Joshua Bassett talks mental health challenges after Olivia Rodrigo’s 'Drivers License' release
"The doctors were like, 'If you hadn't checked in within 12 hours, you would have died,'" says Joshua sharing his near-fatal experience.
Actor and singer Joshua Bassett is opening up about the stress he suffered after his reported ex-girlfriend, Olivia Rodrigo, released her hit single, 'Driver's License'.
The single propelled Olivia to worldwide success but for Joshua, it was the beginning of shocking online abuse.
Joshua received hate messages and death threats from people who believed the award-winning heartbreak single is about him.
Olivia has not revealed the name of the person who inspired the song, saying that it is the least important part of the single.
"It's resonating with people because of how emotional it is, and I think everything else is not important," she told Billboard last year.
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Neither Olivia nor Joshua confirmed their romance, but they are widely believed to be dating.
"I love him so much. He's my best friend, so that really made the acting authentic and really truthful," Olivia told the LA Times about working together on 'High School Musical: The Musical: The Series'.
Several days after Olivia released her single in January 2021, Joshua dropped a song of his own called 'Lie Lie Lie'.
The 21-year-old says the song was not a response to 'Driver's License' and the timing of the release was purely coincidental. On the day of his song's release, Joshua was admitted to the hospital after suffering heart failure.
"I felt my heart literally failing. I was like, 'This isn't just anxiety. This is bad.' ...The doctors were like, 'If you hadn't checked in within 12 hours, you would have died in your apartment," he told People.
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Doctors believed his condition could have been the result of stress. Joshua left the hospital nine days later, but still struggled mentally. "I was even more depressed and stressed. I had a panic attack every single day," he told the publication.
Joshua shared a post about his visit to the ER on January 14 last year.
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Joshua says yoga and meditation are helping him with his mental health struggles. He is also seeing a therapist.
"My therapist, she loves the song 'Set Me Free,' but every time she hears it, she goes, 'Only you can set yourself free.' I'm like, 'Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get it. I get it.' But I do understand now that it really is me who can give myself permission to move on. Ultimately, I was the one who had to set myself free."
Watch his full interview with People below.
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Main image credit: Instagram/@joshuabassett, @oliviarodrigo