sweet Catholic boy refused to watch the kids participate in Christmas Eve plays because he was now an atheist. They have never set foot into his house, and they can’t remember the last time they saw him on a Father’s Day.
Weiland was found dead on his tour bus on Dec. 3. He died after suffering cardiac arrest in his bed, and cocaine was found in the room.
To read the entirety of the poignant letter, head on over to Rolling Stone.